Palm Database Programming: The Complete Developer's Guide [Paperback]

Eric Giguère (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471354015 | ISBN-13: 978-0471354017 | Publication Date: November 15, 1999

All the tools and information you'll need to write effective applications for Palm devices Palm(TM) Database Programming The demand for developers who can build applications for the Palm OS(TM) platform has never been greater. Now, with this "how-to" guide, you'll gain the necessary skills to program these new devices. Written by a software engineer specializing in Palm OS development, this book covers everything from the basics of Palm devices and writing applications to database synchronization and building database-centric applications. You'll be able to apply the information presented to create database applications, graphical user interfaces, and more. With the help of numerous examples and sample programs integrated throughout this book, you will:
* Learn the key features of the Palm operating system
* Master the development tools needed to build, run, and debug applications
* Write interactive database programs for the Palm platform
* Explore the code behind the Palm user interface
* Learn about Palm databases, relational databases, and database synchronization
* Create Palm applications that synchronize with external databases
* Build applications using Sybase(TM) Ultra Lite and Oracle(r) Lite Consolidator
The CD-ROM provides you with:
* All the examples discussed in the text
* Useful software that guides you through the development process, including a copy of CodeWarrior(r) Lite
* An evaluation version of Sybase's Adaptive Server Anywhere relational database, including the UltraLite deployment technology
* Comprehensive reference material on Palm OS
* Complete working code for current database technologies
The companion Web site at www.ericgiguere.com/palm features:
* Updates on the Palm Computing(r) platform
* Additional information not covered in the book
* Links to other important Palm Computing Web sites

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Let's face it: no one is going to do graphics-intensive work under Palm OS, nor is anyone going to model elaborate mathematical phenomena. Palms are good for keeping in touch and storing information in a conveniently portable format. Palm Database Programming adeptly explains the Palm OS database format (this is important because without a file system, everything on a Palm is in some kind of a database). It also demonstrates the finer points of database development (mostly with Sybase UltraLite but also with Oracle Lite Consolidator to a significantly lesser extent).

Almost exactly half of this book deals with database issues, which weakens it because the other half contains general Palm OS programming material that's not specifically relevant to the development of data-storage programs. If you know enough to be interested in learning about Palm OS databases and how to build applications around them, you don't need the introductory information on how to use CodeWarrior or how to code a Palm OS user interface.

Aside from this, the database material is quite good. The author presents and explains code that creates, modifies, and deletes databases, and provides a very good explanation of database synchronization. If you're using UltraLite, you'll appreciate the documentation of it here. Further coverage of the .pdb file format (in which data can be sent to a Palm from a host machine) would have made this book even stronger. --David Wall

Topics covered: Basic Palm OS programming, the ins and outs of CodeWarrior, the Palm database paradigm, fundamentals of relational databases, Sybase UltraLite, and Oracle Lite Consolidator.

From the Author

There are two reasons to read this book. First, its a concise introduction to Palm programming. This book covers the basics to get you started and then shows you where to go to get the information you need later on.

Second, this book introduces you to database programming for the Palm platform. Databases are a vital part of any organization, whether they are large relational databases or small desktop databases. Your applications need to interact with these external databases, to allow users to download and browse data on their Palm devices. If a user changes any of the information, those changes have to be uploaded back to the database. Writing programs that do all of this is quite a challenge because you need to know how to select and update data from an external database, how to write programs for the Palm platform, and how to synchronize the data between the device and the external database. The required combination of database programming experience, platform knowledge, and user interface design skills is rare. This book fills in the gaps you might have in any of those areas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (November 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471354015
• ISBN-13: 978-0471354017
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,028,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Giguere is the author of (so far) four books and numerous magazine and online articles on computers and programming. His most recent book is Make Easy Money with Google, an introduction to building money-making websits and blogs via Google's contextual advertising program called AdSense. He's also an expert at wireless and mobile programming, and has tons of Java experience.

Eric has master's and bachelor's degrees in computer science from the University of Waterloo. He still lives in Waterloo, Ontario, where he works for iAnywhere Solutions, a Sybase company.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting if you are want to use Sybase, but that's it., November 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Palm Database Programming: The Complete Developer's Guide (Paperback)

Databases can be wonderful things. Learning about them should be made fun, especially on Palm of all platforms!

This book fails in three ways:

1. It does does a rush job on "How to Program for Palm" (a subject better left to a more general book), It's about 100 pages that could be better spent on the title topic.

2. The introduction to relational databases is terrible. It is basically the most densely packed 20 pages I've ever seen and is so fact-packed and example-deficient as to be worthless, leaving the reader scared about real database systems.

3. The author (a Sybase employee) then dedicates the rest of the book to Sybase's push into the market. (A token mini-chapter on Oracle Lite exists only to contrast Sybase's better implementation.)

The book does, to its credit, include a detailed treatment on the internal Palm database format. However, for the cover price of this book:

1. Invest in a better Palm book that covers this format.

2. Check Sybase's website and download the book's included software there if you want to check out their package.

3. If you are really interested in databases, pick up a good introduction to Relational databases such as "Database Management Systems" by Ramakrishnan.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Already Obsolete, June 2, 2000

By 

David M. Elder (Pacifica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palm Database Programming: The Complete Developer's Guide (Paperback)

This book needs revised.

Apart from an indepth coverage of CodeWarrior and C programming for Palm O/S and Sybase Ultralite, the bulk of the information provided in this book is either obsolete or redundant. The Oracle Lite Consolidator example in the book is outdated since Consolidator has been replaced with iConnect in the most recent version of OLite. In addition, no mention is made of SatForms' solution for data synchronization.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Fantastic Book!, January 14, 2002

By 

Kyrill Alyoshin (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Palm Database Programming: The Complete Developer's Guide (Paperback)

This book is a must for everyone interested in programming with Palm C based SDK. Eric goes into a great detail to get your up to speed with this things. And they are tricky!
If you are seriously interested in Palm OS, get it!