Users Guide

Mobile Access 2004

For Palm OS

 Copyright Mobile Systems Inc, 2000-2004 All rights reserved. This manual and the programs referred to herein are copyrighted works of Mobile Systems, Inc. The information in this document is a subject to change without notice. Mobile Systems, Inc. accepts no liability for loss or consequential loss from misuse or any defect or failure of the programs howsoever arising. 2000-2004 Mobile Systems Inc. Mobile Access and the Mobile Access logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Mobile Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights reserved. Acrobat and PDF are trademarks of Adobe. All other brands and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. http://www.mobi-systems.com/

Mobile Access 2004

Contents
CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................... 3 LICENSE AGREEMENT................................................................................................................... 5 LICENSE AND DISTRIBUTION ........................................................................................................ 5 RESTRICTIONS .............................................................................................................................. 5 NO WARRANTIES .......................................................................................................................... 5 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY ............................................................................................................ 5 GETTING STARTED ................................................................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 6 SYSTEMS REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................................ 6 INSTALLATION AND UNINSTALLATION ........................................................................................ 6 Mobile Access Installation ....................................................................................................... 6 Uninstalling Mobile Access from your Palm............................................................................ 6 Uninstalling Mobile Access from your Desktop....................................................................... 7 REGISTRATION.............................................................................................................................. 7 Product IDs and Unlock keys ................................................................................................... 7 Online Registration of Products............................................................................................... 8 QUICK OVERVIEW AND BASICS.......................................................................................... 10 LAUNCHING MOBILE ACCESS .................................................................................................... 10 DATABASE BASICS ..................................................................................................................... 10 HOME VIEW TOOLBAR ............................................................................................................... 11 OPENING A DATABASE ............................................................................................................... 11 DATABASES NAVIGATION AND ORGANIZATION ......................................................................... 12 Database Categories .............................................................................................................. 12 Sorting .................................................................................................................................... 13 Home View Settings................................................................................................................ 13 OBJECTS VIEW ............................................................................................................................ 14 TABLE VIEW ............................................................................................................................... 15 EDIT RECORD VIEW.................................................................................................................... 16 DATABASE DESIGNING .......................................................................................................... 18 CREATING NEW DATABASE ........................................................................................................ 18 CREATING NEW TABLES............................................................................................................. 18 FIELD TYPES ............................................................................................................................... 19 Numeric Types........................................................................................................................ 19 Text Types............................................................................................................................... 20 Date and Time ........................................................................................................................ 21 Calculated Expressions .......................................................................................................... 21 Database relationships........................................................................................................... 22 Database Management........................................................................................................... 22 Images .................................................................................................................................... 23 QUERIES...................................................................................................................................... 24 CREATING QUERIES .................................................................................................................... 24 QUERY TOOLBAR ....................................................................................................................... 26

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QUERIES WITH FILTERS .............................................................................................................. 26 FORMS ......................................................................................................................................... 28 FORM HOME VIEW AND TOOLBAR .............................................................................................. 28 DESIGNING FORMS ..................................................................................................................... 29 FORM DESIGN SCREEN ............................................................................................................... 30 Form Design Toolbar............................................................................................................. 31 Form Managing Tools ........................................................................................................ 31 Object Managing Tools ...................................................................................................... 31 Object Adding Tools .......................................................................................................... 32 Scrolling in the Forms Design Screen ................................................................................ 33 Adding objects.................................................................................................................... 33 Object Position and Size..................................................................................................... 33 Object Types and Properties .................................................................................................. 34 Objects showing information from table fields .................................................................. 34 Formatting Objects ............................................................................................................. 38 Action Objects.................................................................................................................... 39 Navigation Bar ....................................................................................................................... 39 ADVANCED FEATURES........................................................................................................... 41 DATABASE SECURITY ................................................................................................................. 41 BEAMING .................................................................................................................................... 42 Database beaming.................................................................................................................. 42 Table beaming ........................................................................................................................ 42 SETTING PREFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 43 MEMORY CARDS SUPPORT ......................................................................................................... 44 Default Directory ................................................................................................................... 44 Creating and moving databases to the memory card ............................................................. 45 HI-RESOLUTION FEATURES ................................................................................................. 46 FONT SIZES ................................................................................................................................. 46 IMAGES MANAGEMENT......................................................................................................... 47 Icons ....................................................................................................................................... 47 Creating images on the handheld device................................................................................ 48

Mobile Access 2004

License Agreement
*** Please read this entire agreement *** This End-User License Agreement (the "Agreement") is a legal agreement between you ("Licensee"), the end-user, and Mobile Systems Inc. ("Mobile Systems") for the use of the Mobile Access software product ("Software"). By using this Software or any part of it, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, do not install this Software.

License and Distribution

The evaluation copy of this Software is free of charge for limited period of time. You must pay the license fee and register your copy to continue to use the Software. You're allowed to make as many copies of this evaluation version (in UNMODIFIED form) as you wish to distribute.

Restrictions
You may not nor permit anyone else to de-compile, reverse engineer, or disassemble, modify, or create derivative works based on the SOFTWARE or the documentation in whole or in part. You may not use the Software for any commercial purpose or public display, performance, sale or rental. You may not use the Software to perform any unauthorized transfer of information (e.g. transfer of files in violation of a copyright) or for any illegal purpose.

No Warranties
This software and any related documentation is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Mobile Systems Inc. specifically disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of fitness for any particular purpose and of merchantability.

Limitation of Liability
In no event will Mobile Systems Inc. be liable to you for any damages, including but not limited to any loss of data, lost profits, lost savings, commercial damage or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use this program directly or indirectly, or for any claim by any other party.

Mobile Access 2004

Getting Started
Introduction
Welcome to Mobile Access! Mobile Access is a powerful Palm OS application to help you manage and create your own databases. The Microsoft Excel integrated desktop module allows you to export existing MS Excel worksheets and enhances the usability of Mobile Access and your handheld device as a whole. The intuitive user-friendly interface allows you to deal with relational databases in few taps of the stylus. Mobile Access provides a wide range of functionalities and supported field types formats.

Systems Requirements
Mobile Systems recommend Palm OS 3.5 or higher for best performance.

Installation and Uninstallation

Mobile Access Installation
1. Download Mobile Access.exe file into selected folder on your PC. 2. Run Mobile Access.exe, which is a self-extractable installation tool for Mobile Access application and Mobile Access desktop HotSync conduit. 3. Follow the installation instructions. 4. Open your HotSync manager and synchronize with your Palm device.

Uninstalling Mobile Access from your Palm

1. Tap Menu>Applications >Delete from the main Applications Launcher on your PDA. 2. Select Mobile Access and then Delete. 3. Confirm the deletion when prompted to remove the program from your Palm device.
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Uninstalling Mobile Access from your Desktop

1. Click Start> Settings> Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. 3. Select Mobile Access 2003 from the list of installed programs and click Remove. 4. Follow the instructions on your screen to completely remove Mobile Access from your desktop.

Registration
Mobile Access is a downloadable shareware product available for free evaluation period or registration at our home site: www.mobi-systems.com The trial period is 15 days, after which you should register the product in order to be able to use it. To register your copy of Mobile Access, order the product at http://www.mobisystems.com and use the online registration form, link to which you will find only in your purchase confirmation message, to obtain the Unlock key for your product

Product IDs and Unlock keys

The Product ID is 4x6 symbols sequence, used for registration key generation. To obtain the Product ID for your copy of Mobile Access, start the program and tap Enter Code. The Registration Form will appear, in which you will find the required ID.

The Unlock key is a combination of 4x6 symbols (for example: 2EFB07-FB2F9E59ECDE-126B88), which you will receive after you submit your Product ID either through the online registration form or by e-mail to support@mobi-systems.com. Use the product registration form above to input the Unlock key and complete your Registration. To enter your Unlock key: 1. Go to Menu> Help> Registration. 2. Type in your Unlock key in the space provided in your Mobile Access Registration screen.
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3. Tap on OK to continue or Cancel to abort the entry.

In case you have an already registered version of Mobile Access Standard and want to upgrade to Mobile Access Professional, go to Menu> Help> Register Desktop to obtain the Product ID for the Professional version and enter the Unlock key when you receive it.

Online Registration of Products

After the successful completion of an online purchase, you will receive a confirmation message for your order. In this message you will find links to online registration resources for your purchased products. Input the Product ID for the particular product in the corresponding field and click [ENTER PRODUCT ID] button. Your Unlock key will be e-mailed to you shortly.

You can access the Unlock keys for your registered products at any time through the online registration form and also obtain second key in cases of PDA change. Keep your purchase confirmation message since the link to the online registration resource is available only there. In case you lose the message, visit
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http://www.mobi-systems.com/lost-registration.asp and fill out the form provided to re-request the order confirmation message. The message will be resend to your e-mail address shortly.

Mobile Access 2004

Quick overview and basics

Launching Mobile Access
After you install Mobile Access on your handheld device, you will find Mobile Access icon in the Main Applications Launcher on your PDA. To initiate Mobile Access, select this icon. Mobile Access will start up and display the Mobile Access Home View. The Home View lists all Mobile Access databases currently recognized on your PDA.

You can access Mobile Access Home View at any time by tapping the Home icon in the tool bar in the upper part of your screen.

Database Basics
This chapter introduces some database definitions, which will help you in understanding and managing Mobile Access functions and performance. Database is a set of one or more tables. Table is a single file containing one or more records, each record providing the same types of information describing items in a group. Each record in a table has fixed predefined types of fields, describing the particular record properties and tools. A field is a named placeholder for storing data in Mobile Access. A fields type controls how you can enter, display and manipulate data. A Value is the information stored within a field. Field Type indicates what kind of information will be entered in a field and how it is to be used. Primary key is a filed and fields type that ensures the uniqueness of each record in a table. A table can have a single primary key, which values are automatically assigned integers.

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Home View Toolbar

Just bellow the dominating list of databases you will find the Database Toolbar, which provides easy access to most recently used functions over databases.

Note that to perform a function over a particular database you must first select the corresponding button from the toolbar and then choose the database you wish to perform the function over. The functions are as follows: New- creates a new database. For details about database creation and properties, refer to chapter Designing Databases Open- this shortcut allows you to open an existing database from the list of available databases Statistics use this function to collect information about particular database. The Database statistics form will appear, which will give you details about the database Category, number of tables, number of records, the file size of the database and the dates of creation and last access Copy- creates a copy of existing database Beam- to beam a database from one handheld device to another without any cable connection, just choose this icon and select the database Find the Find function allows you to search information in a database. The find function provides variety of customizable features for searching sub-strings, whole fields or whole words Delete Use this function to delete whole databases. Be careful when deleting databases because there is no way to recover them afterwards.

Opening a Database
To open a database from Home View, select the Open icon from the toolbar and then tap the database from the list. The Objects View form will open showing all tables associated to the selected database.

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Databases navigation and organization

For managing larger lists with databases Mobile Access provides some functions for organizing the databases in categories so you can limit your lists.

Database Categories
Mobile Access comes with a list of predefined database Categories for better organization of your databases. You can also define your own categories. To change the current Category, tap the upper left corner of your screen and select a new category from the popup list.

To move a database to new category, tap the I icon next to the database while you are in Home View to open the database Properties. Choose the new category to which you wish to associate the database from the popup menu. To create a new Category, choose the Edit Categories field from the Categories popup menu in the Home View or in the Database Properties form. The following for will appear:

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Use the toolbar to navigate in the list of categories as follows in order of appearance: Add category- this will open a new form in which you can type the name of the category. Choose OK to confirm the creation or Cancel to exit without saving the new one Edit- use this function to change the name of existing category Delete removes existing category Sort- this will sort the list of present categories in ascending order. On second tap the categories will be sorted in reversed order. Use the arrows icons to move a selected category up or down in the list OK will close the categories edit form and will save any changes, Cancel will close the current form without saving the changes.

Sorting
To sort the list of databases in the Home View, just tap the title bar for the column by whose fields you want to perform the sorting. For example, to sort the database list by their names, tap Database Name. An up or down arrow will appear next to the column name, which will show you the current sorting order ascending or descending.

Home View Settings

Mobile Access gives you the opportunity to customize the appearance of the Home View, Objects View, Table View and almost any other form according to your own preferences. To adjust the width of a column, just place the stylus on the border between the column frames and drag left or right. To change the colors of the Home View, start the User Interface Options form, which is accessible through Menu> Options > Interface settings.

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To set new color scheme for a selected view: 1. Select the form type from the View popup menu. 2. Select colors for the Header and background text, cells texts and cells background. Just tap the box which color you want to change and pick a new color from the palette that will appear. 3. Tap OK to confirm the changes and Cancel to exit the Color Pick form without applying the changes.

Note: You can access the User Interface Options at any time by tapping toolbar in each view.

from the

Objects View
After selecting a database from the Home View, the Objects View will appear which lists all tables associated with the current database. The objects supported by Mobile Access are tables, queries and forms. To switch between the different objects lists tap Menu> Options> Show Forms.

The toolbar located in the down part of the Objects View provides quick access to the most frequently used operations over tables, queries and forms. To perform an operation, first select a function from the toolbar and then the target object. The toolbars for the three different object types are different. Bellow is the description of the toolbar functions for tables. Details about the queries and forms toolbars are available in the Queries and Forms chapters. New - Adds a new table to the currently opened database. For more details on table creation read chapter Designing Databases. Open- Opens selected table
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 Design- Use this function to initially design your tables or change the field types Copy Create a uniform copy of selected table. Beam- Transfers a particular table from one PDA to another through the handhelds built in infrared ports. Find- For details on searching in tables please read Table Find in this chapter. Delete Erases table selected and all its records You can return to Home View at any time by tapping the Home icon navigation bar in the upper part of your screen. in the

To delete all tables in the currently opened database, select Menu> File> Delete All. Be careful when you delete tables. Once you confirm the deletion there is no way to restore the erased tables. Note: All functions performed over tables can be access through the database menu as well.

Table View
To access Table View just select the Open icon in the Objects View and tap the table which contents you want to explore. Table View is a list of all records in the current table. To adjust columns widths, just place the stylus on the border between two fields frames and drag left or right to reach the desired width. To automatically adjust all columns widths to the best size, use the function provided by Mobile Access in Menu> Tools> Auto Size All Columns.

The Table View Toolbar provides shortcuts to the following functions performed over records:

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 New - creates a new record in the currently opened table Open opens selected record. First you have to select the Open icon and then the record Find use this function to search certain text in table fields. You can match sub-strings, whole cells or whole words. Mobile Access allows you to restrict the search to selected columns or to make the search case sensitive To sort the table records in ascending or descending order just tap the Column label of the column you want to use for the sorting.

For sorting out using more than one column, use the sort function in Mobile Access menu. To access this just tap Menu> Tools> Sort. The Sort Form will appear which will allow you to set three different sorting criteria.

Edit Record View

This form provides a detailed view of a single record. The form also allows you to edit existing records. In the upper right corner of the form you can see the number of the currently opened record. Use the Home Icon to return to Home View at any time and the Back Icon to return to Table View.

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Mobile Access toolbar provides functions for easy and user-friendly navigation in the Record View. New creates a new record in the currently opened table Find - opens the standard find form available in a all other forms which allows you to search strings and sub-strings in the opened record Return to first record Previous Next Go to Last record Delete erases the currently opened record

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Database Designing
This section will discuss how to create and edit databases, and how to configure some of the databases properties.

Creating new database

Follow these steps to create a new database 1. Go to Home View by tapping the Home icon in the upper part of your screen. 2. Select the New icon from the toolbar. The Database Info form will appear. 3. Type in a Name and select Category and Icon for the new database. 4. You can add your own notes about the contents of the created database. 5. Tap OK to confirm the creation of the database and Cancel to close the Database Info form without saving the changes. You can access the Database Info form at any time by tapping the I icon next to the database name in the Home View.

Creating New Tables

Once you have created a database, you add your own new tables or import MS Excel worksheets in it. For tables import read chapter Importing Excel worksheets to PDA. To define a completely new table, follow these steps: 1. From the Home View form open the preferred database. The Objects View form will appear. 2. Tap the New icon from Objects View toolbar. 3. Select Name, Icon and Custom note for the new table in the Properties form that will appear. Note: You can edit the table properties at any time by tapping the I icon next to the table name in the Objects View.

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4. Once the table is created you can design its columns. The table can contain links to records in other existing tables in the current database. To open the table designer select the Design icon in the Objects View toolbar and tap the table name.

This form allows you to create the columns for the new database and define their fields types.

Field Types
Mobile Access currently accommodates 17 filed types. Below you will find description of each type.

Numeric Types
Field Name Integer Description The Integer Type stores numerical values that are positive or negative whole numbers ranging from 32768 to +32767. The Integer type can take unsigned value as wall. The range for unsigned integers is from 0 to 65,535. The Integer field type does not allow decimal field values.

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Long

The Long field type is identical to the Integer type except that accepts a much larger range of values, from 2,147,483,648 to +2,147,483,647. In order to provide this increase range, the Long field type reserves twice as much memory for storing values as the Integer type does. For unsigned long values the range is from 0 to 4,294,967,295. Unless the increased range is specifically required, it is usually far more efficient to use the Integer type. For Palm OS versions lower then 4 Mobile Access does not support numbers longer then 9 digits.

Float

The Float field type stores numeric values with up to five digits after the decimal point.

Text Types
Text The Text field type stores any combination of letters, numbers, punctuation marks and spaces up to 255 characters. Text stores and recalls the data literally. The List field type stores a value from a limited list of choices you have created. The list appears as a popup menu of the choices created.

List

Radio Button

The Radio Button allows you to create a list of previously defined selections, only one of which can be selected at a time. The Memo field type stores longer text entries up to 65,530 characters. Entries may include letters, numbers, punctuation marks, special characters and spaces.

Memo

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Date and Time

Date Time The Date and Time field type stores date and time values. The field provides variety of customizable date and time formats.

Use the fall down list to select the preferred date format, date separator, year, month, and day length and time format.

Calculated Expressions
Calculated The Calculated field type stores a value calculated as a result of mathematical expression. The expression may use one or more values from numeric or DateTime fields in the current table and numeric constants as operands.

Conditional

The Conditional expression field evaluates a Boolean expression you create. You configure the field to return one value if the conditional expression is evaluated as True and another if the expression returns False.

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You can include numeric fields, DateTime and check boxes as arguments in conditional expressions.

Database relationships
Link The Link type allows you to inter-relate tables within a database. Rather than storing a value directly, this field contains a pointer to another field contained in another table. The Link type will return the value of the field it points to almost as though the value was present in the same table. The LookUp field works together with the Link field to increase the inter-relation between tables. Once you configure the database Link field in another table to point to a certain field, you can configure one or more Lookup fields to point to other fields in the same record and return corresponding values. The Join field type links a single record to two or more records in another table.

LookUp

Join

Database Management
Primary Key The Primary Key field value stores an uneditable integer value, starting from 1. For each next record Mobile Access auto increments the Primary key value adding 1. The Primary Key is a unique identifier for each record and guarantees that each record has not uniform copy in the same table. This is an integer field. The first record you create will automatically store a value given by you value in this field. Each subsequent record will continue to count upward, adding 1 to the value saved in the previously created record.
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Auto Increment

Mobile Access 2004

Check box

The checkbox stores a Boolean value true or false depending on whether the box is checked or not.

Images
Image The Image field type allows you to insert images in your Mobile Access databases. The image maximum size of the image fields is limited to 64 Kb or 160x160 pixels in 16-bits color quality and 260x250 pixels for lower images qualities. The supported image types are black and white, 4-bit color, 8-bits 256 colors, and 16-bits color. Mobile Access supports bmp file formats.

Image columns are removed from the table when it is transferred from handheld to desktop computer. Icon The Icon field type allows you to assign icons from predefined icon library to each record in a table. Mobile Access comes with a database of 90 icons you can choose from.

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Queries
Mobile Access allows extra flexibility in managing and browsing your tables by allowing the visualization of selected columns and the filtration of fields satisfying set conditions. To access the Query View, open a database from the list in Home View and tap Menu> Options> Show Queries.

Alternatively, use the arrow trigger in the upper-right corner of the working area in Objects View to switch between Tables, Queries and Forms. To execute a query and see the output table, just tap the Open icon in the toolbar and select a query from the list. The result table will include only the columns you have selected, ordered according to your set preferences. The table will also list only records satisfying a condition if you have set filters.

Creating Queries
To create a new query: 1. Go to the Objects View and switch to queries from the navigation bar or Mobile Access Options menu group. 2. Tap the New icon from the queries toolbar or alternatively select Menu> File> Create New. 3. Type in a name for the new query in the Object Info form that will appear.

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4. Select an icon for the query from the list of available icons. 5. Tap OK to confirm the creation. 6. To design the contents of the new query, select the Design icon from the queries toolbar and then the newly created query. 7. The Set Table and Fields form will appear. Select a source table to be used for the query from the popup list for Table. Each query is executed using the contents of one table only.

8. After you have selected a source table you can specify the table fields you want to appear in the query. To add fields to the query, tap the Plus icon from the Set Table and Fields toolbar. The Add Field form will appear.

9. Use the Add button to include a single field or Add All to include all fields from the selected source table.

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Query Toolbar
The queries toolbar allows you to create, access and manage the design of your queries easily.

OK closes the Set Table and Fields form, confirming any changes Cancel exits the Set Table and Fields form without saving the changes Add opens the Add Field form, allowing you to add new fields to the result table Delete removes selected field from the result query table Sort sorts the selected fields for the output table in ascending order Up and Down arrows select a field and use the up or down arrows to move it in the list of included in the result table fields. The order of the fields in the list determines the order of appearance of the fields in the result table Filter use this button to create advanced queries. The result table will include only records satisfying the filtering conditional expressions.

Queries with Filters

To set filtering condition in exiting query, open the query for designing and select the Filter icon from the queries toolbar. Mobile Access supports the following field types as arguments of filtering expression: INTEGER LONG FLOAT CHECKBOX AUTOINC PRIMARYKEY DATETIME TEXT The expressions can also contain text and numeric constants. To create a filtering query: 1. Create a query and add the fields you want to include in the result table. 2. Tap the Filter icon in the queries toolbar to open the Query Filter form.
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3. Use the popup menu for Field to included argument fields. Only the fields previously added to the currently opened query will appear in the popup list. 4. Tap on arithmetical notation. Use the parenthesis and logical operations- AND, OR and NOT to create multi-conditional queries. 5. The Numeric and Text buttons allow you to input constants as arguments of the filter expression. 6. The Reset button will clear the Query Filter form. 7. Use the Back button to undo the last operation added. 8. To exit the Query Filter form and save the changes, tap OK. To exit without saving the changes, tap Cancel.

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Forms
Mobile Access supports user-defined forms that allow you to completely change the interface of available tables and queries. You can customize the form colors, set fields to be included, add labels, include checkboxes, radio buttons and even assign actions to be performed in the table. Viewing a table through form associated with it, allows you also to modify the table records without the need to return to Table View or Record Views to make the corrections.

Form Home View and Toolbar

To open the Forms View that allows you to view available forms, create new ones, and modify and delete forms, go to Objects View and tap Menu> Options> Show Forms.

Alternatively, use the arrow trigger in the upper-right corner of the working area in Objects View to switch between Tables, Queries and Forms. While you are in Objects View, you can always switch to Forms View by selecting the fourth icon in the navigation bar in the upper part of the screen. The toolbar that appears in the down part of the Forms View provides quick access to operations applicable to form items.

New- Use this icon to create new forms. After tapping the icon the Objects Info form will appear. It allows you to assign Name for the new form and select Icon that will show next to the form name.

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Open - use this icon to open existing forms. If the form is still not designed, the following message will appear. Define the forms design to be able to access it later.

Design - to design the output of newly added forms or to modify existing forms, tap the Design icon in the toolbar and then select form from the list in Objects View. More details about the forms designing are available in the next chapter. Copy - this function allows you to create uniform copies of existing forms. To copy a form, select the fourth icon in the toolbar and then select source form from the list in Object View. Properties - through this toolbar function you can access the Object Info form at any time and change the name and icon of existing forms Delete - the last icon in the forms toolbar allows you to delete existing forms. Tap the recycle bin icon and then select form to be erased.

Designing Forms
To create or change a forms design: 1. Open Mobile Access, go to Objects View and switch to Forms View. 2. Tap the Design icon from the toolbar and select form to be designed. Note that the form has to be created beforehand as described in the previous chapter.
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3. For new forms, in case there is any problem with the Data Source table or query used for the form, the Form Settings will appear that allows you to specify basic form properties.

Data Type- each form is based on single existing table or query and can display data just from this source. Select the type of the source between table and query from the popup menu. Source- Choose the name of the table or query you want to use as source for the form. If you have chosen table for the Data Type field, the popup menu will contain the names of all available tables in the current database. Width and Height - These two fields determine the size of the form you are creating. The minimal form size is the size of the full screen on your type of PDA. For example, on hi-resolution Palm devices Mobile Access will not allow forms smaller than 320x320. On low-resolution devices the minimal size of Mobile Access forms is 160x160. The maximum Width or Height values are limited to 32,767 x 32,767. For forms bigger than the device screen Mobile Access allows you to scroll in the form. Back Color - Through this property Mobile Access allows you to specify the background color to be used for form. Select the color from the palette that will appear when you tap the box for the Back Color field. Navigation bar- If this check box is enabled, a navigation bar with predefines action buttons for moving between records and record management will be included in the forms Design Screen and will also appear in the output form.

4. Click OK to confirm the form settings. Use the toolbar to open the forms Design Screen and start creating the appearance of the forms output.

Form Design Screen

After you have created a new form and specified the Form Settings, you will be able to access the Form Design Screen where you can start to create or modify the actual form output.
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You can open the Form Settings at any time by holding the stylus for a while in the working area and then selecting Form Setting from the popup menu that will appear. Alternatively, the Form Settings is also accessible through the design toolbar. icon in the form

Form Design Toolbar

The form design toolbar allows you to insert, modify and manage object quickly and easily. The toolbar functions are separated in three basic groups.

To hide the toolbar, tap the arrow trigger situated in the upper right corner of toolbars title bar. To resize the toolbar, tap on its right or down border until resize indicator appears, hold the stylus and drag in the desired position. To move the toolbar, hold the stylus on its title bar and drag in the desired direction. To view description of a particular tool while working the Form design View, hold the stylus for a second on its icon. FORM MANAGING TOOLS Use this icon to save the currently opened form. Closes the Form Design Form without saving the changes. Opens the Form Settings view where you can change the general preferences of the currently active form.

OBJECT MANAGING TOOLS This group of tools allows you to perform certain functions over objects. Each of the tools described below requires that an object is selected beforehand. Use this icon to open the Object Properties form and change objects size, position and basic properties. Deletes the currently selected object. Bring to Front- tapping this icon will place the currently active object to front position in case there are any other object overlapping it.
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Send to Back- places the active object behind any other objects. Please note that whenever an object is opened for designing or selected in the output form, it will be brought to front position. Locks an object to its current position so it cannot be moved. To unlock the object, tap the lock icon again. Object selector - Use this tool to select existing object from the Form Design View so you can move it, resize it or change its properties.

OBJECT ADDING TOOLS The tools below are used to insert new objects in the Form Design View. Each of the tools corresponds to different object type supported by Mobile Access. To add an object, select a tool icon from the toolbar and tap in the working area in the Form Design View where you want to place the new item. The object will be created and made active so you can move it or resize it through dragging or set its properties through the tool. Label Inserts labels. Button Inserts button object. Check box - Adds check box in the Form Design Screen. List - Creates a list object. Popup List- Creates a popup list. Image Adds an embedded image. Icon - Inserts an icon. Radio Group- Inserts a Radio buttons group. Edit Adds an edit field. Line Draws a horizontal line. To change the line type to Vertical, slash or backslash, use the line properties form. Rectangle Draws a rectangle with left up corner starting from selected point of the working area. The properties of each of the objects are described in chapter Object Type and Properties.

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SCROLLING IN THE FORMS DESIGN SCREEN The form size is specified in the Form Settings. Mobile Access supports forms with maximum size 32,767 x 32,767. To scroll in the forms working area, hold the stylus on any part of the form not occupied by objects. A hand indictor will appear indicating that you are in scrolling mode. Drag in the desired direction to scroll. ADDING OBJECTS The creation of new object in Mobile Access has two basic steps: object inserting and setting its properties. To insert new object, use the form design toolbar or hold the stylus for a while on the position in the form where you want it to appear. A popup menu will appear. Select the object type you want to add.

Alternatively, you can insert objects through the New menu group, accessible when you open Mobile Access menu and select New. The objects created through the menu option will appear in the upper left corner of the forms screen in position 0, 0. To set objects properties, make sure the object is selected and tap Menu>Tools> Design. The properties of each of the supported object types are explained in details in Form Object Types and Properties. You can also open the properties for each object through the icon from the toolbar.

OBJECT POSITION AND SIZE Mobile Access allows you to change the position of existing objects, as well as object resizing in few taps of the stylus. For precise image positioning the program supports moving of objects to set coordinates on the working area through the object properties screen. To move existing object, just hold the stylus on the object and drag it to the selected position. Holding the stylus on any of the corners of selected object and dragging in the desired direction will resize objects.
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To set exact coordinates for the down left corner of an object and to specify width and height for objects box, use the objects properties form. To open this form, hold the stylus on existing object for a while and select Design from the popup menu that will appear.

The screenshot above shows the properties form for the [OK] green button in the Navigation bar.

Object Types and Properties

After you create a new form and specify its properties in the Form settings, the forms main screen will appear where you can start to create the output of the form. To open the settings screen for selected object and set its properties, select the object with the selector icon and then tap the properties icon .

OBJECTS SHOWING INFORMATION FROM TABLE FIELDS Most of the object types correspond to field types supported in tables and are designed to make the visualization of this table fields more flexible and user friendly. The table below includes all form object types and their corresponding table field types. Object Type List Popup List Radio Group Edit Label Corresponding Field types List, Radio Button List, Radio Button List, Radio Button Text, Memo Text, Memo, Integer, Long, Float, Lookup, Link, Auto Increment, Primary Key, DateTime, Calculated, Conditional, Checkbox, List, Radio Buttons, names of Image, Icon, Join fields Text, Memo, Integer, Long, Float, Join, Link, DateTime, Checkbox, Icon

Button

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Checkbox Icon Image

Checkbox, Conditional Icon Image

Label- the labels can be used for the visualization of field names and values for most of the supported field types in tables. For Image, Icon and Join types the label form type can visualize just the names but not the values. The Label type can also show text defined by you and not connected to any field in the data source table.

Caption Source- this field determines the source type for the label- Field Name, Field Value or User Defined text. The sample label shows the Field value of Name field from table Products. DataSource- this field connects the label to a fixed field in the Source table or query. If the Caption Source is set to User Defined this field will be disabled. Font- specifies the size to be used for the label between Small, Medium or Large. ForeColor- color to be used for the label text Back Color- color for the labels box Text Alignment- specifies the alignment of the text in the Label box between Left, Right and Centered. Lines- indicates the number of lines, which the label will take in the output form. Transparent- through this check box the label can be made transparent and using the forms background color as its own. X and Y- these fields determine the position of the top left corner of the Label. Width and Height- these two fields specify the size of the label. Button- In addition to the functions of Labels, the Button object type allows certain actions to be performed when the buttons is pressed.

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Below are the properties of the button objects that differ from labels properties. Action- the Action field specifies the action to be performed when the button is pressed. The supported actions are Undefined Clear Value Increase Value Decrease Value Edit Number Button with Action set to Undefined will function as Label Deletes the value assigned to the field connected to the button Used for numeric field types. Increases the value of the records field by 1. For numeric field types. Decreases the value of the field by 1. Opens the Calculator form, which allows you to select new value for the field. The action is also used for numeric field types. Used for the editing of bigger text and memo fields. Opens new screen in which you are able to view and edit the whole text. Moves to the previous record in the table. Moves to the next table record. Moves to the first record in the table. Moves to the last record in the table. Creates a new record whose fields values can be specified later. Deletes the currently opened record from the table and moves to the next record in the table Saves the changes made in the current record.

Edit Text/ Memo

Previous Record Next Record First Record Last Record New Record Delete Record

Save Record

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Close Form

Closes the opened form and returns to Object View.

Button Type- the buttons can be Normal or Repeating. Use repeating buttons to perform an action multiple times (e.g. move to next or previous record or increase and decrease the value of numeric fields). Button Frame- the supported frames are Rounded, Plain, Dotted, Bold and None. Caption Source the Button objects can also use Icons as caption source. In this case, additional property Icon will appear, through which you can assign icon to be used for the button. Checkbox- check boxes are used to visualize table check boxes or conditional field values and also allow the modification of the values of such table fields.

The Checkbox properties are similar to Buttons and Labels. The only unique property for this type is the Label Alignment, which determines whether the check box label will be placed in left or right of the checkbox itself. List- Used for the visualization of table Lists and Radio Buttons. In the output form the List appears as box showing table Lists items with arrows for scrolling in it. The properties of the Lists are similar to Labels and Buttons Popup List - The only difference between Lists and Popup Lists is in the visualization of the object. The popup list will show as box with trigger opening popup menu with the lists item alternatives. Image - This type is used for the visualization of table image fields. Mobile Access allows you to resize the source image after it is inserted in the Form Design Screen. When Mobile Paint is installed on your PDA, the images can also be edited in the output form. Icon- similar to the Image type but used for the visualization and edition of icons from existing tables. Icons can also be resized in Form Design. Radio Group- The radio group is used to show information contained in List and Radio Button fields from the source table or query. Each of the items from the
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table list or the alternative values of the table radio button are shown as separate radio buttons in the Radio Group in the output form. Only one radio button from the group can be enabled at a time and saving the record will save this as value for the Data Source field.

Edit- The edit type is used for text table fields visualization. The Edit field will always show the value of the selected Data Source field. The Edit properties are similar to the properties of the other types of objects showing information from table fields.

FORMATTING OBJECTS Some of the objects that can be created in Mobile Access forms have just formatting function and enhance the comprehensibility and the appearance of your forms. Line

ForeColor- this field specifies the color to be used for the line. Pick the color from the palette that will appear when you tap the ForeColor value box. LineType- the supported line types are Horizontal, Vertical, Slash and BackSlash. Thickness- specify the line thickness in this field X and Y- these fields determine the position of the top left corner of the line. Width and Height- these two fields specify the size of the line to be drawn

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Rectangle rectangles can be used to logically group objects and improve the appearance of the form. The properties of rectangles are very similar to the lines ones. ForeColor - this field specifies the color to be used for the frame. Pick the color from the palette that will appear when you tap the ForeColor value box. Back Color - background color Transparent - enable this checkbox to make the objects placed in the rectangle visible. X and Y- these fields determine the position of the top left corner of the rectangle. Width and Height- these two fields specify the size of the rectangle

ACTION OBJECTS Button objects can also be used to perform certain actions within the table or query for which the form is created. The properties of the button field are explained in the previous chapter. The example below is for [Cancel] action button in the Navigation Bar.

The Caption Source is set to User Defined. For User Defined buttons extra property field called Caption appears which allows you to specify text to appear in the buttonCancel in the example button. In the output form when the button is tapped, the form will be closed without saving the changed made.

Navigation Bar
The Navigation Bar is a toolbar of predefined action buttons that can be inserted in custom defined forms. When the Navigation Bar is enabled, it will appear in both the Form Design Screen and the output form.

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To show or hide the Navigation Bar, use the Form Settings accessible through the icon in Form Design View. In the Form Settings you can also specify height and background color for the Navigation Bar. Its minimal height is 32. The Navigation Bar consists of regular action buttons. This is why while you are in Form Design Screen you can add or remove objects to customize the appearance of the bar in the output form. Use the Form Design toolbar to delete, edit or insert new objects in the Navigation Bar as if you are working with any other object in the Form Design View. In the output form, in case the Navigation Bar is enabled, you will be able to switch between the records, create new, delete records etc.

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Advanced Features
Database Security
To protect your private databases from unauthorized opening, modification or beaming Mobile Access supports passwords. To set a password, open the Home View, select the database you want to protect and tap its I icon.

Mobile Access allows you to protect a single database when it is opened, modifies or beamed. For each of the three actions you can set (or not) different password. Select Open, Modify or Beam from the popup menu for Password. Tap the padlock icon to set the password itself. To set a new password, you will have to provide the old one currently assigned to the database. By default Mobile Access does not set passwords for new databases.

Note: Be very careful when you set passwords. Once you have created a password you will not be able to access the database without this password. There is no way to reset passwords once you have saved them.

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Beaming
Many PDAs that use the Palm OS have built-in infrared emitter/receiver that enable users to beam data from one handheld device to another without the need of special cable or other direct connection. Mobile Access supports this capability for both whole databases and separate tables. To be able to beam your Mobile Access data to another device both the emitting and the receiving devices need to have Mobile Access installed beforehand. During the process of beaming both devices have to run Mobile Access as well.

Database beaming
To beam a database to another PDA, go to Home View and select the Beam icon from the taskbar. Select the database you want to beam from the list of databases. During the beaming process you will see a window indicating the operation process, from where you can cancel the transfer. After the database is transferred to the receiving device, the following dialog box will appear in which you should confirm the database saving on the device.

Note: During the beaming process Mobile Access has to be opened on the receiving device in Home View, Objects View or Table View.

Table beaming
The beaming of a single table is very similar to the process for databases. Go to the Objects View, tap the Beam icon and select a table from the list. Once the transfer is complete a dialog form will appear on the receiving device, which will ask you whether you want to keep the table just as for the database beaming. In addition, you
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will be prompted to select an existing database where you want to store the transferred table.

Setting Preferences
The Preferences Form is accessible through the Preferences menu item in the Options main menu.

o Create Backups (Mac OS) - the synchronization of Mobile Access with Windows desktop computers is handled by Mobile Access conduit, which is installed during the Windows installation of the Palm application. To ensure that your Mobile Access data is transferred to your Mac OS desktop computer so you can restore it in case of hard reset, enable this check box. Please note that this can slow down the synchronization. Only databases kept in the main memory of your Palm device are being backuped. o Automatic Save Here you can specify how Mobile Access should handle unsaved data modified through forms when you exit the form. If ON option is enabled the data will be automatically saved. On OFF option, the data will not be saved. When ASK is selected, the program will ask you each time wheather you want to keep the changes and will perform according to your preference for the moment. o Popup Lists Latency (Form Design) through this option you can customize the delay after which popup menus in Form Design Screen are displayed. Latency 0.5 sec means that the popup list will appear after you hold the stylus for 0.5 sec on unoccupied by object area of the Form Design.

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o Popup Lists Latency through this option you can control the latency of popup menus for any other form different than Form Design. o Working Card Directory this option allows you to change the default Mobile Access directory on your memory card where the Access databases are kept. For more details refer to the next chapter.

Memory cards Support

Mobile Access has the handy functionality to allow databases to be stored on memory expansion cards.

Default Directory
All tables and databases saved on a memory card are placed in one default directory and are accessed from there whenever you open Mobile Access. Databases on memory card are automatically detected by Mobile Access and are listed in the Home View as if they are in the main memory on your handheld device. However to be able to open such database and modify it, Mobile Access will need additional free storage space in the main memory of your Palm device, which is used as operational memory and is cleared when you close that database. When you first install Mobile Access on your handheld device, the program will use directory \Palm\Programs\Mobile Access as default and will save all databases that you choose to place on an expansion card in this default directory. However, you can always change the default directory with the following steps: 1. Open Mobile Access in Home View. 2. Tap Menu > Options> Preferences.

3. Tap the Browse button for Working Card Directory from the Preferences form to select the path to the new default directory.

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4. Select the new directory and tap OK to confirm the new choice. 5. If Mobile Access finds tables in the old default directory, the program will ask you whether you want to move the old databases to the new default directory. Note: It is strongly recommended that you move your previously created databases to the new Default directory. Otherwise they may become inaccessible because the program utilizes only databases stored in the currently set Mobile Access default memory card directory.

Creating and moving databases to the memory card

To move a database on the memory card follow the steps form chapter Creating New Database. To save the new database on the memory card: 1. Go to the Home View form in Mobile Access. 2. Select the database that you want to place on the card and tap the I icon to open the Database Info form.

3. Enable the check box next to On Card field. Mobile Access will automatically move the database to the default directory used for Mobile Access databases on the memory cards.

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Hi-Resolution Features
Mobile Access 2003 is enhanced to meet the requirements of the new Hi-res Palm devices Sony Clie and Palm Tungsten. The supported Hi-Res modes are Palm 320x 320, Sony 320x 320, Sony 320x 480 and the Standard Palm 160x 160. The Hiresolution modes hold out High color quality Library with hi-resolution icons to be assigned to databases and tables Ability to choose among 3 font sizes

Font Sizes
The Hi-Resolution modes support three different font sizes, which allow you to adjust Mobile Access interface to your preferences. To change the Font size: 1. Start Mobile Access. 2. Tap Menu> Options> Interface Settings. 3. Select the font size from the fall-down menu next to Font in the User Interface Options form.

4. Select the forms group to which you want to apply the font settings among Home, Databases, Tables and all other forms, using the fall-dawn menu next to View. 5. Confirm the selection with OK or leave the User Interface Options form without saving the changes by tapping Cancel.

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Images Management
Mobile Access supports two images types- icons and real images. There are two possible ways for creating an image field- using the Mobile Access compatible drawing program Mobile Paint and import from MS Excel.

Icons
Mobile Access allows you to assign icons from predefined library list to each record. To assign icon to a record: 1. Create a table or use existing one and open the Edit Fields Form. 2. Create a new field of Icon type. You can set a default icon for the whole table, which will appear for each record in the table.

To do that tap on the rectangle button after the field type in the third column of the Edit Field form and select an icon from the table of available icons. 3. To assign unique icon for each record in the table tap the Value field in Edit Record Form while you create or edit a record and select icon from the table of available icons.

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Creating images on the handheld device

For creating and editing of images on the PDA Mobile Access uses additional painting program called Mobile Paint. Whenever you try to open an image or create a new one Mobile Access will check if Mobile Paint is installed on the handheld and start it on your PDA. If Mobile Paint is not installed, you will receive a message that the program is missing and you will not be able to create images.

Mobile Paint 2003 can be downloaded from www.mobi-systems.com and also is distributed with Mobile Access as a shareware with 15 days limited evaluation period.

Mobile Access supports the following color qualities and image resolutions. Maximum Image Size 320 x 100 200 x 160 160 x 160 320 x 200 360 x 360 360 x 360 360 x 360 Quality 16-bit color 16-bit color 16-bit color 8-bit color (256 colors) 4-bit color (grey scale) 2-bit color (4 grey scale) 1-bit color (black and white)

To create /edit image field using Mobile Paint follow the steps below: 1. Create a table with image fields as described in the chapters above. 2. Open the table and tap the New Record icon in the toolbar to open the Edit Record form. 3. Enter values for the other fields in the records and tap or icon.

If no image is associated with this record, a popup menu will appear, offering you the opportunity to create a new one or to directly assign existing Mobile Paint image to this field.

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Please note that Mobile Access supports images with file size not exceeding 64 Kb and does not work with compressed image files. This is why only images satisfying these two criteria will be show in the popup menu with images that can be assigned to the record.

If already an image is associated with this record, Mobile Access will open the Image View Form visualizing the picture. In the Image View you are offered the opportunity to edit the picture with Mobile Paint or return to Edit Record.

Alternatively, while you are in Edit Record, hold the stylus on the icon to open a popup menu allowing you directly to select image edition with Mobile Paint.

When you edit a record and would like to view or edit an image, fields which already contain images will show with colored rectangle and for blank fields of Image type.

4. Before Mobile Paint is started, the Image Properties form will appear in which you can select size for new image. Enter height and width in pixels for the image and tap OK to start Mobile Paint. If you open existing image, the picture will be automatically loaded in Mobile Paint and the Image Properties form will not appear at all.

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5. Mobile Paint will start and open new blank picture, in which you can create youre a new image or import any of your already existing Mobile Paint images. If you edit an already existing image, Mobile Paint will start and open the image. For details how to use Mobile Paint refer to Mobile Paint Users Guide which is distributed with the program.

6. When you are ready with the image creation or edition tap the menu button on the graffiti area on your PDA to open Mobile Paint menu and select File> Save As.

5. Select the image file you have opened from the list of available image files. When you create a new image and still have not given a name for it, select TMP_Mobile_Access2Paint. This is the temporary name under which Mobile Access open unnamed files in Mobile Paint. 6. Tap OK to close the Save File form. 7. From Mobile Paint main menu select File> Exit/Back to return to Mobile Access.

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