Overview

FileMaker Mobile extends FileMaker databases from the desktop to a Palm handheld device. You can download entire databases or selected information from FileMaker Pro databases to your Palm OS personal digital assistant (PDA). This information can then be viewed, added to, or edited. Changes are synchronized by "hot syncing" to the desktop database.

FileMaker Mobile (FM Mobile) preserves existing user investment in FileMaker database solutions and can increase productivity for database users. Installation is easy and database synchronization is quick. The database on the handheld holds the content of the desktop database. You can add, modify, or delete records from the handheld. You can have multiple databases on your handheld, but there is room on the handheld screen to look at only one at a time. Navigating the handheld database is easy: tap with the stylus to select a record or field or to move around the database, and use Palm's Graffiti script to enter data into fields.

FM Mobile is ideal for scientists who wish to carry their databases with them on a handheld. The database can travel along and even be updated in the field. In the lab, when a scientist needs to work away from a desktop computer, the PDA can carry the pertinent database for reference or data entry. Changes in the handheld or desktop versions of the databases can then be updated on both platforms upon synchronization. Obvious examples of uses are visits to the cold room or the mouse facility. Other examples of potential uses are equipment and reagent tracking, inventory, product lists, mobile patient data, schedules, and grades.

How Long Did It Take to Learn to Use It Productively?

Like any FileMaker product, it took no time at all to learn to use. Anyone who knows how to use FileMaker and the Palm OS will take less than half an hour to be up and running with this program.

The installer places the necessary files in the appropriate places. You might need to select the Palm OS file to install on your handheld. The shared database needs some sharing settings changed in FileMaker, and you need to install the Palm OS application before you can synchronize. The sharing interface is simple, easy to understand, and consistent with all the other forms of file sharing FileMaker supports. The Palm OS application is simple and easy to navigate. As long as you understand that FM Mobile uses the sharing settings from the desktop database, then it is easy to use.

Product Quality

Customizability

Not applicable.

Ability to Program in Scripts, Add Extension Modules, etc.

The database loaded onto the PDA contains only the data in the record fields. No scripts or extensions present in the desktop database are passed to the version on the handheld.

Ability to Import and Export in Different File Formats

Not applicable. All import/export features reside in the FileMaker Pro desktop application. Databases cannot be beamed between mobile users.

Useful or Unusual Features

There are two views available in the handheld database: list and detail.

List View

You see can see a list of 10 records at a time, but you are able to view only three fields of each record at a time in this view. By clicking on the scrolling arrows (up, down, left, and right), you can see other records and fields. The handheld's scrolling button will scroll up or down one screenful of records. You can sort the list by clicking on the field title or via a dialog box.

Detail View

The detail view shows the individual record. It is in this view that you modify records. You can scroll through the record's detailed view using the scrolling arrows or the handheld's scrolling button.

The manner in which FileMaker resolves synchronization clashes (when the same record is changed on both the handheld and desktop) is simple, yet capable. If a record is changed or added on the handheld or on the desktop, it is added to or modified in the other database upon synchronization. If a record is changed on both the handheld and the desktop, FileMaker reads the fields to see how the record was changed. If the changes in the two copies of the record are different, then both copies will appear on each device so that the user can choose which one to delete. But if the changes in the two copies are identical, then nothing happens.

For example, if I only add an "s" to a field of the same record on each device, say, I change "Adam" to "Adams" in the "name" field, then FileMaker Mobile knows that there is no need to duplicate or synchronize this record. Other Palm conduits (synchronization software) will duplicate any record that has been modified on both the desktop and handheld, even if the modifications are identical on both. The rules for synchronization are controlled from the sharing dialog in the desktop FileMaker application.

Limitations

Handheld Limitation

This program allows the data from a desktop FileMaker database to be placed onto a Palm OS handheld. This imposes some constraints on the use of the handheld-based database. The only FileMaker Mobile preference you can set is whether to allow Palm global "find" to search within databases. In some cases this can slow global searches. While you can use FileMaker Mobile to perform searches, they are limited to hits that "contain" the search string and do not permit the use of additional qualifiers such as "greater than."

Data Entry

All data entry on the Palm OS version of the database is done explicitly. There is no field typing or scripting to facilitate data entry. For example, fields such as dates or serial numbers are not automatically filled in, as might be specified in the desktop version of the database. Also date fields from the desktop database are treated as text fields on the handheld, so they cannot be sorted by date (i.e., the date 11/11/2001 will precede the date 8/02/2001 after sorting).

Scripts

Scripts are lost in the handheld database. This can be annoying if you use scripts heavily to enter data or process records.

Beaming

Databases cannot be beamed between PDAs. To have a database on more than one handheld requires that you set sharing to multiuser, install FM Mobile on the new handheld (another license), and hot sync with the database. This is really a limitation on the sharing metaphor and is a minor annoyance. It would be nice if the database could be beamed, but then not shared. This would be useful when a user wanted to distribute a read-only database for reference purposes (quite likely in a laboratory setting).

Limitations by Constraints

There are also some size limitations on the handheld database due to the nature of handheld devices.

• Maximum field size is approximately 2,000 characters. Number, date, and time fields can contain up to 255 characters.
• Maximum number of fields per handheld database record is 20.
• Maximum number of records per handheld database is 5,000 (depending on how much memory is available on your handheld).
• Maximum number of databases that can be loaded onto the handheld is 50 (depending on how much memory is available on your handheld).

Comparisons with Similar Software

The other popular FileMaker synchronization solution for the Palm OS is FMSync, which synchronizes FileMaker databases on the Macintosh with JFile databases on the Palm. JFile is a feature-rich database program for the Palm OS that allows users to design dynamic databases with advanced actions normally found on desktop databases (e.g., pop-up menus and automatic entry of dates).

FMSync translates a FileMaker database and does more than just move the data over to the handheld. For example, FileMaker Mobile does not allow calculated fields to be synchronized, whereas FMSync downloads calculated fields to the handheld. While I have not tested FMSync, it seems a superior solution for Macintosh FileMaker users. FMSync is comparably priced to FileMaker Mobile and is a good solution for Macintosh users, while FileMaker Mobile is a solution for both Mac OS and Windows/NT.

I do not know of a product equivalent to FMSync to synchronize FileMaker on a Windows system. JFTrans for JFile synchronizes Access databases on a Windows PC with JFile databases.

Technical Support and Documentation

The manual is available only as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. It is simple, but moderately helpful for basic installation and use issues. The FileMaker Web site has some extra information in its knowledge database.

For telephone support, there is a Fax AnswerLine ((800) 800-8954) to request information to be sent to your fax machine. You also receive unlimited installation support with the access code on the support card that comes with the product (via a toll call).

Full technical support is fee-based, either pay-per-minute or per-call. Users receive one complimentary technical-support call in the first year of product ownership. Unlimited support for installation is provided with the complimentary access code, but not for training or consulting.

Fortunately, FileMaker products are easy to use and install (even on Windows). Also, if you're stuck, I suggest you go to the FileMaker community, which is large and helpful.

Target Users

This software is useful for scientists who need to work with their FileMaker databases away from a desktop computer, whether it be in another area of the lab or out in the field.