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We have a standalone Windows application for our sales force that allows them take inventory at various store locations. The application allows the user to download a Master list from our FTP Server and then they can create inventory lists against the Master list. The application allows the user to create a pdf of what inventory is missing. The application is standalone with the option of downloading text files from the FTP server.
10 years ago this application worked well. Everyone owned a Windows laptop. Today, most of our sales reps seem to have apple products. Also, I'm tired of installing it....
I envision re-creating the windows application as a mobile application that would download a master list from our web server and then would operate stand alone for scanning inventory. It then would allow the user to connect to the webserver and upload the scanned inventory lists.
My question is this: Is there a way using Lansa Mobile to manage/save datasets to a local database manager? I would like for the user to "sync up" the master list on their mobile device and then scan their inventory which would save to the local storage. From there I would like to give the user the option of connecting/sending the data to our Web Server.
I hope my question is clear
Best,
Chad
Sherrill Furniture Company
LANSA Mobile does have support for SQLite local database.
I believe this has been used in a service work for a customer - hopefully I can get the consultant involved in the work to share their experience in this forum.
Yep - we've used LANSA Mobile + VL Web to create an offline survey app where a user can download surveys + associated questions to a local SQLite database on their mobile device. VL Web was always able to run offline... but with some newer features we're now able to define a local set of SQL tables, and then have the local client side application write to and read from that database.
The application runs offline (displaying surveys, allowing the users to answer survey questions etc recording their answers in the local offline SQL database) but there are 2 points where we need to interact with the backend server; to allow survey questions to be downloaded, to allow survey answers to be uploaded. The interaction with the server is via normal VL Web server routines and is initiated by the user via a button click / menu option.
The local SQLite database can store both text and blob type data, and is persistent (as you would expect) even if the device is switched off.
The data in the local SQLite database can be accessed using normal SQL statement structure (via some shipped LANSA objects which hide the low level techniques required to actually access the data). The results of an SQL query which can be accessed using familiar RDML code.
So, to summarise - yes you can have offline data which is accessed via SQL, and yes that data can be downloaded / uploaded from / to the backend database. The only requirement is that LANSA Mobile is used to present the web app as that contains the infrastructure to support the SQLite interaction.
Anyway, hope that overview helps. If you need any additional info... please let me know.
Thanks for the reply! I'm excited that what I want to accomplish is doable.
I have my feet wet with VL-WEB but by no means an expert. I do have one question:
1. How are tables defined on the local mobile client?
You said , "but with some newer features we're now able to define a local set of SQL tables." Are those new features Widgets? xDeviceWrite, xDeviceTransfer, etc....
Once you have the Package Manager installed and running, follow the following guide to install the LANSA Mobile package. The guide all shows how to run the sample app and the schema editor. https://blogs.developer.lansa.com/docs/ ... le-package
