Hi,

I've been asked to suggest a hardware/software solution for use in
promotionnal activities. What we would need is handheld computers
capable of scanning barcodes and displaying related information. This is
very easy to do in Filemaker, but I have no experience with Mobile and
from what I've read, it's not clear to me whether this could be done in
a way that doesn't require a lot of user intervention.

On a desktop version of Filemaker, I would have a script go to a layout
and to a global field, pause and wait for the capture. The scanning
device would be set to send the enter key after scanning, resuming the
script. Because the global input field is also a match field in a
self-join relationship, related information would appear, along with
buttons to cancel or validate the entry (visibility trick). Validation
would set a field to 1 (the item has been scanned) and call the first
script again, waiting for the next capture.

We don't need any synching capabilities here, and in fact it has to work
as a complete standalone solution. The database would be loaded into the
handheld computer (probably tens of thousands of records but with just 2
or 3 fields, i.e key field, description, and notes) and maybe downloaded
back to a desktop just once every few months, at the end of the
promotionnal activity, to consolidate along with data from other handhelds.

On the hardware side, I've looked at the Symbol SPT 1550 and 1800.
They're kind of expensive, especially the 1800 - we'll need around 30 of
these - and overkill since we don't ready need any wireless
capabilities, but they integrate Palm + scanning engine and Filemaker
says Mobile 8 has been tested with the SPT 1800. Please let me know if
you have other suggestions.

But my main concern is with FM Mobile. From what I've read (the user
manuel and previous discussions here), it sounds like layout design and
scripting are very limited, i.e. only possible in the context of
synching with a Filemaker hosted database. Is it so? For instance, would
users have to enter a field manually before the scanning, etc. In terms
of layout, it looks like we're limited to list / forms views of selected
fields, no related data or buttons, etc.

At this point, I feel like Mobile is probably not the best tool for this
application, we may need to program something using Palm OS's native
capabilities for intance. But this looks like it should be easy and
there may be ways to work around the limitations of Mobile.

Thanks for your help.

Marc-André Paiement

Hi, Marc-André.

FMM is indeed very limited. As to what you see / display on the
handheld, only list at form is available. Date selection is quite
nice, though, because it uses native palm interface, AKAICS.

I don't think you would want many thousand records, especially if you
only plan to sync every few months. FMM is limited to one table,
scripts are only available as part of the sync process, i.e. do one
script before sync, one after. On the handheld, fields can or cannot
allow entry, and field names can be customised for better readability
on the handheld. But no calcs, no scripts.

My guess is that you would be better off by having the Symbol deliver
a text file to import into FMP on the desktop. Or look for some
existing solution.

Hope this helps,
Jens Rasmussen

Jens Rasmussen, Fimano, Denmark wrote:
Thanks for your input, Jens. That pretty much confirms what I thought. A
text file to import in FMP is probably a good idea if doing inventory
control, but in my case, the goal is mostly to display the description
for the item being scanned, and to do so with minimum user intervention.

I have another idea. Would you know if FM Mobile can be set to accept
the barcode scan as a search criteria, and display the found record as a
result ? If the scaning engine can be set to send the enter key after
capture, and if that triggers the find, that would probably be simple
enough. Users would just have to enter find mode, place the cursor to
the proper field, capture the barcore, and they'd get the related
description.

Thanks again
Marc-André

There are several good databases native to palm os that can sync up with FM
readable files.



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