Field Copies

[simoncpage]

Hi

I'm working with a developer at ihookdb.com on getting a decent PDA database solution. My problem is thus

Procedure

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1. PDA is sync'ed with the database and retrieves fields specified

2. PDA is taken out of office and fields are updated

3. PDA is sync'ed back to the main database on return

The problem is that there is no way of telling what has been changed exactly (without user remembering) and hence its also not easy to audit.

So my idea was to use a PDA_Phonecopy field which is the field that is synchornised with the PDA and back and then a script is performed on applying this to the main phone number field from the main database.

This PDA_phonecopy is the problem as it needs to update if the main database phone field is changed to reflect that that is the master field. But it also needs to be a field that can be fully editable.

Also I need someway of flagging the changed cells from the PDA when it writes back to the main database. I thought that what I really need is a separate modifed date and time for these specific field so that I could display just these filtered

Any ideas on the above would be really helpful

thanks

[spb]

One idea might be to use an intermediary database. Make one that contains only your unique ID field, PDA_phonecopy, and perhaps auto-enter date & time fields (or non-calculating date & time, if this info exists in fields on the PDA). When you synch a PDA, have it trigger a script in the intermediary that simply shows all records, deletes all records & imports new records from the PDA.

Then relate intermediary to your master via unique ID. You can script an updating import that will match unique IDs and alter the master's phone field (and a non-calc date & time fields in the master, to give you your filter & tracking ability). The two don't need to be related to do this, but a relationship can be handy for trouble-shooting & for other stuff you haven't thought of yet.

All this can be reduced to a single button for the user to click (in the intermediary) that will run the import script in the master as an external after importing from the PDA. The user need never know the intermediary even exists.

If you are importing thousands per day, running essentially two imports, one after the other, might take an unacceptable amount of time. But if you doing doing just a handful or so, it will all be pretty much instantaneous.

Steve Brown