Mobile Phone Application

[Chris Lim]

Hi,

I have a situation where I'd like mobile users, who have nothing but
their mobile phone with them, to be able to interface with a database
application that is located on a central server.

Basically the app would consist of a very simple form to capture some
data from the user, the data would be transferred to the database
application by calling a .NET web service.

Being a database programmer I have no idea on the best approach to
achieve this. At this stage I'm guessing Java ME is the best language
to use. I'm about to start doing some research, but I thought if
someone here has some experience with this, or can point me in the
right direction, then I'd really appreciate it.

TIA,
Chris

 

[David N. Welton]

I have a situation where I'd like mobile users, who have nothing but
their mobile phone with them, to be able to interface with a database
application that is located on a central server.

Basically the app would consist of a very simple form to capture some
data from the user, the data would be transferred to the database
application by calling a .NET web service.

Being a database programmer I have no idea on the best approach to
achieve this. At this stage I'm guessing Java ME is the best language
to use. I'm about to start doing some research, but I thought if
someone here has some experience with this, or can point me in the
right direction, then I'd really appreciate it.

This sort of usage pattern is exactly what Hecl is designed for. It's
not going to give you the flashiest UI out there, but it covers the
basic elements, and it has an http extension that you can use to
comunicate with a web server somewhere. Since it's a simple scripting
language, it's pretty easy to get started with (you can even write apps
via a web page at http://builder.hecl.org). In any case, the url is
http://www.hecl.org - if you sign up for the mailing list we'd be happy
to answer any questions. It's open source, too, btw, so you're free to
use it, even to make commercial applications.

--
David N. Welton
- http://www.dedasys.com/davidw/

Linux, Open Source Consulting
- http://www.dedasys.com/