Most corporate handheld applications run on the server, using a design in which server-side code generates client-side interfaces using HTML or Wireless Markup Language.
ThinAirApps Identicon DB wireless development software, which began shipping for Palm devices this month, flips that architecture around by making it easier for developers to write native PDA applications that take full advantage of the client operating system.
Identicon DB combines database access libraries for handheld computers with an enterprise server that passes client requests to a wired network. The client libraries hide the complexity of programming for PDA-specific network APIs and compensate for the lack of database vendor-supplied clients on PDA platforms.
On Palm systems, Identicon DB provides a Visual Basic and C interface, and on Java devices, it will provide a Java Database Connectivity interface.
Versions of Identicon DB for Suns Java2 Mobile Edition- and Windows CE-based systems and Research In Motions BlackBerry computers are promised for later this summer. For more information, ThinAirApps can be reached at www.thinairapps.com.