Tag Archives: PocketBuilder

SAP Archived PocketBuilder

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I was poking around the Appeon and SAP sites and such when I fell across a link to our beloved PocketBuilder.  It has not been totally scrubbed but moved to an ‘archived’ location:
http://www.sybase.com/products/archivedproducts/pocketbuilder

So, if you’re wanting win bar bets by pointing out the “already invented by PocketBuilder” ideas, just reference this area.  Things like:

  • Occasionally connected, transactional, data access objects using MobiLink (2003).
    On top of the rock solid ACID SQL within the device itself.
  • Easy access to web services from the mobile device (2004).
  • 4GL objects for barcode & fingerprint readers (2004).
    This included support for multiple hardware variations.
  • Referring to the user’s source code library as the ‘pickle’ (in homage to a PowerBuilder shorthand).
  • 4GL objects for tying the contact list to the device’s phone for easy calling and lookups (2003)
  • 4GL objects for GPS, SMS, Camera, and SIM card (2005).
    And yes, these support multiple hardware variations.
  • The PocketBuilder group also ‘snuck’ features into PowerBuilder – like enhancements to direct file access, edit masks, and display formats (hex, boolean, etc).

Internally this project was run using agile techniques such as nightly builds, nightly QA runs, burn-down lists, and frequent internal and external releases.  This was a small project that made a profit, but not large enough for a big company to bother with (IOW – if this was a company in my garage, we would be very very happy).