Deploying to Handheld Devices

If you have users who are on the road a lot, or who are just hooked on handheld devices, a deployment option you may want to consider is FileMaker Mobile. FileMaker Mobile enables you to easily synchronize data between a FileMaker database and a handheld device.

NOTE

In previous versions of the product, both Palm OS and Pocket PC devices were supported. As of the time of this writing, a new version of FileMaker Mobile was not available.

When a database is deployed to FileMaker Mobile, you can specify which fields should be available and how they should appear to users (for example, text field, check box field, popup list). None of your FileMaker layouts or scripts is actually available on the handheld device.

FileMaker Mobile is not the only option for using handheld devices with FileMaker. Citrix makes an ICA client for Pocket PC, which means that if you have a wireless network available to you, you can use a FileMaker solution directly from a handheld device. The display on a handheld device has a different form factor than regular monitors , so you'd likely need to design handheld-friendly layouts.

A final option for handheld deployment is via the Web. Using Custom Web Publishing and wireless Web protocols such as WML and WAP, you can design handheld solutions that interact with FileMaker databases.