M-Business Anywhere Application Edition: Technical FAQs
Does 5.0 allow mobile application developers to develop applications using the three layer application development model: presentation, logic, and data?
Yes. 5.0 allows developers to easily separate on-device data from presentation logic using the three layer application development model: presentation layer, logic layer, and data layer.
Presentation Layer
This layer refers to source code, regardless of language, that controls the user interface through which end users view and manipulate data. This layer includes presentation layout and presentation logic.
presentation layout technologies: HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0, CSS
1.0
presentation logic technologies: DOM 1.0, JavaScript, PODS
Logic Layer
This layer refers to the application code responsible for providing the main functionality of the application. This layer includes application logic and business logic.
logic layer technologies: JavaScript, PODS
Data Layer
This layer refers to the container of the application data and the software used to access it. This layer includes data access and data storage technologies.
data access technologies: AvantGo Mobile Database API, AvantGo
XML Database Conduit, JavaScript, PODS
data storage technologies: on-device databases, remote databases
(Sybase, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM DB2).
Which AvantGo client versions work with a 5.0 server?
4.0, 4.1, 4.2 and 5.0 clients work with a 5.0 server. However, we recommend using matching client and server versions.
Can a combination of AvantGo 4.x and 5.x clients be used with a 4.x server?
No, the new 5.0 client will only work with 5.0 servers. The existing 4.2 client will work with 4.2 or 5.0 servers.
Where does AvantGo document its support for the W3C and ECMA standards for HTML 4.0, DOM 1.0, CSS 1.0, and JavaScript?
This is documented in the Developer Guide.
How much of CSS 1.0 does 5.0 support?
5.0 supports the STYLE attribute within HTML elements.
5.0 does not support:
a) inline style sheets: the use of the STYLE tag
b) external style sheets: linking to external style sheets using
the LINK tag
Also, 5.0 does not support CSS-P which is a related W3C standard. CSS-P extends CSS 1.0 to support the positioning and visibility of HTML elements in three-dimensional space (layers). In particular, CSS-P adds the position: property to the CSS 1.0 style attribute. Thus, 5.0 does not support the position: property.
The most significant CSS 2.0 and CSS-P items that of course are
not supported in 5.0 are:
a) absolute positioning
b) layers
Does 5.0 DOM implementation support .innerHTML?
No, .innerHTML was originally a third-party extension
to DOM that didn't make it
into W3C DOM 1.0
Using DOM 1.0, you can achieve the same results without using .innerHTML.
http://www.pxl8.com/innerHTML.html
Does 5.0 include a cross-platform interface to local on-device databases?
Yes, 5.0 has a new cross-platform on-device database interface, AvantGo Mobile Database API, that allows developers to interact with a local on-device data store via JavaScript or C.
What image types does 5.0 support?
GIF and JPEG
Does 5.0 support linked images?
Yes.
Does 5.0 support image maps?
Yes, image maps (rectangle, polygon, circles, all), areas...
Does 5.0 support the transparent image color?
No.
How can an Administrator change an M-Business Anywhere configuration to support multiple NT domain names when they originally installed the server to support a single NT domain name integration?
The administrator needs to change the conf file as specified in the conf file's comments. Here is a copy of the documentation within that file.
# NTDomainValidation can be a comma separated list of domain
names and/or
# a period '.' to use local accounts on this host. The default is
".".
# e.g. "REDMOND,TESTDOM,."
When the AvantGo Alert dialog box is displayed, it says AvantGo Alert in its title bar. Is there anyway a developer can specify a custom title for this dialog box?
No.
With 5.0, can a developer create web pages larger than 32K?
Yes. There are still other limits such as 65,535 DOM objects within a single web page.
When a developer creates a MIME player, is the software cross-platform? Or, will changes have to be made for each mobile device platform?
If a developer sticks to the AvantGo client MIME player API, the source code will just need to be recompiled for each mobile device platform.
Can a 5.0 developer intermix HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0 documents in the same application?
Yes.
Is SSL forced if a certificate is in use on the server?
In 5.0, the admin can now deploy a server that only accepts SSL connections. 5.0 now allows a server admin to force a server to accept only secure or nonsecure connections. So the client's checkbox has four states: forced on, forced off, elective on, elective off.
In 5.0, what is the best way to pass values between DHTML web pages?
1) Use the new AvantGo Mobile Database API.
2) Use the Prefs object. The Prefs object is a simple
name/value pair store. Prefs object names should be in the
format of companyname_appname_valuename.
3) Don't use separate pages, just hide and show parts of the same
page.
4) Use the sample session POD.
In 5.0 the PODSMgrGetHWnd() function has been deprecated. What is the equivalent in the new scheme?
HWND hwAvantGo=0;
const TCHAR agWinName[] = _T("AvantGo");
hwAvantGo = FindWindow(NULL,agWinName);
Does 5.0 support the JavaScript document.write() function call?
No, instead use DOM 1.0 to add HTML elements to an HTML document. There is 5.0 sample code that shows how to do this.
Developer Note: One thing to remember is that when you use DOM 1.0 to delete an HTML element from a document, that elements memory is not released until the HTML document is removed from memory.
How can I allow users to view form submissions through the AvantGo client Forms Manager, but at the same time not be able to delete them?
You can work around this by writing a POD to intercept the URL pods://www.avantgo/forms and redirect it to another page.
How is the W3C event object supported?
The supported event object is documented in the Developer Guide.
How can I process events within PODS?
You need to write a PODSEventHandler and register it with the PODSEventMgr (look at the ObjectSrc sample pod to see a similar example of creating a PODSObjectSrc and registering it with the PODSObjectMgr). The PODSEventHandler has a single method handleEvent() that takes a PODSEvent object. A PODSEvent is a simple wrapper on the native event type for each platform.
How do I get access to the event object?
To have the event object passed to your JavaScript event handler function, you must explicitly assign the event handler at runtime within your JavaScript code. The following two methods work. For both methods, the event object is always passed as the first argument.
1) objInput.onclick = function(evt) { alert(this.name + " you clicked on (X,Y)= (" + evt.clientX + ", " + evt.clientY + ")"); return; };
2) objInput.onclick = myEventHandler;
Which HTML events are supported?
This depends on the HTML element. In general, the following events are supported: bold is supported, and non-bold is unsupported.
onClick
onDblClick
onKeyDown - except with form controls
onKeyPress - except with form controls
onKeyUp - except with form controls
onMouseDown - except with form controls
onMouseMove - except with form controls
onMouseOut - except with form controls
onMouseOver
onMouseUp - except with form controls
Note: Event handlers on RIM do not work on images unless they are incorporated in a link.
For each mobile platform, which fonts are supported?
|
Mobile Platform |
Supported Fonts |
|
Palm |
Supports the built-in font which is sans-serif in size
8 (regular and italic), 10 (regular, bold, italic and
bold-italic), and 14 (regular, bold, italic and
bold-italic). Supports Courier, which is monospace, in sizes 10 (regular and italic) and 14 (regular and italic). No bold. |
|
Pocket PC |
Supports whatever font is on the device when AvantGo is
installed (look for .ttf files in the \Windows directory on the
device). Most Pocket PCs have at least Tahoma (sans-serif)
and Courier New (monospace). There are 5 point sizes
supported in all combinations of normal, bold and italic: 8, 10,
12, 16 and 20. |
|
RIM |
Supports the built-in font which is sans-serif: size 8, 10 and 12 in regular, bold, italic, and bold-italic. |
Using a binary channel, how can I install files in different directories on the mobile device?
Use .CAB files. After a cab file is downloaded to the mobile device using a binary channel, AvantGo uncompresses the cab file and places the files in the specified directories.