PDA Toolbox
Contact Info:
admin@PDAToolbox.com
URL: www.pdatoolbox.com
PalmInfoCenter.com Bottom Line:
The Price:
Free Beta version
The Pros:
- Easy to learn, visual development environment
- No coding necessary
- Creates small apps
- No run-time enabler required on Palm
The Cons:
- Palm apps have limited functionality
- Windows-only development environment
- Has the usual amount of bugs in a beta version
PalmInfoCenter.com Ratings*:
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*Maximum Rating is FIVE (5) InfoPalms
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PDA Toolbox Review
By Ed Hardy
4/17/2000
Have you always wanted to create your own Palm applications but didn't have
time to learn to program in C? Well, PDA Toolbox may be just the tool you
are looking for. It allows you to create simple database-driven Palm
applications without any programming at all.
PDA Toolbox is quite easy to learn if you are willing to put a bit of time
into it. I created my first app in less than an hour. The process is
relatively simple. You just create a form, add some fields to it, then add
some buttons with predefined actions like "Move to Next Entry". You don't
even have to worry about setting up a database; one is created for you
automatically. There is an extensive seventeen-page tutorial on the PDA
Toolbox Web site that, step by step, walks you through the process of
creating a practice application.
You can have fields that that are text, radio buttons, check boxes, and
option boxes. Really, the whole process of creating a form reminded me
strongly of using a WYSIWYG Web page editor. If you can use one of those,
you can use the PDA ToolBox.
When you are done, you just tell PDA Toolbox to generate a Palm app. This
takes just a few seconds and creates a fairly small file. My one-form app
took only 10K. Then you add it to your Palm like you would any other app.
And there you go, you're a Palm developer.
Long time Palm users will remember when PDA Toolbox was called PalmFactory
and had another developer. Paul Prejean, it's current developer, said, "I
'adopted' the project from a friend who was busy getting venture capital for
his start-up company. I was a user and saw the potential for an
inexpensive, flexible, fun, and easy to use development system for the Palm,
and didn't want it to die."
PDA Toolbox is currently in development and for the time being the beta
versions are free. These betas currently have a few limitations. Each
app can only have eight forms and each form can only have eight fields. And
the most important limitation of all is that the application can't _do_
anything with the data you feed into it. For example, you can create an app
that will let you save all the calories you ingest in a day. But all the
app can do is save and display back the data you put into it. You can't
display a total of the calories in a day or make an average of them.
Another current limitation is that, while you can synchronize the
applications you create, you can't synchronize your databases.
The most recent beta has a major conflict with OS 3.5. I tested my app
under 3.3 and it worked fine. But when I tried it on 3.5 several things
didn't work at all. But Prejean promised that he is working on a fix.
A commercial version is due out this Summer which won't have many of these
limitations. It will allow far more fields and forms in an application and
will include a conduit to synchronize databases. It will also include
calculated fields such as sum, average, etc. And one of the more
interesting improvements is the inclusion of 'Digital Ink', which will allow
an app to capture a signature or any other drawing on the screen. Exact
pricing hasn't been set yet but is promised to be less than $50.
Despite its current limitations, a community is starting to grow up around
PDA Toolbox. A Web ring has been started and proud users of PDA Toolbox are
posting their apps for download both on the Ring and on the PDA Toolbox page
itself. These include an app for tracking patient information or another
for flight logs.
If you need help during development there is a forum on the PDA Toolbox web
site (http://www.pdatoolbox.com/) where you can post questions, most of
which Prejean answers in a day or two.
As Prejean says, "Palm users have an innate urge to create, and PDA Toolbox
allows them to do just that (and have fun at the same time)." If you feel
the need to create and you want to try your hand without a serious
commitment in time and effort, PDA Toolbox is perfect for you. And you
certainly can't beat it for the price.
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RE: PDA Toolbox
My opinion is that what Magic is for the 'larger' computing platforms (Windows, Unix, AS/400, etc..), PDA Toolbox is for the Palm. Form based Code Free development without having to worry about things that are always standard to database oriented applications.
Just like in Magic, applications can be developed, adapted and maintained in a fraction of time it would take when using a traditional language/tool like C or others.
Even with its currently limited functionality it is already a great product. This has a huge potential, and i sincerily hope that development of this product will continue.
Mario Reuser
mreuser@mage.nl