.KEYWORD avantgoserv
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Using the AvantGo Server 2.11
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY The convergence of handheld devices and the Internet is real. It is now possible to download Web-based information into your handheld for easy review. If you work for a larger corporation, you might want to use this capability to connect mobile professionals into your corporate information system. In this important article, Senior Technical Editor Jason Perlow reviews the AvantGo Server, which allows you to do just that. While the server product itself is aimed at the enterprise, the AvantGo client is freely available to all. So if you want Web content on your handheld, read this article today.
.AUTHOR Jason Perlow
The original promise of the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) was of a ubiquitous miniature computer that would fulfill all of our personal information and organizational needs. But while PDA technology has greatly improved over the years, and units like the Palm organizer and Windows CE devices are now affordable by just about everyone, PDAs in general have fallen short of their original promise. That’s because, although they can do much more, they’re often used as no more than glorified electronic Rolodexes.
Much of the reason why PDAs haven’t unleashed their true potential is because, back in the early 90’s, nobody really could predict the rise of client/server technology and the Internet. Yes, PDAs are great for storing our email, personal notes, and contacts, but do they actually deliver desirable information to us? The answer unfortunately, is a resounding no. That’s where AvantGo Server 2.11 comes in.
.H1 Mobile devices for the enterprise
AvantGo has been one of the true pioneers in bringing Web technology to the PDA. In the January 1999 issue of PalmPower, our sister publication, we awarded AvantGo Web to Go Client 1.1 Software Product of the Year honors. What did we think was so cool about it? In short, the AvantGo client allows you to store and browse Web pages on both the Palm organizer and Windows CE devices (some of which, like the small-screened Palm device, arguably aren’t ideal platforms for viewing Web pages). The way you do this is to subscribe to AvantGo Channels. Content providers (i.e., Web site operators) create these channels. These, then, you can view optimized within the AvantGo browser, shown in Figure A.
.FIGPAIR A Using AvantGo, you can browse popular Web sites, like TV Guide. Now get back to work.
AvantGo channels work somewhat like how Mobile Channels work on Windows CE palm-sized devices, with the exception that the desktop software that works with the AvantGo browser can sync any HTML 3.2 compliant Web page with the handheld unit. Mobile Channels require special files written in Microsoft’s CDF format.
AvantGo 2.11 represents quite an improvement in enabling Web and client/server technology for PDAs. For starters, the software now supports Windows CE palm-sized PC’s and H/PC’s. Where the Web to Go desktop (AvantGo 1.1) has been marketed towards the personal and end-user, AvantGo 2.11 is positioned toward the corporate and enterprise environment. At $15,000 for the server software and $15,000 for 100 client licenses, it’s not something your average home user will consider implementing themselves — but you can expect some interesting announcements from third parties providing low-cost Internet-based services using the AvantGo server technology in the near future.
.H1 Getting up and running with AvantGo Server
The AvantGo Server is a service that runs on Windows NT Server 4.0 and Internet Information Server 4.0, Microsoft’s Web server platform. Installation is simple, at least as simple as setting up an NT server can get. Once you’ve set up a PC server running Windows NT 4.0 Server, and installed the NT 4.0 Option Pack and Service Pack 4 with Internet Explorer Service Pack 1, you run the AvantGo Server setup program from the CD-ROM. This program copies files and starts the AvantGo service in NT.
Once the AvantGo service on Windows NT is running, you can connect to the server from any client PC using the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser, with either the Palm Desktop or Microsoft Windows CE Services loaded for synchronizing your mobile device. The default URL is http:\//yourserver/avantgoserver.
.FIGPAIR B You can log into the AvantGo server by filling out a simple form. (Please note that the URL for avantgo.windowscepower.com shown is for demonstration purposes only and is not implemented at Windows CE Power).
By clicking on the Install AvantGo Connect link, your browser will download the client software to your PC. The AvantGo Connect setup program asks if you have a Palm Organizer or Windows CE device, and installs the client files accordingly. In our evaluation, we used a Philips Nino 300 with 4MB of RAM, with Windows CE Services 2.2. The browser on both PDA platforms takes up about 200K of memory; however at this time, AvantGo 2.1 doesn’t support loading the software on CompactFlash storage devices, so be sure to load it using its default installation path when using the Windows CE software installer.
.H1 Creating AvantGo channels
AvantGo channels are simply Web sites that are cached into the AvantGo server’s database. They can be static Web pages, or they can even be dynamic, forms-based applications. When a new channel is created, the Web site data can be refreshed either on a scheduled basis (such as daily, hourly or one time only) or every time you sync your mobile device.
After the client software is installed on both your PC and your mobile device, you can connect again to the server to set up your personal AvantGo channels. There’s some corporate client/server action going on here. While there are users who will download information to their mobile devices, there’s also an administration role. Prior to having an end-user log into the server, the AvantGo server administrator would connect to the server and create a user account, and pre-configure channels (such as the corporate intranet Web site, premier content or a Web-enabled application) for the user. Figure C shows a list of the channels I’ve used.
.FIGPAIR C Here are some of my AvantGo channels. (Please note that the URL for avantgo.windowscepower.com shown is for demonstration purposes only and is not implemented at Windows CE Power).
While the AvantGo browser on the mobile device is capable of displaying any HTML 3.2 compliant Web page (without frames), AvantGo has published a set of guidelines on their web site for authoring pages so they display well on a palm-sized form factor. In our February 1999 issue of PalmPower, Marty Kacin, Director of Professional Services at AvantGo, wrote an excellent summary of these guidelines. While this piece was written with the Palm Organizer version of the AvantGo browser in mind, any Web site designed according to these guidelines should display equally well on both the Windows CE and Palm platform.
.H1 Syncing up
Once channel content is created on the server, you can now sync your mobile device. AvantGo users have two ways of doing this — by syncing the device in the cradle, or by having the mobile device directly connect to the network (either your company’s internal TCP/IP network or the Internet) via wireless or modem link. Cradled users can synchronize on their own desktops, or on any desktop with a cradle that supports their device. This allows for group-syncing kiosks or distributed syncing stations where multiple users sharing an application can update the data on their mobile device.
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of AvantGo server is its ability to integrate with existing web applications running on Active Server pages, CGI and remote databases using ODBC. For example, you could have a form-based application on a Web server that requires users to key in information to update or query a database. Using a mobile device with an optimized version of the form for an AvantGo channel, you can submit data into the form and later update the server by syncing the device into a cradle or initiating a wireless network connection with a cellular modem. Figure D shows an example delivering customized stock quotes.
.FIGPAIR D This AvantGo Channel delivers stock quotes based on dynamic data.
.H1 The thin-client skinny
As you can see, AvantGo Server 2.11 provides robust Web application integration for handheld devices. While only enterprise environments may be able to afford its hefty $30,000 price tag, the price is comparatively low considering how easy it is to develop and deploy dynamic enterprise applications with it.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on AvantGo server, be sure to check out their Web site at http://www.avantgo.com/enterprise.
For information on how to develop AvantGo channel content visit http://support.avantgo.com/devcorner/index.html.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Jason Perlow is Senior Technical Editor with Windows CE Power Magazine. When he’s not busy deploying enterprise application servers for Fortune 500 clients, he can be reached at perlow@hotmail.com.
