Is a PDA what I need?
July 26, 2006 4:22 PM Subscribe
I need to organize alot of daily and long term information
What I need most is the ability to cross reference. I am a detective and would like to maintain a database of open and recent cases, 50-100. I need to be able to search by victim, suspect, date or location etc. I would love to have photos also. I have no experience with PDAs and have no idea what is out there. What is the smallest item I could get that would serve those functions?
What I need most is the ability to cross reference. I am a detective and would like to maintain a database of open and recent cases, 50-100. I need to be able to search by victim, suspect, date or location etc. I would love to have photos also. I have no experience with PDAs and have no idea what is out there. What is the smallest item I could get that would serve those functions?
Maybe there's some other database, like MySQL, ported to Pocket PC/Palm?
Some googling turns up filemaker mobile, which syncs with filemaker pro. I've never used the mobile version but I have used filemaker pro, and it at least definitely can do everything you want. I do suggest that if you go this route, and don't have experience designing databases, that you find someone to help you with the design -- my (limited) experience with graphical database software suggests that while they are easily usable by people with limited experience, they also make it much easier to poorly design databases. I do think this kind of solution would be much nicer than excel in terms of interface.
posted by advil at 8:20 PM on July 26, 2006
Some googling turns up filemaker mobile, which syncs with filemaker pro. I've never used the mobile version but I have used filemaker pro, and it at least definitely can do everything you want. I do suggest that if you go this route, and don't have experience designing databases, that you find someone to help you with the design -- my (limited) experience with graphical database software suggests that while they are easily usable by people with limited experience, they also make it much easier to poorly design databases. I do think this kind of solution would be much nicer than excel in terms of interface.
posted by advil at 8:20 PM on July 26, 2006
I believe there are some industry-specific contact management applications out there...I have either read about or heard of applications for the medical staff @ hospitals, college admissions officers and field salespeople.
I'm not a techie, but I assume whatever you use should be able to be adopted by your fellow detectives and should be synchable with a central database.
Does your department have an IT honcho? Perhaps he/she can contact Palm & the other providers.
posted by NYCinephile at 2:11 AM on July 27, 2006
I'm not a techie, but I assume whatever you use should be able to be adopted by your fellow detectives and should be synchable with a central database.
Does your department have an IT honcho? Perhaps he/she can contact Palm & the other providers.
posted by NYCinephile at 2:11 AM on July 27, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
Maybe there's some other database, like MySQL, ported to Pocket PC/Palm?
posted by lunchbox at 6:15 PM on July 26, 2006