Quick start to MobiLink

MobiLink is designed to synchronize data among many remote applications that connect intermittently with one or more central data sources. In a basic MobiLink application, your remote clients are SQL Anywhere or UltraLite databases, and your central data source is one of the supported ODBC-compliant relational databases. This architecture can be extended using the MobiLink server API so that there are virtually no restrictions on what you synchronize to on the server side.

In all MobiLink applications, the MobiLink server is the key to the synchronization process. Synchronization typically begins when a MobiLink remote site opens a connection to a MobiLink server. During synchronization, the MobiLink client at the remote site can upload database changes that were made to the remote database since the previous synchronization. On receiving this data, the MobiLink server updates the consolidated database, and then can download changes from the consolidated database to the remote database.

The quickest way to start developing a MobiLink application is to use the Create Synchronization Model Wizard. When you use the wizard, most of the steps outlined below are handled for you. See Synchronization models.

However, even when using a MobiLink model, you need to understand the process and components of MobiLink synchronization.

Overview of a MobiLink application

Create a MobiLink application

Set up a consolidated database.
- Run setup scripts against the database to add system objects required by MobiLink synchronization. Alternatively, you can create a separate system database to hold these objects.
  
  See MobiLink consolidated databases.
Set up remote databases.
- Your remote databases can be SQL Anywhere, UltraLite, or a combination of the two.
- In your remote databases, create MobiLink users. See MobiLink users.
- To determine the upload in a SQL Anywhere remote database, create publications and subscriptions. See Publications.
  
  To determine the upload in an UltraLite remote database, create publications. See Publishing data in UltraLite.
To determine how the upload is applied, create server synchronization logic. See Synchronization script writing.
To download data that has changed since the last download, set up timestamp-based synchronization. See Implementing timestamp-based downloads.
Start the MobiLink server. See Running the MobiLink server.
Initiate synchronization on the client.
- For SQL Anywhere remote databases, see Synchronization initiation.
- For UltraLite remote databases, see UltraLite client synchronization design.

MobiLink provides samples that you can examine and run to explore MobiLink functionality. MobiLink samples are installed with the product in %SQLANYSAMP12%\MobiLink.
MobiLink code exchange samples are located at http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1058600#319. You need a Sybase.com login to view this page.

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