[paulfynch]

Hello all,

It seems I have scoured the internet far and wide to no avail and mounting confusion..

My situation:

I require an application that will retrieve data from a blackberry device. I am currently looking at the 7520. I have found that the current wireless provider in this area (Telus mobility) does provide WAP and static IP.
So it seems that http or tcp information can be transfered back and forth from the device (please correct me if i am wrong in this assumption).

My question is, since it will not be feasible for my clients to purchase Blackberry Enterprise Server, as most of them will only run 1 or 2 devices, can an application be written to push the information to the blackberry device?
If so, what language and protocol would be required?
Or, is there currently an application that would act as some sort of tcp push server or something. Bear with me, as i am still somewhat confused as to how the technology works.

One software i have found that is similar to what i would need is Flowfinity.
www.flowfinity.com
Their service talks about "patent-pending push-driven" software. Is it a requirement to write a push "server" or application in ...say... vb?

Someone please clarify for me and i will be eternally greatful.

Thanks again

Paul Fynch

[mmkl]

hi,
if you won't use a bes than you have to use j2me, or you should look at j2me at least ;)
try this link
corej2me-DeveloperResources
there you will find an article about 'implementing push technology'.
i think, this could be a good start for you.
i don't remember if there is an special about blackberry, but the only think you have handle with special care is setting the

devicside=true

flag while registering or open connections on the blackberry.
if you have more problems after reading the article above, just search the forum here, there are some more posts about socket connections and push connections without the bes.

hope that helps you
mmkl

[corey@12mile]

I don't know if you are going to be able to push something very easily... You can write a browser channel push, but that is just going to push some content to the handheld. I think if you can find a way to hook into the events fired when a browser push occurs, you might be able to set your own code in motion on the handheld to return the needed information.

Keep a few things in mind... the handheld only runs java code (unless it's a 8XX or 9XX series, then it's C). So most of your work is going to be in java. The backend can be pretty much anything you want, as long as you can do an http post from your code. To gather any type of descent information from the handheld you will need to access the restricted API's, which means you are going to have to sign it (cost you $100 from RIM for signature key).

If you have a descent amount of clients, you can alweays consider getting yourself a BES server and hooking the clients up for a small fee per month, depending on your clients situations...

cd.

[paulfynch]

hey guys, thanks for the responses,
looking into that link mmkl, the article looks very promising.

corey..could you describe the browser channel push a little more? I'm not familiar with it at all. actually, i am a flash and php programmer, but i am really excited about this technology and want to dive right in.

thanks again guys, can't wait to get my hands on a blackberry
paul

*edit*

ammendment to my post:
i am now wondering, how does the push process work from a server perspective? datagram implies udp (correct?) and socket is tcp? how then would a push be initiated by a php script or is it possible?
similar to other programs i have seen i would be interested in logging into a (my) website, filling out a form, and then pushing the information to the blackberry, or push an application so to speak. it seems this technology is new enough that most people are still confused as to how it works, i have found many contradicting statements as far as methods for programming goes.

anyway
thanks again for your help
paul

[mmkl]

oh,
i forgot a second link, with a example, that isn't as good documented as my previous link but it is also helpfull...
sun j2me Mildet PushRegistry
these two links hepled me a lot and with them you should be bussy for a while ;)

mmkl

[corey@12mile]

pf... You may want to have a quick tour of the developer section on blackberry.com. Here's a link to an article detailing browser channel push with framework and examples.

http://www.blackberry.com/developers.../push_me.shtml

cd.