Notices

So, we have SQLite for the 770, and we have Python. Is anyone bored enough to whip together a simple database frontend app?

I've always liked the Psion's Data app: simple, fast and perfectly taylored for a PDA.

I'd code it myself, but my special power is that of nagging, so...

Maybe one thing you could do is run down the list of existing pyGtk apps at :
http://www.pygtk.org/applications.html (and maybe google for some others)
... and try out some potential candidates. There are quite a few "catalog" apps for this and that : maybe one of those is (or can be made) generic enough to merit a Hildon port as a general-purpose tool ?
(Personally I liked Portabase on the Zaurus too...)

How functional are these things? Can you actually make a relational DB out of these? (I'm not expecting stuff like triggers, etc)

Portabase is not relational - just a very versatile "card manager". Haven't looked at the rest.

SQlite could do, with a reasonable frontend. On the Zaurus some people had mySql running.

I looked at a few; they're all pretty specialized.

Which is ironic, as my primary use for a database app would be my movies collection, but I still prefer a general app.

I don't think we should start with a relational DB, a good and fast flatfile data app would IMHO appeal to more users. fpp mentioned Portabase from the Zaurus, which I don't know, but looks good from the specs (http://www.killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=663). I've always liked the Psion's Data app (this guy has a good review of it: http://www.ericlindsay.com/epoc/bdata5.htm), but I'm flexible.

And grateful.

And not nagging at all.

Portabase exists as a Windows program as well: http://portabase.sourceforge.net/ (look at downloads)

It's not bad, although I have to admit that Psion Data is a lot easier and still quite versatile and powerful.

I don't think we'll see it ported any time soon though, as development seems frozen since 2004, and it uses yet another graphical toolkit (Metakit)...

The most likely candidate I can think of is Winzig : http://muth.org/Robert/Winzig/

Actually I didn't think of it, I had forgotten all about it, although it had been ported to maemo 2005 at one time and I had tested it then (it worked :-). It just happened to be updated lately and came across my screen...

It is a python (pyGtk) app, featuring several simple PIM-like modules that can be used separately or inside a tabbed-notebook-like interface.

The author says most of the modules are based on a simple, flat-text database engine that can be used for various purposes.

I haven't looked in detail, but probably for someone familiar with python (which is easier to learn than most), using that engine and Winzig's examples on how to make CRUD forms would be the quickest way to get something working.

PortaBase uses the Qt library for GUI widgets, strings, data structures, etc.; porting it to use GTK+ would effectively be a full rewrite, and isn't likely to be done by the original author (me).

Metakit isn't a graphical toolkit, it's the embedded database library used to manage the data files. Writing such an application now, SQLite would probably be a better choice, but it was missing some pretty important features at the time (like the ability to add columns to an existing table). Metakit does have its advantages (I think it's still a little faster than SQLite, for one thing), but SQLite is under more active development, and people understand SQL-based databases better.

Oh, and PortaBase development is only "mostly dead". I have made some progress on cleaning up the code and making it easier to maintain, but the basic problem is that it got too big to manage with one developer's free time. Resolving packaging issues and minor code differences on two different Zaurus ROMs (which use a very old version of Qt), Windows, Linux PCs, and a mostly-finished Mac port, all translated into several different languages...the release logistics just became a nightmare. I do hope to release another version sometime, but I'm not sure when it'll be...I need to finish writing some tools to streamline the build, testing, and translation process first.

Anyway, feel free to poke around the PortaBase documentation and source code and scavenge ideas from it...a lot of the UI design, data schema, and overall code structure could be reused for a database application in any language or widget library.

I would really like a simple database application as well. I agree that the Psion DB is excellent - easy to customize, fast enough.

I tried Winzig for 2005, but it seemed buggy (segfaulted.) I've since stayed away from 770 for a while since I don't have time to be a beta tester while waiting for the apps to mature. My psion still works, and hopefully I'll wake up one day to see the 770 application list contain something other than games and little internet utilities. I'd even pay (*gasp*!) for a good database program

I know I know, new apps are popping up every day - I'm just fed up with the 770, that's all.