What is
BrightXpress Mobility Suite?
What are the business benefits of using BrightXpress Mobility Suite?
Who can use BrightXpress Mobility Suite?
What is the pricing model?
What sort of applications can be developed using BrightXpress
Mobility Suite?
What are the system requirements to run BrightXpress Mobility Suite?
Do I need any other software for integration?
Do I need a store-and forward database?
What do I need to mobilize my database?
What databases are supported by BrightXpress?
Can I synchronize data to and from flat files?
Can I implement my own server business logic?
How can I use Web Services to integrate into other business systems?
How do I create mobile applications? Where do I start?
How do I configure BrightServer?
What happened to Server, Users, and Licenses nodes in my BEP
project?
What platforms are supported by BrightXpress Mobility Suite?
How does BrightServer Mobile Data Gateway communicate with the
handheld devices?
I am interested in using BrightXpress Mobility Suite to develop
solutions. What types of support does Bright Software can offer?
What is server hardware token?
How can I install licenses?
What field printers does BrightXpress support?
Can I lock-down the handheld device so that the user can only run
BrightForms?
A.
BrightXpress Mobility Suite is a powerful software development
platform for creating end-to-end enterprise mobility solutions. It
provides the essential enterprise mobility development tools within
the platform: BrightBuilder, an easy-to-use drag-and-drop mobile
application designer; BrightServer, a robust and highly scalable
server product to integrate into business systems and
extend/mobilize business data to field device;, and BrightForms, a
powerful forms engine for rich occasionally connected or always-on
(“online”) mobile applications with built-in camera, signature
capture, barcode scanner, GPS, mobile printing support.
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A.
BrightXpress Mobility Suite helps you create business mobile
solutions much quicker in weeks with much smaller development teams
compared to standard traditional software developments tools
currently available in the market. It helps you eliminate the
technology and business risks. In short it saves you money by
reducing the development time and the skill set of the development
team for the initial development of the solution, and the
maintenance and updates in the long term.
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A.
Anyone with mobility requirements in any industry can use
BrightXpress Mobility Suite to mobilize its field force to remove
the paper based business processes, streamline automatic data
collection, eliminate double data entry, optimize and automate the
backend data administration into back office systems.
You do not need to be a
fully trained computer programmer to create solutions using Bright
Mobility Suite. BrightBuilder Mobile Application Designer provides
easy to understand and learn application development environment for
quickly creating business forms and deploying remote field devices.
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A.
The pricing model is a very simple one and as follows: A license
needs to be purchased for each mobile device to be deployed in the
field. This license fee covers all the products in our mobility
suite. For example, if you have 10 devices in the field, then you
need to purchase 10 licenses which would cover all the products in
the BrightXpress Mobility Suite including BrightBuilder Mobile
Application Designer, BrightForms Mobile Device Engine and
BrightServer Mobile Data Gateway.
In other words, each server
is licensed by how many unique devices can connect to it. Device
licenses must be purchased and installed to enable devices to
operate and to connect to the server. Each device can be covered by
an optional annual maintenance plan. This plan allows you to have
access to software upgrades for a given 12 month period.
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A.
BrightXpress™ can be used to develop solutions for any mobile work
force, such as for sales teams, service technicians, remote asset
management, health workers, inspection (regulatory, OH&S), insurance
claims processing, logistics, transports, delivery, warehouse
management and stock control.
BrightXpress Mobility Suite
can be used in any situation where data is being collected in the
field, and needs to be sent back to a central location. It can be
used to eliminate paper forms and data re-entry, faxing, unnecessary
mobile calls to base and allows businesses to move their data in a
more efficient manner.
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A. Please click
here for the system
requirements.
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A.
No! You do not need any other software to mobile your backend data
stored in databases and files. BrightServer Mobile Data Gateway has
built-in features to detect the incremental changes in your backend
data and send only the changed data to remote field devices. In the
same fashion, BrightServer is able to store the data into your
backend database tables and files based on the configuration that
you create using BrightBuilder through BEP projects.
BrightServer provides a very
powerful JavaScript based user defined scripting mechanism to handle
integration into backend systems via, for instance, web services,
XML file exchange. Server side business logic can be implemented for
collecting and mobilizing business data from various sources, and in
the similar fashion re-distribute the field collected data back into
the different backend systems. Advanced users can write their own
mobile data producers and consumers.
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A.
No! BrightServer Mobile Data Gateway is able to find the changes in
your backend database tables and files without the need for a store
and forward database. Just configure your BrightServer project to
make the database tables and files without worrying about system
fields etc. BrightServer will do the hard work for you out of the
box.
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A.
Virtually nothing. Just configure BrightServer with correct database
details, and BrightServer will handle the rest automatically.
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A.
BrightXpress™ provides direct support for the following databases:
MS SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008, Oracle 9i and 10g, IBM DB2, MySQL,
and ODBC Data Sources. Alternatively advanced users are able to
directly enter a JDBC connection string and specify your own JDBC
driver details.
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A.
Yes! You can even mobilize your file based business processes to the
field devices. A special built-in feature in BrightServer will allow
you specify the file content to be synchronized to the field
devices. BrightServer is able to detect any changes (additions,
modifications, deletions) and send the changed data to the field
devices. You can even have different files for different remote
users in the field. Likewise the data coming from the field devices
can be put into the files of your choice in the format you design
including the ability to store data on a user basis.
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A.
Yes! You can use the powerful scripting mechanism provided by
BrightServer to implement server side business logic. Scripts are
implemented using JavaScript. For instance you can create a script
job that can be configured to run on a regular interval or a Cron
based schedule to implement regular housekeeping, reporting, data
collection and distribution. Using scripts, you can define your own
sync data sources and destinations to implement complex integration
tasks.
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A.
This can be easily achieved through scripting available on the
server. You can implement data sync sources and destinations in
JavaScript. In response to data reads and writes from remote
devices, in your scripts you can communicate with other backend
systems to get and send data over web services. Scripting provides
you with the flexibility to choose your integration technique
depending on the business requirements.
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A.
First download and install our mobile application bundle which
contains BrightBuilder Mobile Application Designer, BrightServer
Mobile Data Gateway and BrightForms Mobile Device Engine desktop and
Windows Mobile Editions. Create a BSP BrightForms project using
BrightBuilder; define your application forms and data model.
BrightBuilder provides a very easy to drag-and-drop application
development environment for non-programmers. There are many how-to
videos available for you to watch and get started. Click
here to view how-to videos.
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A.
You use BrightBuilder to create BrightServer BEP projects. It is all
visual and drag-and-drop to set up the server data sources and
destinations. Server data sources can be relational database based
from one or multiple databases, JavaScript based user defined script
sources and destinations, or simple flat files. For the runtime
configuration such as configuring users, deploying licenses, you can
use BrightBuilder to configure a remote server instance over an
Internet connection. You can download a server configuration to a
file, modify offline and upload the changes later.
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A.
As of Version 6, BrightServer BEP projects do not contain the
“Server”, “Users” and “Licenses” nodes. They are runtime
configuration elements, and, hence, they are considered not suitable
to be a part of the design time configuration of a server. Server
parameters, user accounts and licenses are now configured through
the Servers panel as the server runtime configuration elements. You
just need to connect to a server instance and access these
configuration elements through the “Configuration” node. Check out
the how-to videos on managing server configuration in the How-To
Videos section.
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A. On the server side,
BrightServer Mobile Data Gateway runs on Windows platforms (2000,
2003, 2008, XP, Vista and Windows 7), Linux and Sun Solaris. On the
client side, BrightForms Device Engines are available on Windows
Mobile based devices, Windows CE based devices, and on all desktop
Windows platforms (2000, 2003, 2008, XP, Vista and Windows 7).
BrightBuilder Mobile Application Designer can be installed and run
on Windows platforms (2000, 2003, 2008, XP, Vista and Windows 7),
and Linux. Check out detailed product data sheets
here.
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A.
The handheld devices running BrightForms connect to BrightServer on
HTTP or secure HTTPS ports using web services technology over the
Internet protocol. By using web services technology over Internet
protocol, BrightServer is able to co-exist in the widest variety of
infrastructure environments.
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A.
After downloading BrightXpress Mobility Suite developer, Bright
Software provides a 30 day developer support. The Bright Software
support team will help and answer your technical questions via email
at no cost during the evaluation period.
Also this website contains
numerous how-to videos and demo applications, taken from real-world
applications, and posted by Bright Software developers. The most
frequently asked questions will be added to this FAQ.
Bright Software also offer
introductory web-based training sessions to answer question and
provides you with the initial training of the platform which will
get you started.
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A.
This is also sometimes referred as just “server token”. Each
BrightServer instance is identified by a unique text token created
by BrightServer depending on the hardware configuration it is
installed on. BrightXpress Mobility Suite licenses are generated
based on this unique server token. BrightServer displays this unique
token when it is started. This is also logged into the server logs.
You need this unique token to request and generate licenses.
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A.
After receiving your license, you need to connect to your server
instance using BrightBuilder. Start your BrightBuilder, connect to
your server instance using BrightBuilder’s “Servers” panel. Download
the configuration through the Configuration node; add the license
using the Licenses node. And finally upload the changes to the
server using the Configuration node “Upload” menu option. There are
detailed tutorials and how-to videos available that take you through
this process.
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BrightForms Mobile Device
Engine supports all the printers supported by the Windows desktop
operating systems. On the Windows Mobile based devices the following
printers are supported: Intermec PB3/PB2, HP Mobile Printers,
DeskJets and LaserJets including HP H470/460/450/350, Intermec PB/PW/68/78
Thermal, Pentax/Brother Mobile PocketJets:3, 3 Plus, II, 200, Zebra
MZ, RW, QL,Cameo, Extech Thermal, Pentax RuggedJet 3 & 4, Canon
PIXMA iP90/i80/i70, Seiko DPU-S445, DPU-3445, MPU-L465, O'Neil
MicroFlash Thermal, Brother mPRINT including MW-260, 100, 120,
140BT, Peripheron Nomad, Martel MCP78xx, Pocket Spectrum, SATO
MB200/MB400, TallyGenicom MTP4P, TallyGenicom MIP360, MIP480, Epson
TM-P60, Fujitsu FTP-628WSL110, Panasonic JT-200PR Toughprint,
Citizen CMP-10 PD-22 PD-04/PD-24, IPC DPP-350FS, GeBE Flash, CUSTOM
s'print, IPC PP-55/50, ABLE Systems Ap1310 Ap1300, Canon
BJC-80/85/BJC-50/55 + most Canon BubbleJet printers, Epson: Stylus,
ESC/P2, Axiohm A631, Eltrade Mobilife, Epson 24-pin LQ compatible
dot matrix printers.
This is possible through
third party Device Management software products such Motorola
AppCenter. For instance, these products help ensure access only to
the applications approved on remote devices. It also helps you
control the setup and configuration and the availability of selected
device functionality on the device.
