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Data Logging Software for PocketPC?

Posted by Cliff on from the small-data-capturing-devices dept.

X43B asks: "I don't have a story associated with this but just a question. Does anyone know of any data logging software for the PocketPC? What I'm talking about is something analogous to Hyperterminal for windows. The data logging market for engineering instrumentation, especially with a premium on small size and weight, is relatively sparse. The hardware on PocketPCs seems ideal for this type of application. I'm looking for anything from proprietary software to open source, even perhaps the just a little direction of what to use to do this on my own (all I know is Fortran, C, and Matlab). Thanks!"

14 comments

  1. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
    [...] data logging software for the PocketPC? What I'm talking about is something analogous to Hyperterminal for windows.

    That's a pretty crappy analogy, since I don't know how you class Hyperterminal as a 'data logger'. You mean terminal software? Your stuff outputs from a serial line and you want to just save the serial output?

    1. Re:Huh? by borgboy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      well @!#$. I Was trying to moderate this up and fscked up. Any way to fix that?

      --
      meh.
    2. Re:Huh? by X43B · · Score: 1

      You are right, Hyperterminal is terminal software, however it does exactly what I need it to do: log data that spews through a data port and is not application specific. I don't need a terminal though. So whatever symantics you won't to use I want to LOG DATA. If that is not called "data logging software", so be it(Hyperterminal logs data whatever you call it). This is what I use hyperterminal for and I would be content to have this exact functionality, however, it is not made for PocketPC. Serial data is fine because I have the hardware to convert analog data to a serial stream. So do you have any suggestions for the actual question?

  2. Zaurus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    For ruggedized devices, Microsoft cleverly persuaded all major vendors except Psion to switch to PocketPC - so, even though WinCE _really_ sucks, you don't have much choice.

    For non-rugged devices, both Palm and the Zaurus have RS232 serial cables and are simple to program in C. Psion idiotically left the market, despite having the best devices and OS overall. The zaurus is linux, with a wealth of terminal clients just waiting to be recompiled for ARM. Minicom is already on it and I can personally attest it works fine. Sharp's own serial cable is annoyingly bulky, though, and restricts the keyboard unnecessarily. The zaurus also has a CF slot, and thus, if you have a custom interface, it's easy enough to kludge into it even if you have to write the device driver from scratch in C (easier + usually less legally frought* than writing the equivalent device driver for wince).

    * remember, the GPL is copyright-based only matters if you redistribute sources - the MS license is contract law and applies even if you don't.

    1. Re:Zaurus? by barnaclebarnes · · Score: 2

      Psion Teklogix is still in the market...

      And Symbol still use Palm OS in their PDA's.

      You might want to look at Satellite Forms Mobile App Designer from Pumatech Inc. We provides a RAD tool for Palm and PocketPC. Several users have built extensions for it to read/write to the serial port.

      Disclaimer: I work for Pumatech...

      --
      [Please type your sig here.]
    2. Re:Zaurus? by Cyn · · Score: 1

      I expect his reason for citing pocketpc is because that's what he has and that's what he's gunna use, for better or worse.

      Still, good background links of what else is out there for people looking for similar things.

      --
      cyn, free software and *nix operating systems enthusiast.
  3. Easiest way... by theNote · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The easiest way to develop something for a pocketPC is VB6.

    Microsoft has a mobile SDK that makes it trivial to write apps. Its basically just a bunch of widgets, like regular VB.

    I downloaded the SDK and had an app written and installed in less than a half hour.

    Since you know C, you should be able to pickup on VB in about, oh say, 15 minutes.
    It is a trivial language, but it is the right tool to use for the job.

    I'd bet there are already dlls out there for any low level stuff you want to do.
    With the SDK, you can probably just drag and drop them onto your forms, do a little code behind and your done.

    1. Re:Easiest way... by theNote · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Here it is:
      PocketPC SDK

    2. Re:Easiest way... by unDiWahn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually, since you'd have to buy VB6, the _easiest_ way to write apps would be EBV3.0 (embedded Visual Basic). It's a free download from Microsoft's site, but it'll only write apps for Windows CE (PocketPC, HPC, etc).

      Also included is embedded Visual C++, which I suggest you look at instead if you have any Win32 experience at all.

    3. Re:Easiest way... by 3waygeek · · Score: 2

      Note, however, that EVB is quite limited -- it's closer to VBScript than VB.

  4. Close... by R2.0 · · Score: 1

    http://www.dataq.com/products/startkit/di194rs.htm

    At $25 with a Win interface, maybe it's the ticket.

    --
    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
  5. TeraTerm by Chelloveck · · Score: 3, Informative

    TeraTerm is a darned fine open source serial/telnet program for Windows. It's supposedly been ported to WinCE, though it seems there hasn't been any development in the past couple years. Might still be worth checking out, though.

    --
    Chelloveck
    I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
    1. Re:TeraTerm by larien · · Score: 2
      Yes, it looks pretty old, although it should be able to be ported to Pocket PC if you get the C compiler etc from MS (free download, BTW, links elsewhere).

      I'd personally love to get my pocket PC (iPaq) running terminal software with a serial cable as it would be damned useful for use in our computer rooms where a server doesn't have a terminal already.

  6. Familiar Linux by E+Zimmer · · Score: 1

    If you are not attached to PocketPC you may want to try Familiar Linux, I am sure you could find a solution there as most existing software can be compiled to run on the StrongARM chip. Although not for the faint of heart it is the best way to make use of the features of the PocketPC. familiar.handhelds.org