Data Freedom IconThe DB Freedom app for iPad allows you to access nearly any database on a remote device that your desktop PC has access to.  This means the company database can be viewed from anywhere and unlike many other database apps for the iPad, this is working with live data of unlimited size.  It does not depend on the size of the storage capacity of your iPad.  It is compatible with any iPad that is running iOS 7 or later - which can be any iPad model.

The recommended sequence of events is to first install the app on your iPad from the App Store.  When you start this app it will give you a message that the database worker is not connected and in this message is a "short name" which identifies your iPad temporarily.  This short name is used in the installation of the PC component.

Then, download the PC (Windows) application and install it.  This will install on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or later versions - server versions of Windows are not supported.  The PC application will install even if you cannot install other software normally.  During the installation it will prompt you for the short name displayed by your iPad by the DB Freedom app.

As part of the installation, all of the databases that are accessible to your computer will be made available for remote access.  If this is not what you intend, use the DB Freedom Configuration tool to remove databases that you do not wish to be remotely accessible.  This is installed with the Windows application.

You can now click the action button on the iPad app and sign in again.  All of the databases available on your PC will be available to you, in addition to a database of pictures.  The picture database is constructed by the PC database worker application and contains a list of all of the pictures it finds on your computer in selected folders.  You will be able to view these pictures through the demonstration queries included with the iPad app.

Once DB Freedom is connected to your database, it has a built-in Query Builder which assists with constructing a query to retrieve just the information you are looking for, no more and no less.  It has the ability to display all common types of data in ODBC databases and can also display pictures stored as binary objects.  You do not need to know what SQL is or anything about it to construct queries and make use of all the databases that can be accessed.

DB Freedom is free in the App Store.  It is limited to a maximum of five saved queries until you purchase additional queries using an in-app purchase.  You can purchase queries in packs of 10, 20 or unlimited.

If you find DB Freedom useful, we would like to hear from you. Please send an email to Info at InfinaDyne.com.  Please let us know about features you would find useful.  We are considering printing and supporting updates to be added in the future.

Enterprise Version

DB Freedom also has an "Enterprise" option now available.  The Enterprise option requires the DB Freedom Enterprise Server to be installed on a computer accessible from the Internet and replaces the free individual user component on each user's PC.  This can offer significant performance improvements additionally because requests are made directly to the DB Freedom Enterprise Server as well as eliminating the duplication of having many user PCs running the PC component.  Contact Sales at InfinaDyne.com for more information, pricing and availability of the Enterprise option.

The trade-off between individual computers and the Enterprise Server is around four users.  If you have four or more individuals using DB Freedom there can be performance improvements with using the Enterprise Server instead of individual computers.  The Enterprise Server does require a computer with some free capacity and access to internal databases.  It requires port 7739 to be exposed to the external Internet for iPad devices to connect to it directly.

Contact InfinaDyne for more information about the Enterprise Server and to get the Enterprise Server implementation guide.