Windows Phone Thoughts: Expand Beyond's Mobile Suite for Microsoft 2.3 reviewed

Storage Browser


Figure 10: Storage.

This allows you to manage the physical organisation of the databases. From here, you can manage filegroups, data files and transaction logs.

SQL Command Center


Figure 11: SQL Command Center

This feature allows you to execute any of the commands that you might execute using the SQL Query Analyzer on a Windows PC. It allows you to create and execute any ad hoc SQL statement. These commands can also be saved for future execution - a very powerful feature, given the difficulties of entering complex text on a Pocket PC :wink: The software allows you to save the command in one of three places, depending on how you want to re-use it: accessible from any user on just that database, accessible from any database by just the current user or accessible by just the current userid on just the current database. The documentation mentions a fourth option - global (any database, any user) - but it isn't available in the user interface, so it isn't clear whether the feature has been removed, never implemented or is still on its way. The SQL command feature becomes even more powerful when you use the ability to have variables in statements. When you execute the statement, you are prompted for the variable's value.

When you first enter the SQL screen, the statement shown is the last SQL statement executed by PocketDBA. For example, if you were looking at the jobs & then clicked on the SQL button, you might see a screen like Figure 12. Personally, I'm not sure what Expand Beyond were thinking of when they decided this would be a good idea. Whenever I've gone into this screen, the first thing I've had to do is to cut the existing text :roll:


Figure 12: The SQL screen after the Jobs screen.

Jobs Browser


Figure 13: Jobs.

The jobs browser allows you to view existing jobs and execute, stop, start, enable and disable jobs. From here, for example, you can manually run a pre-defined backup job or a DTS package that has been stored on the system.


Figure 14: Detail for the backup job.

Instance Browser


Figure 15: Instance options.

This part of the product allows you to modify the instance configuration properties, view server logs, maintenance plans, all scheduled jobs and backup devices.

The interface for the Jobs section is extensive in the amount of detail you can see, but is limited in terms of what you can do. You can enable, disable, start or stop jobs. You can drop parts of a job, e.g. a step or a schedule. However, you cannot edit a step or schedule. From a remote administration point of view, I suppose this is reasonable. I don't think I'd want a DBA to be making large changes remotely without having thought things through. I would view a product like this as being used for emergencies more than anything else.