For those of you who've been clamoring for a native way to access 4D from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, the wait is over.

 

iSort is an app that replicates and synchronizes any 4D v12/v13 table in your hands. There's no need to create anything on your iPad or iPhone. Simply connect to 4D, download the existing table and data to your device, and start managing it all from iSort right away. 

 

Think of it as an enhanced, portable User Mode for your applications, allowing you to access your 4D v12 database at anytime, from anywhere. (NOTE: iSort is not a 4D client and is not intended to execute 4D code.)

 

Use iSort to modify records. Create new data. Delete data. Draw relations. Or just look at the latest live data on your server with the flick of a finger.

 

iSort is useful for remote employees in the field, executives and decision makers who need instant hits of data, or practically anyone who wants to organize the information they use every day. The possibilities are endless, whether you're an individual, an enterprise, in healthcare, or in education.

 

A single app scales to the size and capabilities of your iOS device – so you can get quick snapshots and make modifications out of your pocket on the iPhone, consult dashboards on your iPod Touch, or take advantage of the iPad's large screen and work with larger amounts of data at once, even full-sized images.  

 

Speaking of scaling, it's also conscious of 3G and Wi-fi usage. For narrower connections, iSort conserves bandwidth by allowing you to pick and choose what data you sync, and by paginating segments of large data (10 items per page by default). In fact, it will even display how many items you are about to sync, so you can opt out of syncing data you feel might be too large for your connection quality at the time!

 

No matter what kind of data you're synching and which device you're using it with, you can also take comfort that iSort is safe and respects your network connectivity. If you're on the move, work offline when your network is unavailable, and synch with 4D once you can connect again. Timeout management ensures that you won't drop any data if you have an intermittent connection, for example if you're traveling by car or train. iSort works over HTTPS in SSL mode, with an option for digest encryption. And transactions are based on 4D's user/password authentication scheme.

 

Best of all, it's affordable. iSort's publisher provides the app at a low initial price, with all future upgrades at no additional cost. For a very small price of admission, you'll quickly be on your way to getting your most important 4D data on to your favorite device.

 

4D users should note that iSort, while designed to work with 4D v12/v13, is first and foremost its own application*. Therefore, there is some terminology that may require some translation.

 

For instance, a "database" in iSort is the same as one "table" in 4D. Links between tables are not automatically imported, and must be set as "filters" in iSort. Data types may also have different names attached to them.

 

NEW! Also notice that 4D v13 provides a new security option in Database Settings, "Web" tab: "Allow database access via '4DSYNC' URLs". You must check this box in order to allow iSort synchronization

 

Following is a table of iSort data fields, and their counterparts in 4D.

 

 

Field name in iSort	Data type in 4D
Text (short and long)	Text
Date	Date
Numeric	Real number
Counter	Auto increment
Stars	Password entry area
Images (small, medium and large)	Image**
Switches (Yes/No)	Boolean
Lists	Choice list
Linked tables	Related tables
Contacts	Unique to iSort
GPS
iPod
Sound memos

 

 

Get started today. Purchase iSort at the App Store.

 

4D licensing requirements

Any 4D v12/v13 application with a 4D Web Server or 4D Web Services Server expansion license can be used with iSort. 4D Developer Professional and 4D Team Developer Professional can be used with iSort without any additional licenses for development and test purposes.  As with any Web application, the number of incoming connections to 4D is unlimited.

 

For further information about how 4D v12/v13 and iSort function, see the page 4D & iSort - How they work together.

 

*iSort is independently developed and maintained by a third party, Frédéric Bayle. It is not created nor supported by 4D or any of its subsidiaries.

**While synchronization and modification work bi-directionally, image synchronization only goes one way, from 4D v12/v13 to iSort. The functionality is not be bi-directional as of today.