Erase Data and Disable Handheld

This IT command sends a wireless command to the device that causes it to erase all of the user’s data and disable it so that it can no longer be used on your BES. Before the data is erased, you will see an alert dialog box, indicating that all data will be erased if you proceed (see Figure 7-4).

Figure 7-4: Warning indicating that all data will be erased from the handheld

This IT Command is useful in situations when a device has been lost or stolen, and there is no chance of its being returned.

PIM Settings

The Personal Information Manager (PIM) settings contain personal user information that is synchronized with the device. If you are still in a pre-4.0 BlackBerry environment, the PIM settings include the synchronization (through the Desktop Manager to the device) of the Address Book, Memo, and Tasks. In a 4.0 BlackBerry environment, the PIM settings include the wireless synchronization of the e-mail filters, e-mail settings, Tasks, Memo, and Address Book.

With BES 4.0, you can use global settings to set up a global standard by which all users are initially set up, and you can modify user-specific PIM settings to make changes for individual users.

The word global in the BES 4.0 context means that a setting or policy is used for all BES servers that connect to a single SQL database.

To configure the global PIM settings, open the BlackBerry Manager and click the BlackBerry Domain option in the upper left of the screen. On the right of the screen, click Edit Properties, as shown in Figure 7-5. On the next screen shown in Figure 7-6, click Global PIM Sync.

Figure 7-5: Selecting the Edit Properties option for the BlackBerry Domain

Figure 7-6: The Global Properties screen

You will notice that each available PIM setting is represented in a section of the pane on the right-hand side of the screen. Each PIM setting has the following fields:

* Synchronization enabled: This enables (set to True) or disables (set to False) wireless synchronization.

* Synchronization type: This option sets the synchronization to Bidirectional, Handheld to server, or Server to handheld.

E-mail filters and e-mail settings are the exception to this rule, because they have a bidirectional setting only.

* Conflict resolution: This controls who wins if a conflict arises between the device and the server. The choices are the handheld unit wins or the server wins. An example of a conflict would be if you moved an e-mail to a particular folder in your e-mail client and also moved that same e-mail to a different folder on your device before it wirelessly synchronized. If you set the conflict resolution to Server Wins, then the folder move that you performed on the device will be overridden; the folder move that you performed in your e-mail client will take precedence.

E-mail Filters

E-mail filters are the settings that enable you (or the user) to control which e-mails are actually sent to the device. Some users choose to use the e-mail client’s rules to move e-mails directly to a particular folder based on a subject line or sender. However, other users would rather have those e-mails sent to their Inboxes and set a BlackBerry filter so that the e-mails are not copied to their devices. With BlackBerry 4.0, the user has the ability to make changes to his or her BlackBerry filters right from their device. If you want to allow users to be able to make these changes from their devices, you must enable wireless synchronization for the e-mail filters.

Tasks

This PIM setting controls whether the user is able to synchronize tasks (sometimes called ToDos) wirelessly between an e-mail server and a device.

E-mail Settings

E-mail settings affect the control the user has over mailbox and BlackBerry settings. As an administrator, you establish this control through the PIM settings.

In a BlackBerry 4.0 environment, the device has a new menu called Email Settings (located under Messages, Options). Under this menu, the user can choose to have e-mail delivered to a device. The user can choose to disable the e-mail if he or she goes on vacation and does not want to receive company e-mail, but still wants to receive personal e-mail or continue to use the phone and Web browser. The user can also choose whether to save a copy of all e-mail sent from a device into his or her mailbox Sent folder.

Control over whether to use an automatic signature and the ability to completely edit that signature are offered under this new menu. Finally, the user can set an out-of-office notification message, as well as indicate when it will expire. As an administrator, you can allow your user to modify these settings.

Memos

Memos on the BlackBerry can synchronize with the Notes Journal, Outlook Notes, or GroupWise Posted Notes. This setting controls whether it can be wirelessly synchronized and how.

Address Book

The BlackBerry Address Book can synchronize with the e-mail client’s Personal Address Book. This setting controls whether the Address Book can be wirelessly synchronized and how that synchronization is configured.

User-Specific PIM Settings

While you can modify the Global PIM Settings that apply to all new BlackBerry users being added to any BES connected to the same SQL database, you can also modify these same PIM settings on a user-by-user basis. In addition, you can enable or disable wireless synchronization altogether. In addition to the PIM settings, you can enable or disable wireless backup. Wireless backup is a feature that wirelessly backs up the user’s device preferences such as ribbon icon positions (which are the position of the icons on the BlackBerry Home Screen), browser bookmarks, audio profiles, and so on.

About the Authors
Craig J. Johnston (East Windsor, NJ) has over 15 years of networking experience, most recently with the BlackBerry. He has done proof of concept BlackBerry projects and has actively supported BlackBerry's since 2000 in a Lotus Domino environment.His extensive knowledge of networking, hardware and wireless technologies is coupled with writing and technical instruction. He is currently a product manager for Onset Technology, RIM's largest third party vendor.

Richard Evers (Waterloo, ON) is the editor of the BlackBerry Developer Journal. He is an expert in the areas of wireless communication and small-footprint application development. Richard has over 25 years of experience designing and developing commercial and custom applications. He has been the editor and publisher of numerous publications, including Transactor magazine. Richard creates and publishes educational web sites, and he develops customized web software including search engines, custom proxy servers and browsers.

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