BlackBerry Development Fundamentals

As mentioned in chapter 5, each of the BlackBerry application types supports push. When pushing to the BlackBerry browser or to Java applications, the push process is almost exactly the same. The only difference between the two is the port number on the device the destination application is listening on.

To push data to a BES Connected BlackBerry device, you must write an application to perform the push for you. Your application will connect to MDS (via HTTP) and deliver the data you want pushed. MDS will work with the BES to locate the user and push the data to the specified application (via a port number specified in the push request). Depending on parameters included with the push request, the push application can receive notification of push success (or failure) in several ways. This will be discussed in detail later on in the chapter.

When pushing data, the push destination can be identified using the mobile user’s corporate email address or the device’s PIN. The push application can also specify multiple destinations in a single push request. The application can even push data to groups of users defined on the BES.

When developers first hear about this push capability, many think that the application pushing data to internal users must need to be installed on the BES in order for this to work. This is not the way it works, the opposite is actually true – you should never install any application on a BES unless the application is a BES add-in that was designed to integrate with the BES. The BES should be running on a dedicated system and no other software (unless it’s BES related) should be installed there. You don’t want a potential bug in your push application to bring down the BES and halt message delivery to senior executives and field personnel.

This chapter describes each of the push options supported by the BlackBerry platform and the process a developer must implement in their applications to push data to BlackBerry devices.