The pilot-link suite of software tools allows you to download
programs onto your Palm OS device, and transfer data for the Palm OS device's various built-in
programs between the Linux system and the Palm OS device.
While these programs are not quite as seamless as the desktop
software that comes with the Palm OS device, they do allow you to copy your
data in both directions.
In general, each separate program in the pilot-link suite
manages one type of data.
The prepackaged versions will inevitably lag slightly behind the master distribution, but will be easier to install and not require configuration. The master distribution might be a better choice in those rare occasions when you have been waiting for a particular feature or bug fix.
You can get the Debian Linux (i386) port of
pilot-link version 0.8.7 from
ftp://ftp.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-i386/otherosfs/pilot-link_0.8.7-2.deb.
ftp://ftp.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-i386/otherosfs/pilot-link_0.8.7-2.deb.
If this file does not exist, you will likely find a newer version located
in the same directory.
If all else fails, or if you want a more recent version than has been
packaged for Debian, you can install the generic distribution, as
detailed below.
Install this file in the normal manner and skip to
Using the pilot-link software.
You can get the RedHat Linux (i386) port of
pilot-link version 0.8.9 from
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/contrib/i386/pilot-link-0.8.9-1.i386.rpm.
If this file does not exist, you will likely find a newer version located
in the same directory.
If all else fails, or if you want a more recent version than has been
packaged for RedHat, you can install the generic distribution, as
detailed below.
Install this file in the normal manner and skip to
Using the pilot-link software.
For other versions of Linux or unix, or if you need the absolute latest
version, download the version 0.9.0 of pilot-link from
ftp://ryeham.ee.ryerson.ca/pub/PalmOS/pilot-link.0.9.0.tar.gz.
The version number is likely to change, but new versions should end up
in the same location with a similar name.
Once you have the software distribution, unpack it with:
tar -xvzf pilot-link.0.9.0.tar.gz
-z option,
decompress the archive with gunzip, as follows:
gunzip pilot-link.0.9.0.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
This will create a directory (pilot-link.0.9.0) containing the
source.
Change your working directory to the source (pilot-link.0.9.0)
directory.
Run ./configure.
This will search through your system for information needed to compile
the software.
configure will set things up to be installed in
/usr/local by default.
If you want to change it, run ./configure --prefix=DIR, where
DIR is replaced with the name of the directory to which the
software will be installed.
Run make.
This will compile the software.
The software will not be installed until later, so that you have a chance
to try it out first.
(If you are replacing an older version with a newer release, you may wish
to check and make sure that no functionality that you need has been broken.
Generally, this is not a problem.)
As the root user, run make install.
This will copy the software into directories under /usr/local
(or wherever you specified with the --prefix option).
If you can not log in as root, you can install the software to some
directory where you have write access.
Don't forget to add any new directories of executables to your search path.
Most of the programs in the pilot-link suite are conduits,
that is they transfer data into or out of your Palm OS device.
Each time you use of one of these programs, press the HotSync button on your Palm OS device's cradle. This will initiate the Palm OS device side of the data transfer. Note that not all of these programs prompt you to press the `HotSync' button, so you may have to remember to do it yourself.
For more details, and other options to these programs, view the
corresponding manual page.
There is an overview manual page under the name pilot-link.
For the pilot-xfer program, for example, type
man pilot-xfer at your unix shell prompt.
Possibly the most useful program in the pilot-link suite,
pilot-xfer allows you to install programs on your Palm OS device, make
a backup, and restore that backup.
To install a program:
pilot-xfer /dev/pilot -i program.prc
To backup your Palm OS device:
pilot-xfer /dev/pilot -b backup-directory
To restore data to Palm OS device:
pilot-xfer /dev/pilot -r backup-directory
To list the programs on your Palm OS device:
pilot-xfer /dev/pilot -l
Install a Linux file onto the Palm OS device as a memo.
To install a memo into your (already existing) project category:
install-memo /dev/pilot -c project project.memo
The name of the file will be inserted into the memo as its first line and will appear in the directory of memos on your Palm OS device.
This program grabs each memo from the Palm OS device and prints it out in standard mailbox format.
To view your memos:
memos /dev/pilot
pilot-addresses Transfer the address database to or from the Palm OS device.
To write your address data to a Linux file from your Palm OS device:
pilot-addresses /dev/pilot -w storage.file
To read your address data from a Linux file onto your Palm OS device:
pilot-addresses /dev/pilot -r storage.file
One short-coming of the Palm OS device's built-in memo program is that it
does not deal well with large documents.
To compensate for this,
Rick Bram wrote
Doc, a document reader for the Palm OS device.
(See
http://www.concentric.net/~rbram/doc.shtml).
Documents can be converted to the Doc format with MakeDoc,
by
Pat Beirne.
MakeDoc can be downloaded from
http://www.concentric.net/~rbram/makedoc7.cpp.
Compile it with your C++ compiler and install the resulting executable
as ``makedoc'' in a directory in your search path.
There seems to be a small bug in makedoc (version 0.7a) in
that it does not output a newline as the last character displayed to
the user.
This does not seem to affect the resulting document file, but it is
annoying.
There is a new version out, but it requires Java.
Take a look at Pat Beirne's MakeDoc web page at
http://cpu563.adsl.sympatico.ca/MakeDocJ.htm.
Use MakeDoc as follows:
makedoc data.txt data.prc "Data to display with Doc"
data.prc, which can be installed
on your Palm OS device with
pilot-xfer.
The text "Data to display with Doc" will be displayed in the
directory of documents that Doc manages.
The syntax for MakeDoc is as follows:
makedoc [-n] [-b] <text-file> <prc-file> <story-name>
or
makedoc -d [-b] <prc-file> <text-file>
The file that you wish to convert.
The name of the resulting file. (End the name
with ``.prc''.)
The name you want displayed in the Doc
or Jdoc directory of documents.
There are also options to decode the resulting .prc file
and manage various compression options.