.KEYWORD expansion
.FLYINGHEAD CARD TRICKS
.TITLE Making expansion cards work for you
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY Stephen Vance loves the idea of expansion cards, but was initially frustrated by them. However, he managed to work out solutions to his problems, and in this extremely helpful article, he shares some tips, tricks, and utilities that make expansion cards work, even for applications that do not fully support them.
.AUTHOR Stephen Vance
As a computer consultant, I have a continuous need for documentation close at hand, and most documentation these days comes in Adobe’s PDF (Portable Document Format). Imagine my anticipation when I bought a Palm m505 and a 64MB MultiMediaCard and downloaded the Adobe Acrobat Reader for Palm OS (at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/acrrmobiledevices.html). Ah, the thought of product documentation and standards specifications in my shirt pocket! Now imagine my frustration and disappointment when there was no obvious way to put this documentation on the memory card.
Here are some tips, tricks, and utilities that make expansion cards work, even for applications that do not fully support them. My advice here focuses on Acrobat Reader, but many of these tips apply to any Palm OS application.
.H1 Why some applications don’t work
In Palm OS 4.0 (and the Sony CLIE variant of 3.5), Palm introduced the Expansion and Virtual File System Managers to make it easy for programmers to seamlessly handle expansion technologies like Secure Digital (SD) cards, MultiMediaCards (MMC), and the Sony Memory Stick. Applications that use the newer APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) work well with expansion cards. The rest do not.
Palm OS arranges the memory on your expansion cards similarly to that on your PC hard disk. The easy-to-use Palm OS interface makes this knowledge unnecessary until things don’t work as expected.
.H1 Converting PDFs to PDBs
The simplest solution for Adobe PDFs converts them to Palm PDB (Palm Database) format so that you can use the Palm Install Tool to store them on your expansion card. This requires an additional utility from Adobe and some minor manual intervention.
.CALLOUT You must be sure copy the PDF2PDB executable to your Acrobat Reader for Palm OS install directory.
First, install Acrobat Reader for Palm OS. Next, go to Adobe’s Web site and download the PDF2PDB.EXE utility (at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?hexID=8a3e). Unfortunately for our Macintosh-using friends, this tool is only available for Windows. Be sure to read and exactly follow the installation instructions for PDF2PDB. In particular, you must be sure copy the executable to your Acrobat Reader for Palm OS install directory.
Now the pieces are in place. Using the Acrobat Reader for Palm OS desktop utility, prepare the PDF files for transfer to the PDA, as shown in Figure A.
.FIGPAIR A Prepare a file for transfer with Acrobat Reader for Palm OS.
You will likely encounter several prompts and options in the process. The details are reasonably well discussed in the Adobe documentation and at their support site.
Once the PDFs have been prepared, run PDF2PDB. It is a very simple utility that provides a drop-down list of PDFs that have been prepared for transfer, as shown in Figure B. Just press the Convert button.
.FIGPAIR B In PDF2PDB, select the prepared PDF.
When you prepare a PDF for transfer, it places a converted version of the PDF in the PDFView subdirectory in your HotSync user directory. For example, my default location would be C:\Palm\VanceS. You can change this location in Palm Desktop by selecting Options from the Tools menu and changing the contents of the Data Directory field on the General tab. PDF2PDB creates the PDB file in the Backup subdirectory of PDFView.
Once you convert the files, delete the PDF file from the transfer list. If you leave the PDF in the list when you HotSync, it will transfer to the handheld’s main memory.
Finally, use the Palm Install Tool to install the PDB, changing the destination to the expansion card. On your next HotSync, Acrobat Reader will see the PDFs.
As a tip, be sure the name of the PDF file is meaningful to you before converting it. Its name when you convert it is the name it will have on the handheld.
.H1 An expansion media tool box
The previous solution is specific to Acrobat Reader. It requires only a minimum of technical manipulation, but it should work for any expansion media-unaware application.
You need two key tools for another approach to work. The first is a freeware Palm OS extension called MSMount (at http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=29216). MSMount makes a portion of your expansion card appear like normal memory to applications. Follow the MSMount installation instructions closely. MSMount shows up as an additional menu item in the Preferences application, shown in Figure C.
.FIG C MSMount shows up as a Preferences menu item.
The second tool allows you to manipulate the file system on your expansion media. Tatsuo Nagamatsu, the developer of MSMount, recommends either McFile (at http://www.jade.dti.ne.jp/~imazeki/palm/McFL/index-e.html) or Filez (at http://www.nosleep.net/filez.asp). McFile is $12 shareware. It’s pictured in Figure D.
.FIG D McFile allows you to manipulate the expansion media file system.
Filez is freeware. It’s pictured in Figure E.
.FIG E Filez also allows you to manipulate the expansion media file system.
Both have the benefit of being entirely Palm OS-based. I’ve found Filez to be adequate for most purposes, but McFile is far more complete and general purpose. In particular, if you wish to move files around on your expansion card (as I did in writing this article), McFile has the capability that Filez does not.
I use the Imation FlashGO! Universal Flash Memory Reader/Writer (at http://www.imation.com/en_US/products/product_generic_1.jhtml?Id=IM_PRD334). This USB hardware accessory allows you to mount several types of flash memory devices on your PC as removable drives. It can mount MultiMediaCards, Secure Digital cards, Compact Flash, Memory Stick, and SmartMedia. It also supports Macintosh.
.H1 Opening expansion media to all applications
Now that you have assembled your tools, you can make expansion media content available to all applications.
The first step is to decide the MSMount mount path. As shown back in Figure C, the default mount path for MSMount is /Palm/Programs/MSMount. I don’t know of any practical reason to change this, but feel free if it suits your fancy.
Next, use your media manipulation tool of choice to create the MSMount directory. You can’t modify the mount path with McFile or Filez while MSMount is enabled. Make sure MSMount is disabled while you’re creating the mount path directory.
Finally, enable MSMount and load it up with files.
.H1 Other thoughts on expansion media
You can use the Palm Install Tool to move applications to the expansion media. However, not all applications like being installed on expansion cards. Some applications have been known to copy themselves to the handheld’s memory after being run from the expansion media, leaving you with two copies. Applications installed under the MSMount directory shouldn’t have this problem. Just remember to either move files or to delete them after copying them.
One reason I prefer the FlashGO! at this point in the process is that I don’t have to transfer applications and data to the handheld before moving them to the expansion card. I can just drag and drop them directly from my Windows desktop. This is perfect for a highly loaded handheld or for large numbers of files.
.CALLOUT I encountered a bug of which you should be aware.
I encountered a bug of which you should be aware, given the PDF earlier focus. If the size of a PDF or Acrobat PDB file is greater than the available memory on your PDA, you’ll see them in the Acrobat Reader file list, but you get a NULL reference alert when you try to read them. This is a combination of a limitation of the technology and a probable bug in Acrobat Reader. I have submitted bug reports to Adobe.
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.H1 Conclusion
Given the newness of the expansion media extensions for Palm OS, I’m not surprised to find limited application support and a few rough edges. A combination of perseverance, software, and a vision of its promise can yield exciting portable solutions. I would love to hear interesting uses people have for expansion media. You can contact me at steve@vance.com.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Adobe’s PDF2PDB.EXE, visit http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?hexID=8a3e.
For more information on Adobe Acrobat Reader for Palm OS, visit http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/acrrmobiledevices.html.
For more information on Filez, visit http://www.nosleep.net/filez.asp.
For more information on the Imation FlashGO! Universal Memory Reader/Writer, visit http://www.imation.com/en_US/products/product_generic_1.jhtml?Id=IM_PRD334.
For more information on MSMount from PalmGear.com, visit http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=29216.
For more information on McFile, visit http://www.jade.dti.ne.jp/~imazeki/palm/McFL/index-e.html.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.BIO Stephen Vance is an independent computer consultant living in Troy, Michigan. He can be reached via e-mail at steve@vance.com.
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee6fcd0
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