.KEYWORD filepoint
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Put your files in folders with FilePoint
.OTHER
.SUMMARY There are many great launchers and file managers available. David Silver has found a cool application that does both. FilePoint from Bachmann Software makes it easier to find the files you’re looking for by putting them in convenient folders.
.AUTHOR David Silver
There are many launchers available, and there are many file managers available. FilePoint from Bachmann Software (at http://www.bachmannsoftware.com/FilePoint.htm) is an attempt to do both, and it succeeds relatively well.
.H1 Folders, filters, and views
If you ever used Windows Explorer, then you’ll feel right at home with FilePoint. The main screen is shown in Figure A.
.FIG A Windows Explorer users can jump into FilePoint without a deep learning curve.
The logic behind FilePoint is this. If all the files on your computer were in one folder, you’d have a hard time finding anything. This is really what the Palm OS does.
FilePoint, which tries to solve this problem, allows you to put your files in folders. It supports many of the popular office suite applications like Documents to Go (at http://www.dataviz.com), QuickOffice (at http://www.cesinc.com), and Wordsmith (at http://www.bluenomad.com). And of course, it works with normal applications as well. That way, you can keep documents and spreadsheet files in the same folder. You add a file to a folder by going to the drop-down menu at the upper right-hand side and choose the type. Then you drag the file to the folder. You create folders by selecting New Folder on the Folder Menu.
There are three different views. You can change the view by tapping on the three icons in the upper-left hand corner. The view shown above is the default view, designated by the first icon. The second icon takes you to a list view. The list view shows the item name, the date it was created (installed), and the file size. It can be seen in Figure B.
.FIG B File Details is reached by tapping the second icon.
The third button takes you to the icon view. In this view, you see nine icons at a time. This view is much like the built-in launcher. You can set FilePoint as your default launcher by choosing Preferences from the Options menu. It’s shown in Figure C.
.FIG C This view works the best as a launcher.
On the bar with the buttons, you can choose whether you want to view files on your expansion card, main memory, or both. In fact, the memory gauge on top displays your choice.
.H1 Manage your files
On the bottom is a bar with nine icons. They let you do what FilePoint was made for, managing files.
The first icon lets you make a new document in your Memo Pad, or in any other supported application. This isn’t as useful as I hoped it would be because you need to make a file in every application called FPTMP. When I made the file, I had a hard time getting FilePoint to recognize it.
The next buttons are much easier to use. The second icon is the launch button. It launches the selected file. The next icon prints the selected file if you have the proper PrintBoy application (at http://www.bachmannsoftware.com/pbdeluxe.htm) on your handheld. The next icon beams, and the icon after that deletes. The final two icons move the selected file to and from your expansion card. After that you can enter the first few letters of the file you want to find. The last two arrows let you scroll.
.H1 Nice features
You can create sub-folders in folders. This can be done by selecting New folder from the Folder menu. Then uncheck the Top-Level folder box.
If you have a folder with sub-folders, then a box appears next to the top-folder on the folder list. If you tap it, the subfolders will appear. You can also expand or collapse all folders from the folder menu.
If you select Preferences from the Options menu, you can set the low memory warning. The company suggests that card-device owners should choose 500K. This will allow you to move your big applications and files to a card.
.H1 Other stuff
I had a question about something in the program. I emailed Bachmann Software, and I got a response in about three hours. I got the impression that this software is from a company that wants you to enjoy using it and wants all your problems to be fixed almost immediately.
On the options menu, there’s a "Jump-To" area where you can jump to the built-in utility applications: Preferences, Security, and HotSync. You can also do a soft reset.
.H1 Conclusion
For people who need a powerful launcher replacement, FilePoint is certainly worth a look. Other launchers may be faster, but this is the only one that allows sub-categories. Also, not many launchers have built-in support for so many file types.
Having you launcher and you file manager in the same program is very beneficial. You can view applications in expansion memory and in RAM at the same time. You can launch and work with files in expansion memory just like in RAM. Don’t forget that you can view all files on your handheld, even those you can’t launch.
There are a few file management features not included. The ability to edit file attributes is missing. For that, a good alternative is Filez (at http://www.nosleep.net/filez.asp). Also, you can’t add your own launch-able file types, like Launch Em’ (at http://www.synsolutions.com/software/launchem/).
FilePoint’s combo of launcher and file manager creates one of the most slick and useful applications for the Palm OS I’ve seen.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on FilePoint, visit http://www.bachmannsoftware.com/FilePoint.htm.
For more information on Documents to Go, visit http://www.dataviz.com.
For more information on QuickOffice, visit http://www.cesinc.com.
For more information on Wordsmith, visit http://www.bluenomad.com.
For more information on PrintBoy, visit http://www.bachmannsoftware.com/pbdeluxe.htm.
For more information on Filez, visit http://www.nosleep.net/filez.asp.
For more information on Launch Em’, visit http://www.synsolutions.com/software/launchem/.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
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