Convert To/From Palm Databases
See the download page to obtain this program
This collection of programs provides:
Here are some examples of how to use the tools. It is assumed that files are stored in the directories given by the environment variables described under Installation.
The relationship between the utilities is as follows:
It is essential to get hold of the pilot-link package. The tools in the piconv were built against pilot-link version 0.9.3. piconv has been built and tested on OpenStep 4.2 running on a Pentium PC. The piconv utilities should be reasonably portable to other Unix environments such as Linux and Solaris.
Run gunzip to decompress the distribution, then tar xvf to extract the archive. The files will end up in directory piconv-1.0. Edit the Makefile for a suitable installation directory. Type make to compile the C programs. Type make install to install the executables in the chosen directory.
The executables (pilist, piload, pisave, from_pi, to_pi, get_pi, put_pi) need to be installed in a directory on the search path for executables. Depending on the installation directory for piconv, the PATH environment variable may need to be changed.
The following additional environment variables should be set up:
piconv is free software, distributed under the GNU Public License Version 2. You may re-distribute this software provided you preserve this README file.
piconv builds on the robust and comprehensive pilot-link utilities by Kenneth Albanowski, whom the author thanks for prompt and helpful advice.
Version 1.0: First public version, Ken Turner, 5th November 1997
Version 1.1: Compiled quad-fat for NEXTSTEP 3.3, Ken Turner, 22nd December 1997
Version 1.2: Bug fix, Ken Turner, 20th April 1998
Version 1.3: Bug fix, Ken Turner, 3rd June 1998
Version 1.4: Bug fix, Ken Turner, 20th July 1998
Version 1.5: Bug fix, Ken Turner, 17th September 1999
Version 1.6: Minor changes, Ken Turner, 2nd May 2001
Note that some system files cannot be loaded back into the Palm. Filenames can be shortened as long as they do not become ambiguous (e.g AddressDB.pdb might be given on the command-line as Address).
The pilot-xfer address book is held in AddressDB.pdb. The private format address books are held in <category>.addr files. Fields are separated by tabs, and sub-fields by "~". Within a sub-field, "~" denotes a newline (except in a web address) and "^" denotes a space (in first/last name). A double quote must appear as \" in an entry. The generic format is:
T<title> p<first> s<last> t<work>~<fax>~<home> x<telex>
a<work addr> A<home addr> e<email1>~<email2>~<web> <l>links
Example (fictitious):
TDr. pIan sBrown t413-420~923-602~413-551 x823445 JOHNS US
aComputing Department~Johnsons~Smithville~IL 98021~USA
A6 Green Street~Pleasance~IL 90822~USA
ei.brown@johnsons.net~IB~http://www.johnsons.net/
lSquash~Sailing
It is assumed that the Palm address fields have been customised as follows:
Apart from this customisation it is assumed that phone number and record categories have not been altered by the Palm user.
When converting from pilot-xfer to private format, a number of fields such as Company, Town, ... are just incorporated into the work address. Other fields such as Note, Mobile, Pager, ... are appended to the links. In the reverse direction, none of these fields is generated.
The pilot-xfer date book is held in DatebookDB.pdb. The private format date book is held in calendar - a specialisation of the Unix format. Fields are separated by tabs; sub-field separators vary.
<month> <day> <year> <start>-<finish> <description> <alarm>
The finish time is omitted for an event without a specified end. The start and finish times are omitted for an untimed event. The alarm time is optional. The description begins with "@" for private appointments.
Example:
Jul 16 1997 @Celebrate Anniversary
Jul 16 1997 08.00 Breakfast Meeting 07.30
Jul 16 1997 15.00-16.30 *Project Review, Board Room
When converting from pilot-xfer to private format, repeated appointments are expanded to literal repetitions. In the reverse direction, repetition is not used. From private format to pilot-xfer, alarm times more than 99 minutes in advance are converted to the nearest number of whole hours.
The pilot-xfer expenses are held in ExpenseDB.pdb. The private format expenses are held in files called <category>.exp. Main fields are separated by tabs:
<day>-<month>-<year> <expense type>
(<payment type> <vendor> <city> <attendees>)
<currency><amount> [note]
Example:
31-Aug-97 Dinner (Visa) US$ 254
31-Aug-97 Hotel US$ 893.63 [1]
01-Sep-97 Breakfast US$ 952
01-Sep-97 Other (Commission) CN$ 2.50 [5]
The pilot-xfer memos are held in MemoDB.pdb. The private format memos are held in files called <title>.memo[s]. When a memo is created, the title is taken from the first line of the memo (file name limited to 32 characters, spaces converted to underscores). If a memo has a blank first line, the title is set to "memo1", etc. The suffix may be extended with "s(ecret)".The contents of a memo (including the first line as title) are copied literally. The default is a business, non-secret memo.
The pilot-xfer todo list is held in ToDoDB.pdb. The private format todo list is held in todo. The header is terminated by a blank line. Fields are separate by tabs; sub-field separators vary.
<status> <priority> <due> <description>
The status is "*" (completed) and B(usiness)/P(ersonal)/U(nfiled). The default is uncompleted business. The priority is in the range 1 to 5. The due date is in the form MMM DD YYYY (default is a tab if no due date). A tilde is used in the description in lieu of a newline.
Example:
State Pri Due Description
U 1 Jul 17 1997 Write to John Smith~(order form)
*S 2 Jul 24 1997 Send off book review
P 5 Finish program write-up
When converting from pilot-xfer to private format, a note is appended to the description. In the reverse direction, a note is not generated.
To handle different private formats from the ones generated by this program, customise the following functions:
To handle different private formats from the ones generated by this program, customise the following functions:
piconv relies on pilot-link, which fortunately is really quite portable. However, OpenStep users might wish to note the following hints about building pilot-link version 0.9.3 on OpenStep 4.2:
ARCH = -arch i386 -arch m68k -arch sparc
OSFLAGS = $(ARCH) -Wno-precomp
#ifdef __NeXT__
#define ENOSYS EOPNOTSUPP
#endif
to allow the return of a valid (but not very important) error number in
some functions.
#ifdef __NeXT__
struct utimbuf {
time_t actime; /* access time */
time_t modtime; /* modification time */
};
#endif
This is a slightly untidy work-around that gives an apparently harmless
warning when compiling pilot-xfer.c.
For the convenience of OpenStep users who do not have the developer version, I have pre-compiled Version 0.9.3 of pilot-link with the above changes. Precompiled source for Intel only is available for file transfer. I built with /usr/local/pilot as the installation directory, though you can probably change this to your preference. Note that I have tested only on OpenStep 4.2/Intel. And of course, all the hard work was done by pilot-link author Kenneth Albanowski.
On my OpenStep/Intel system I have the following environment variables set up:
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