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Many
developers use a Network HotSync with POSE to design and test their SF
projects. Anyone can obtain the newest
versions of POSE (currently 3.3) and Skins (currently 1.8) from PalmOS.com, and
registered developers can obtain ROM through the Provider Pavilion . This is fine for testing standalone
applications. However, newer versions of POSE are incompatible with the SF ActiveX,
so developers must use an earlier version of POSE. Versions that work well include POSE 3.0a7 (August 14, 2000) and
POSE 3.oa8 (November 29, 2000). The
problems are as follows:
·
There are very few
download sites available, sometimes in foreign countries, where it may not be
clear exactly what is being downloaded.
There are
multiple solutions to this problem:
·
Use
an actual Palm device for testing the ActiveX.
·
If
you have a compatible version of POSE, keep it and make a backup.
·
Obtain
a compatible version from a friend.
·
Find
a download site on the web. Go to
Google and click on the advanced search.
Type in to look for exactly 3.0a7 or 3.0a8 plus additional search words
Palm, download, and emulator. With any
luck, you will find a download site.
·
Download
the Emulator 3.0a8 and Skins 1.4 from this site.
You will
want all your files in one place. I
would suggest \Program Files\Emulator.
You will have the following subdirectories (or more):
·
Docs
·
Scripting
·
Skins_v1.4
·
ROMS
You will
also have the following files (or more):
·
Emulator.Exe
·
Emulator_Profile.exe
·
HostControl.h
·
ROM
Transfer.prc
The basic
documentation. It is worthwhile to scan
through UsingPOSE.pdf
This has
some perl stuff which you can ignore.
Read the
ReadMe_v1.4. This is fairly
self-explanatory. One major difference
between this emulator and later versions is the inability to have skins nested
in folders.
To use the skins included in this archive with the Palm OS
Emulator, all of
the files (all the *.skin and *.jpg file) need to be in a
directory starting
with the text "Skins" (e.g., "Skins",
"Skins 1.3", "Skins Palm", etc.).
Windows), or in the $POSER_DIR or $HOME directories (on
Unix). When
starting up, the Emulator scans these directories for *all*
directories
starting with "Skins".
It then looks inside these directories for files
ending in ".skin".
Note that it performs only a 1-level search inside the
"Skins*" directories, so make sure that you don't put
the .skins or .jpg
files in sub-directories in the "Skins*" directories.
With some
playing around, you can modify the skins and add new skins to your list, but if
you are doing that, you are not in need of this tutorial.
These need
to be downloaded from the Palm Pavilion.
I would suggest the file noted as the most popular collection of
downloads. These are from version 3.5
and before and will work well with this emulator.
Do not
bother with the debug ROMs, they will cause unnecessary error messages.
This is
your best friend and a real pain in the neck. Again, read through the
documentation. A couple of points are
worth noting:
·
If
the CAPS LOCK key is on, the startup dialog box is always displayed. Obscure point, but good to know.
·
Go to
properties and turn off all debugging
options. This is not needed for SF and
will cause unnecessary error messages.
C / C++
header file. You can ignore.
Palm OS
program to send the Palm ROM file to your desktop. You can ignore.
Directions
are on http://www.palmdatapro.com .
Sometimes
you will save your session, and will get different version of POSE when you
open your saved options. This may be
due to the path in the Folder Options that opens the psf file. For example, as noted above, the path to
open the file would be "C:\Program Files\Emulator\Emulator.exe" -psf
"%1"
The information in this paper is accurate to the best of my ability. If you note an error, please contact me so I can update the document.
Jon Blackman, MD, MS
www.pocketinformatics.com
Revised 2001-11-07