Information for the Clarion developer
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WListdb is freeware. It is developed using CW2.003

PalmOS-related information
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The PalmPilot is a device without a hard-disk-like storage media. Applications and databases are stored in RAM-memory. That is why the organisation of data storage is based on record structures, not file structures.

During a synchronization process between the PalmPilot and the PC, two methods of data synchronization are used. 

The synchronization application HotSync (part of the Palm package) starts so-called 'conduits' which are essentially dll's which manage the direct exchange of data between a desktop application and its corresponding Palm application.

The second method backs up the database of a Palm application to a local file on the desktop with the extension .pdb. Such pdb files can also be installed on the PalmPilot using the install tool instapp.exe which comes with the Palm package. The backup and install process is also administered automatically by HotSync.

List-related information
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'List' is a very popular Palm application developed about one year ago. It allows the user to create his own simple databases with two string fields (2 x 121 bytes) and a note field (up to 4k). These databases are called lists.

The List application uses the second method of data synchronization, the backup. The user can convert the resulting pdb files to csv files with the help of the dos utility Listdb which comes with List. csv files can also be converted back to pdb files which can then be installed onto the PalmPilot.

IMHO this is reason for the great popularity of List. Entering bigger amounts of data into the PalmPilot is still a pain. With List and its conversion DOS-tool Listdb, users can create custom databases and edit them on the desktop. But the conversion between both file formats with a DOS tool is still not very user-friendly.

You can find List at http://www.magma.ca/~roo/list/list.html. The C source code and detailled documentation can also be found there.

WListdb-related information
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WListdb is an edit tool which can read and write to pdb files directly without converting it to csv. As it is written especially for pdb databases created by List, its user interface is more convenient for this particular task than Excel because the elements of the user interface of WListdb simulate the functionality of the Palm application.

WListdb is developed as an app file. For the parts concerning the pdb file I have added some comments in the embeds. 

The different data structures of pdb files are declared and documented in the Global embed section of wlistdb.app. Please also read pdb.htm which is included in this release. Another good source of information are the C source and header files of Listdb which you can find at the above-mentioned website.

The functions PDBImport and PDBExport show how to read and write to pdb files using Windows API calls. I decided to use API calls because pdb data structures vary in length from 8 bytes to more than 4k. Using the dos file or ascii driver would be quite messy here IMHO.

Please also take a look at the SwapDBH procedure. 

Warning
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This is the first beta release of this application. It has been tested only by two users. Although, no problems were encountered regarding reading/writing the pdb files. 

I plan to work further on this application, including some additional features like csv support and probably major changes in the UI part which is a big mess right now.

If you have any questions, suggestions or hints please send an e-mail to the address below. If your question is related to the development of this application or the topic 'CW and PDB' please put CW-WLISTDB into the subject line, otherwise use WLISTDB. 

Have fun!
Olaf Martens
martens@manhattan.lt					07/27/99