cykalan
08-16-2003, 11:40 PM
ok...i think i should move it over to here....this is my reply to a post originally but i think it may help other people so i will move over to here....:
the file system used in Palm OS is indeed quite odd and may take you a while to fully understand it....
for many apps you maybe able to store some of the files on the MS, and more than often each program will have it specific path for storage, for example, iSilo's ebooks should be stored at \palm\programs\isilo (notice the s in programs, not program)), MP3 should be stored in \palm\programs\msaudio, etc..
Usually the specific path on the removable storage can be found in the application's manual, and if not specified, \palm\launcher (or \palm\programs\msfiles, due to historical reasons) will be a good try. for these apps, the program will usually directly access the required file on the MS without copying them into internal ram.
this method of accessing files is refered as "Virtual File System".
for other kinds of programs which do not support storage of databases on the removable storage, you got an option of moving the apps into the MS and copy the whole thing into internal RAM when you use it.
the default launcher is not really good for this purpose because:
1. you can't categorize the apps stored on the MS
2. the built-in palm os launcher by default will only move the program itself onto the MS, without the associated database, but more than often is that the associated databases is the one which occupies most space
to counter these problems, Powerrun is a much better option, in which all the associated databases will also be copied into your MS and there will be a shortcut created for you in the launcher. Powerrun is good as long as the apps are not way too large, this is because all the files need to be copied into internal RAM before running and that takes time.
if you got really large databases for some program and that program does not support VFS, programs like Pidirect will be able to help you, in which you store the concerned files in a particular path on your MS, and Pidirect will try to emulate the file as if it is in internal RAM when the program try to access it. Pro is that the whole file is not required to be copied into RAM when the file use it and hence greatly reduce start time. Cons are that only relatively simple and read-only programss/db will be able to use this method, such as dictionary databases, etc.. but there are also exceptions such as Quickoffice, Minipolis, etc.. which are relatively complex prgorams that can run on MS directly using Pidirect. Bear in mind that Pidirect only works with OS 4.
Ok. hope this can help you. god'mn my fingers are sore now.
the file system used in Palm OS is indeed quite odd and may take you a while to fully understand it....
for many apps you maybe able to store some of the files on the MS, and more than often each program will have it specific path for storage, for example, iSilo's ebooks should be stored at \palm\programs\isilo (notice the s in programs, not program)), MP3 should be stored in \palm\programs\msaudio, etc..
Usually the specific path on the removable storage can be found in the application's manual, and if not specified, \palm\launcher (or \palm\programs\msfiles, due to historical reasons) will be a good try. for these apps, the program will usually directly access the required file on the MS without copying them into internal ram.
this method of accessing files is refered as "Virtual File System".
for other kinds of programs which do not support storage of databases on the removable storage, you got an option of moving the apps into the MS and copy the whole thing into internal RAM when you use it.
the default launcher is not really good for this purpose because:
1. you can't categorize the apps stored on the MS
2. the built-in palm os launcher by default will only move the program itself onto the MS, without the associated database, but more than often is that the associated databases is the one which occupies most space
to counter these problems, Powerrun is a much better option, in which all the associated databases will also be copied into your MS and there will be a shortcut created for you in the launcher. Powerrun is good as long as the apps are not way too large, this is because all the files need to be copied into internal RAM before running and that takes time.
if you got really large databases for some program and that program does not support VFS, programs like Pidirect will be able to help you, in which you store the concerned files in a particular path on your MS, and Pidirect will try to emulate the file as if it is in internal RAM when the program try to access it. Pro is that the whole file is not required to be copied into RAM when the file use it and hence greatly reduce start time. Cons are that only relatively simple and read-only programss/db will be able to use this method, such as dictionary databases, etc.. but there are also exceptions such as Quickoffice, Minipolis, etc.. which are relatively complex prgorams that can run on MS directly using Pidirect. Bear in mind that Pidirect only works with OS 4.
Ok. hope this can help you. god'mn my fingers are sore now.