Thread: Palm Pilot
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Old 01-26-2008, 01:24 AM   #20
DMcCunney
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Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by historyb View Post
Thank you. Now is Palm Doc .pdb format?
Yes, but you need to understand how Palm OS works.

The only files that can be in RAM on a Palm OS PDA are files in Palm Database format. All files in RAM on a Palm OS device are databases. Programs on Palm devices are "resource" databases, where the resources are the program code.

Windows uses the file extension to know what kind of file it is and how to handle it. An EXE file is a program, a Doc file is a word Document, and XLS file is a spreadsheet, etc. Palm OS doesn't do that. There are only two file extensions you will see on Palm devices: PDB and PRC.

Any file with a PDB extension is a Palm Database file. The actual content can be anything. The first record of every Palm Database file contains information about the database, including the Creator ID and the Type. All programs on Palm devices have a unique four character Creator ID, and all databases used by the program will have the same Creator ID. Palm OS uses that to know what data belongs to what program, and each program only sees the data it knows how to handle.

A file with a PRC extension is a Palm Resource Database. It's usually a program, but does not have to be. Some programs use data files in PRC format. For example, the Mobipocket ebook reader uses PRC files on Palm devices to hold ebooks.

Palm doc files are a special case. They have a PDB extension, and they all have a Creator ID of "REAd", and a Type of "TEXt". An assortment of programs can display doc files, including CSpotRun and WeaselReader, which I mentioned. eReader and Mobi reader can also display doc files, as can a variety of text editor and word processing apps for Palm devices.
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Dennis

Last edited by DMcCunney; 01-26-2008 at 01:27 AM.
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