Load all the files in PalmOS onto your Palm. If you have a VII or other Palm with WebClipping (OmniSky, etc.), also load the files in the WebClip directory. If you have a Handspring Visor and want to view PNGs in 16 shades of gray you might want to load the prc in the Visor directory, but try it without it first. NOTE: RUnZip REQUIRES Palm OS 3.3 or greater (3.2 should work but is untested) so it will NOT work on Visors. ------------------------------ LINUX/UNIX Linbox contains the box, unbox, and comprc programs precompiled (glibc2). Recompile the source (make alldesk from the top) if you have a different system. ------------------------------ WINDOWS Move the files in the Win directory here into the Palm directory (where Palm.exe and Hotsync.exe is) and run BoxrInst to install it (or just double-click on the .reg file). zlib.dll may already be on your system - it is used by many applications. If it is placed in the system folder (if one is not there already) it will allow comprc to run from anywhere. See the Zlib homepage (listed in the other docs) for more info. The BoxrCn20.dll MUST be in the palm directory. You also need to restart HotSync for it to take effect. On the next hotsync, it will create an Unboxed directory in your user directory (like your backup directory - it is usually your last name and first initial) where any boxes on the palm will be stored (after being unboxed). You will probably want to create a shortcut to your desktop. Create a new folder called "ToBox" (without the quotes) in that same directory (the directory the Unboxed folder is in). Now any files you place in ToBox will be automatically boxed and sent to the Palm. Any (newer) boxes on the palm will be copied to the Unboxed directory. When a file is unboxed (on the *next* hotsync) it will also be deleted from the ToBox directory if there is a copy there. Note that Read-Only files in either directory will cause problems. - What overwrites What: a Matter of Timing... Make sure your Palm and Desktop have the SAME DATE AND TIME because this is how it determines whether or not to actually copy the file information. The Unboxing phase occurs first checking every box on the Palm. To avoid extra copies, if a file in the ToBox directory is older than one on the Palm, it will be DELETED FROM THE TOBOX directory to prevent it from being uploaded when the Boxing phase starts. Note that it will normally "unbox" such a file into the Unboxed directory. If the Palm file is NEWER that one in the Unboxed directory (or doesn't exist at all), it will be unboxed. If the Palm file is Older, it assumes it already is there so won't waste time transferring it. Finally, any files in ToBox will be boxed and placed on the Palm. If your clocks are off (and Daylight savings might cause problems here) you might unbox a file that appears older than one on the palm, so it will continually attempt to unbox the file every hotsync. - Compression Comprc will take a PalmOS application prc file and compress it to a PDB which you should install instead of the prc. RUnZip will recognize these files, as will Launcher. Note that a compressed file will overwrite the original PRC (but ZBoxZ can decompress back to the original). Note Comprc will fail if the PRC is in an unwritable location such as a CDROM. Copy the PRC to a local disk first. >>> STEP BY STEP QUICKSTART <<< Copy the files from the Win directory to the Palm directory. (You may want to get the palm PRCs ready to install using the instapp now if you haven't already done so). Shut off Hotsync (use exit from the tray icon) Double-click boxrinst.exe and click on the Yes button Find your user directory Set both your desktop and palm to the same (current correct) time. Create a ToBox directory in that directory. Restart Hotsync (click on hotsync.exe in the palm directory) and hotsync your palm. (Creates the Unboxed directory) Create shortcuts from Unboxed and ToBox to your desktop for easy access. To convert images for viewing on the Palm, if you don't have an imager that saves as PNG files (especially the 256 color map style) save them as GIFs and use the Exorcist: http://www.nigels.com/exorcist/Exorcist.html (GIFs use a colormap which is optimal for the palm, but PiNGer will process higher colordepths, but will be SLOW!). Use File->PiNG to display them on the palm. You don't need to convert to black and white if you don't have a color palm. PiNGer automatically adjusts. There are a lot of zip utilities, use your favorite one. See the Linports.txt for information about tar and gzip (and a whole Linux-like environment) for Windows. ---------------------------- MACINTOSH A first pass is zipped in the MacBoxer directory with the source. Read the readme there for specifics, but also read the above as a guide. The main difference is that versions of the Command Line utilities, modified to use file selector boxes instead of a conduit are used to move files. Binary support isn't integrated, so you will have to use MacBinary or other utility to preserve finder information and resources. ZipIt will work to create the files (Other programs work, but you can't see or access inside them on the Palm) and there are many imaging programs that can do PNGs. ----------------------------- GENERAL If there are some Palm applications that you would like smaller and they don't do advanced things (e.g. alarms, beaming), Drag them over Comprc and install the generated pdb files. If there are any problems running them on the Palm, you can use ZBoxZ to (Un)Zip->UnRUnZ them, restoring them to their original state. If you don't have a MakeDoc but have a Doc reader on your palm, simply copy any text file (not a wordprocessing file, just plain notepad type text) to the ToBox and use the Install->ToDoc to convert and install it. ZipSync is a program that compresses and reduces prc/pdb/pqa files for HotSyncing in order to speed up the process. It operates much like RunZip. If you have databases that take forever to hotsync, try running them through ZipSync first (install SyncUnZip.prc and SysZLib.prc on your palm before or at the same time).