HotSync'ing .pdb ISilo Docs

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xomauraaa

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We are using ISiloX Clipper to take some web pages and create .pdb ISilo docs out of them. ISiloX Clipper is running on another users networked PC and is scheduled to run once a day to pick up any new changes to the web pages. It creates a new set of .pdb files out on a network drive that everyone in the group can access. I use to use DocsToGo 6 since it would allow .pdb doc types to be setup to be hotsync'd from the network drive. I upgraded to DTG version 7 and now when I try to add the .pdb's it says they are an invalid doc type. Is there anything else out there that might do this?

Thanks
 
Can you give me the exact text of the error and an error number, if one shows up? It's pretty hard to track down DTG issues without this information.
 
Jim, there is not really an error message associated with DTG. It just says "...it is an unsupported document type. Please let us know if this is a document type you would like us to support in the future, etc...". Which is fine because DTG really does not work with this particular doc type. I guess prior to version DTG 7 I was "piggybacking" on DTG's ability to be able to create permanent hotsync entries for the .pdb doc types. I never used DTG to view the .pdb files. I have ISilo on the Palm so once DTG would hotsync them to the external card I would use ISilo to view them.

What I guess I am looking for is something like DTG that can create a hotsync link to the .pdb doc type out on a Windows drive letter (networked drive) and just simply sync them to my external card every time I run a hot sync. ISiloX Clipper will run the web pages through the converter and make them a .pdb. It runs on a timed schedule and puts them out to be hotsync'd but in my situation it is another user running Clipper and putting them to a network drive so they are available for all to use. Of course one solution is for me to run the same ISiloX Clipper routines that this user runs and just create my own set of .pdb docs.
 
I see what you were doing now. I thought you were actually reading these in DTG but now see you were using DTG as kind of a conduit. Have you looked at using Scheduled Tasks in Windows? You could set up a task that would copy the PDB files from the network drive to your install folder after whatever time the new web pages are created. They would then be available for hotsync. You'd have to create a batch file that would do the copying but that wouldn't more than few lines and it would really be the correct solution since it's not dependent on any Palm program.
 
I got the files to copy via the Scheduler using a batch script however, the Palm QuickInstall application creates some kind of oddly formatted file named "FileList" that has the list of files in either the "HandHeld" or the "ExpCard" directories that are to be sync'd. It adds entries to that file via the QuickInstall app. Simply placing the files in the directory is not good enough for the conduit. I almost can make it work if I can figure out how to get the QuickInstall conduit to recognize the files without entries in this "FileList" file.
 
I'm using a Clie TJ37 but I think the process should be the same for a Palm. You can bypass the Quick Install app by copying the files you want installed to your C:\Program Files\Palm\YourUserName\Install folder. I just tested this with an updated HandDBase file and the file was installed directly when I hotsynced without the need to go through the Quick Install app. Sony also has a folder called CardInst\Slot-MemoryStick in the UserName folder that allows you to copy a file to this folder to get it installed on the memory stick instead of RAM. I don't know if the Palm has something similar but, even if it doesn't, it should be easy enough to use a program like FileZ to move the files to your memory card if that's where you want them.
 
Thanks for the info. I found the right directory. On the Palm it is "PalmSyncName"\CardInst\Slot-SD for an install to an external memory SD type card.

Thanks for your help Jim!
 
Just a followup. I tried copying the files as in my previous post but the Palm Hotsync conduit still did not recognize them. I discovered that the "bit flag" must be set in order for the "install" conduit to load the files to the Palm device. I found a utility called "Palm CLIS" (Palm Command Line Install Tool) that can be coded in a Windows batch file. It will copy the files to the install directory and set the bit flag to trigger the install conduit to load the files. Unfortunately the utility will not trigger the conduit that loads files to an external memory card.
 
Does this only apply if you want to instal direct to a card or even from the install directory? There must be something different about how Sony and Palm implemented the install routine if that's the case. My Clie will pick up anything that's a compatible file type from the Install or Memory Stick folder and hotsync the files with no problem. The only issue is that the file on the MS install will always go to the root directory of the card since there's no status bit set that tells it to put it anywhere else. As far as I can tell, that's the only thing the staus bit does with a file that's to be installed to a card. The Quick install app sets a status bit to copy the file to what it thinks is the correct folder based on the file type or creator ID.
 
It looks that way. I read the API docs from Palm for the creation of a conduit. In the docs they mention the Quick Install and the Install Palm apps and how the hotsync process works with those two apps. I guess maybe Sony handles/implements it differently.
 
Just another followup, I have found what registry entry to add to signal to the Palm Hotsync to perform an install. I could not figure out which key was triggering the install conduits to run. I knew that Palm CLIS was causing some kind of registry entry to appear but could not figure out what it was. I used an application written by Mark Jacobs called Registry Watcher available at:
http://www.jacobsm.com/mjsoft.htm#rgwtchr

This app indicated that when the Install Tool added a file to install to the Palm card memory it would create a key named Install 9629 in :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\U.S. Robotics\Pilot Desktop\HotSync Manager

with a dword decimal value of "00000005"

When I added this value manually via a batch script (call to regedit) it triggered the hotsync to pulls any files in the "CardInst\SD-Card" directory.
If you add the key with a value of "00000001" it will cause the files in the standard palm Install Tool "install" directory to be installed to main memory. Not sure if the values would be the same across all Palm devices. My guess is that a "00000001" value is standard but depending upon the hardware configuration the "00000005" value might or might not work across other Palm architectures and the memory cards they use.

Walla!
 
That was a great catch! I think we'll make you our official hotsync expert here. :)

Sony does indeed do it differently. The is a similar registry entry for the Clie but the dword value is "00000001" for an install to RAM amd "00000002" for an install to the memory stick. The interesting thing is that the Sony hotsync apparently looks at the contents of the two install folders and changes the registry value on the fly as the hotysnc process begin. I tried this with a file by just dragging a copy to the Install folder for both RAM and card install. The dword value at that point was "00000000", which I assume is reset to a null value after each hotsync when ther is nothing to install. After the hotsync, the value was "00000001" or "00000002" so the registry entry was set at some point during the install routine. On a subseguent hotsync, the dword value was once again reset to "00000000".

It does seem that there are differences between the Sony and the Palm and probably some differences between Palm's as well but at least you given people a place to look if they have the same needs that you do.
 
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