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This page was last rebuilt on Mon Mar 22 09:44:55 CET 1999 .

Java and the Palm Computing(R) platform - Related Links

Introduction

This is a list of links I discovered while looking around on the web. They are all related to the Palm Computing platform and Java in some way.

The Links

Conduit SDKs, Synchronization, and Desktop replacements

  •  Java Conduit Development Kit by Palm Computing, Inc.
    This special version of the CDK allows you to develop conduits for Palm´s HotSyncTM technology in Java . The underlying technology has been developed by AvantGo and can be seen in action in their AvantGo desktop product. Unfortunately, the conduits you can develop with this kit are tied to the Windows platform. They still rely on the HotSync manager for their operations and they require native Windows code. So basically, this kit allows you to develop software in Java, but it won´t give you the benefits of WORA. Its reliance on the HotSync manager also means, that you cannot run your HotSync procedure in the background as an NT service or as a UNIX daemon. Support for multiple concurrent connections is also non-existent.

    Fully commercial software. Priced at $169. No evaluation available.

    Rating: A solid offering if you don´t mind being tied to the Windows platform, and your application is oriented towards desktop use. Otherwise you will have to go look somewhere else (Hint: You have already come to the right site).

  •  PilotBean by IBM
    A simplistic approach, that tries to import data from the Palm Desktop organizer software into a Java program by parsing the native format of the software´s data-files. These files contain serialised OLE-objects, and changes to the version of the Palm Desktop organizer software have broken the PilotBean at least once in the past.

    Alpha software. Eval license with no right to redistribute. Will not neccessarily be turned into a finished product.

    Rating: Easy to use, works only on the Windows platform (because of its coupling with the Palm Desktop files and native DLLs), Doomed (flawed concept, neglected)!

  •  Java-Pilot-Desktop by CTAG
    Wants to be a complete replacement for the Palm Desktop organizer software. Written in Java . HotSync is working in Pure Java through the help of Sun´s CommAPI.

    There is a lightweight companion software called ExpressSync which can only backup and install files on Palm devices , but also written in Pure Java.

    Shareware, betas are still free, full version will be reasonably priced.

    Rating: Great potential! Completely replaces the Palm Desktop organizer software and HotSyncTM technology on non-Windows machines. A Conduit SDK is being planned. Failed to process the files from my Palm Desktop organizer software 3.0, and synchronization was still unreliable. This is certainly a challenger to SyncBuilder , but with a different target market. SyncBuilder is rather made for heavy-duty synchronization servers that operate through a network connection and which can serve many Palm devices simultaneously, whereas JPD seems to be made for the individual desktop.

  •  Java-PalmPilot Connectivity Project by Brad Barclay
    This will become a framework for developing Java programs that communicate and synchronize with a Palm device . It will be similar to the SyncBuilder framework , but more focused on serial connectivity with a single device. It uses Sun´s Java CommAPI for full platform independence.

    Unspecified licensing terms. Will most likely remain free for personal, non-commercial usage.

    Rating: Great potential. There is some working code already, and the author has the obligation to finish this one up in a timely manner if he wants to receive academic credit for it. Unfortunately, he may not accept outside help for coding, but others may help him with testing and localizing his code.

Execution of Java software on Palm devices

  •  JUMP
    A tool that helps you develop Java-applications for Palm devices . It takes Java byte-code and turns it into 68k assembly-language source code. This source code may then be processed with the PILA assembler to create Palm OS executables. JUMP only supports a very small subset of the java-classes and it contains some glue-classes that make a subset of the PalmOS API accessible to the developer. You cannot use JUMP for any serious development effort, and you cannot use JUMP to deploy any existing Java software to a Palm device . It has also seen no noticable development for a long time.

    Rating: Prove of concept quality. Not really usable. Doomed (neglected by the author)!

  •  Ghost Machine by Sean McDirmid
    An implementation of a limited JVM for Palm devices ! Naturally some things had to be pruned down to make this work within the limited environment of the Palm device . But many of the essentials are there and many JDK1.0.2 compliant Applets should work. The design is based on a proxy server that does some preprocessing on regular Java class-files and makes them ready for download to the Palm device . The JVM which is installed on the target device can then execute these pre-processed class-files.

    GPL´ed. Download includes full source-code!

    Rating: Prove of concept quality. Sloooow... Great potential! Memory hog! Very unfortunately, it hasn´t seen any improvements for quite some time.

  •  Waba VM by Wabasoft
    The developers of the Waba VM place great emphasis on the fact that this is NOT a Java VM. But you can use your familiar Java compiler along with a clearly specified subset of the Java language and with a small set of Waba specific classes and develop something that will run on Palm devices , on Win CE devices, as an Applet in your browser/AppletViewer, and as a standalone Java app.
    You can draw rudimentary graphics, you can receive pen-events, you can do some string-processing, you can access serial ports, TCP/IP-sockets, and you can access the devices´ databases.

    Betas can be downloaded for free. The SDK is free as well. No source-code for the VM included. Source for the SDK is available and has already been ported to Linux and Solaris.

    Rating: Robustness and speed, with shortcomings in the UI area. The Waba VM doesn´t crash and everything it does is very swift and responsive. If you compare this to PocketC you will find much more third party support for the latter, but there is already a third-party AWT look-alike for Waba, and I am sure there will be more in the future.

  •  SunLabs´ mysterious VM
    A SunLabs´ employee once claimed, that SunLabs will soon release a Java VM for Palm devices . I will believe it when I see it...

    Rating: Stale rumour.

PRC/PDB/PilRC/Bitmap/Doc processing

  •  Presdec - Palm OS Resource File Decompiler by Thomas Holland
    An excellent conversion tool to convert PRC-files into resource source code that can be processed by PilRC 2.0. It can also turn bitmaps into PBM files which can be processed by the widely spread PBM tools.

    Stable version. Freely usable. Includes excellent, well-commented source code.

    Rating: Great piece of software!

  •  PRC2PilRC by Dick van den Burg
    A tool very similar to the above-mentioned Presdec.

    Freeware.

    Rating: I have to admit I didn´t look at this one very closely.

  •  ptools by Hoshi Takanori
    Ptools shows resources graphically, as pilrc source, or in hex format, and will allow you to save them to a file.

    Stable version. Freely usable.

    Rating: Nice GUI and lots of useful functionality. A pleasure to use!

  •  BitEdit by Ken Shirriff and Steve Tomljenovic
    A neat little bitmap editor that will read bitmaps in .bmp, .bit, and .pbitm formats and will write in .bit and .pbitm format.

    The author says ´Alpha-alpha-alpha release´ :-)

    Rating: I haven´t tested it.

  •  PDB API by Virtual Overload
    A piece of source code that might be useful for the processing of PDB files.

    Freely usable.

    Rating: Very limited in scope. But maybe that´s just what you are looking for.

  •  Doc Reader for Java by Christopher Wong
    A platform independent viewer for files in the popular Doc format. Fully GUI driven. Includes bookmark management.

    Freely usable. Includes full source code.

    Rating: Outstanding tool!

Miscellaneous

  •  T Spaces by IBM
    A very interesting approach to construct a loosely coupled distributed system. Palm devices can be included into this system through a special proxy. The Palm device needs to establish a TCP/IP-connection through PPP, which means you can only use the PalmPilot Professional, Palm III, and other devices with a TCP/IP stack (no PalmPilot Personal, Pilot 1000, or Pilot 5000).

    Alpha software. 90-day eval license. Will not neccessarily be turned into a finished product.

    Rating: Great potential, platform independent, failed to work for me.

  •  Tiny Genie by Sean McDirmid (U of Utah)
    An attempt to connect Palm devices to other gadgets (printer, beamer, etc.) through JavaSoft´s new Jini technology.

    Academic project. No announced licensing terms.

    Rating: It is quite obvious that a project like this just had to get started somewhere on this planet. I am itching to get my hands at the first public alpha version.

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of the authors or companies who produce the software to which I am linking. I cannot be held liable for any damage this software may cause to your systems. Please consult the disclaimers and licensing terms of the original authors.