Programming Visual Basic for the Palm OS

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By Matt Holmes, Patrick Burton, Roger Knoell

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Released: April 2002

Pages: 440

Due to the immense popularity of Palm OS devices, demand for Palm OS applications has increased dramatically. Over 16 million Palm Powered PDAs have sold over the past six years,and the number of registered Palm Developers is currently over 100,000 and growing by about a 1,000 per month.

Visual Basic is one of the most popular development platformsin the world. Until recently Visual Basic developers were not able to create applications for the Palm OS platform. By integrating into the Visual Basic environment, the AppForge Basic compiler has brought Palm development right into the main tool used by millions of VB Programmers. In fact, Visual Basic in conjunction with AppForge is fast becoming one of the favorite development environments for the Palm OS.

The book provides a framework for application design, development and installation for the Palm handheld. While the reader should have experience with the property-method-event model of VB programming, no familiarity with Palm products is assumed or required. It is written primarily for corporate software developers, software architects, middle-ware developers and engineering managers who need to understand the strengths and limits of programming on the Palm, and how to integrate Visual Basic language Palm applications into their corporate IT infrastructure or product offerings. It teaches readers how to create a host of business applications including security, wireless and database connectivity programs.

Some of the covered topics include:

Complete coverage of Palm user interface and database programming techniques
Data Synchronization including how to build, test and install a conduit using Visual Basic and COM
Web Clipping applications and how to interface those applications to Microsoft's Active Server Page framework.
Extending the AppForge Palm application using shared libraries and Active-X like components.

Programming Visual Basic for the Palm OS is the onlybook designed to help the Visual Basic desktop programmer to break into the Palm market. With Programming Visual Basic for the Palm OS, Visual Basic programmers can become Palm programmers almost over night.

Programming with AppForge
1. Chapter 1 Introducing AppForge
  1. Palm Software
  2. Main Features of AppForge
  3. Installing AppForge
  4. Using AppForge
  5. Resources
2. Chapter 2 Application Development
  1. User Interface Design
  2. Basic Application Layout Example
  3. Language and Libraries Support
3. Chapter 3 Palm Database Programming
  1. The Palm Database
  2. AppForge PDB Library
  3. The AppForge Database Converter
  4. Resources
Data Connectivity
1. Chapter 4 Conduit Development
  1. Applications and Conduits
  2. Conduit Design
  3. Installing the CDK
  4. Nuts and Bolts
  5. Synchronization Logic
  6. Data Formats
  7. Resources
2. Chapter 5 SQL Databases
  1. SQL Publishing
  2. Universal Conduit
  3. Resources
3. Chapter 6 Web Clipping Applications
  1. Palm.Net Wireless Architecture
  2. Simple WCA Tour
  3. Building a Large Application
  4. Palm OS 4.0
  5. Resources
Advanced Topics
1. Chapter 7 Operating System Access
  1. Fuser Mechanics
  2. A Data Encryption Program
  3. Resources
2. Chapter 8 Shared Libraries
  1. Memory Concepts
  2. Memory Management Functions
  3. DBSLib Shared Library
  4. DBSLib Driver Application
  5. DBSLib Fuser
  6. AppForge Driver Application
3. Chapter 9 Piedmont
  1. Obtaining Piedmont
  2. Architecture Overview
  3. Module and Interface Definition
  4. Component Code Generation
  5. Windows Component Implementation
  6. Palm Component Implementation
  7. AppForge VM Integration
4. Chapter 10 Debugging
  1. Conditional Compilation
  2. Palm Reporter
  3. Palm Buttons
  4. Debug Database
Appendixes
1. Appendix Ingot and Enumeration Summary
  1. Basic Ingot Components
  2. Enhanced Ingots
  3. Multimedia Ingots
  4. Data Communication Ingots
  5. AFTone Ingot Pitch values
  6. Database Error Codes
2. Appendix DBSLib Sample Project Setup
  1. Target Settings
  2. Access Paths
  3. 68K Target
  4. C/C++, Processor, and Global Optimizations Settings
  5. PalmRez Post Linker
  6. Configuring and Adding Files

Colophon

Title:

Programming Visual Basic for the Palm OS

By:

Matt Holmes, Patrick Burton, Roger Knoell

Publisher:

O'Reilly Media

Formats:

Print
Safari Books Online

Print:

April 2002

Pages:

440

Print ISBN:

978-0-596-00200-8

| ISBN 10:

0-596-00200-9

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animals on the cover of Programming Visual Basic for Palm OS are flying fish. The 40 species of flying fish (the common name of the family Exocoetidae) can be found in warm ocean waters all over the world. They range in length from 7 to 12 inches. They have pectoral fins similar to bird wings and unevenly forked tails.

Flying fish are so called because of their method for escaping predators. They glide on their tails, which act as propellers, for up to 14 miles, reaching speeds up to 30 miles per hour. Their velocity builds to a point where they can launch themselves into the air and flap their "wings" to hold them up. Gusts of wind aid the flying fish in their flight, sometimes causing them to land on the decks of passing ships. Claire Cloutier was the production editor and proofreader for Programming Visual Basic for Palm OS. Ann Schirmer provided proofreading assistance. Tatiana Apandi Diaz, Sarah Sherman, and Jeffrey Holcomb performed quality control checks. The index was written by Johnna VanHoose Dinse and revised by Brenda Miller and Judy Hoer. Claire Cloutier, Sarah Sherman, Jeffrey Holcomb, David Chu, Julie Flanagan, Sue Willing, and Phil Dangler were the compositors.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

Melanie Wang designed the interior layout, based on a series design by David Futato. Mihaela Maier converted the files from Microsoft Word to FrameMaker 5.5.6 using tools created by Mike Sierra. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Linley Dolby.

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