Introduction
Version 1.5
May 2003
CatScan is a powerful tool for viewing, searching,
and modifying catalogs (databases) using a Palm Computing platform handheld device.
Databases can be searched manually on a standard unit, such as a Palm III or Palm
V, and can also be searched using the built-in barcode scanner of the Symbol SPT
15xx, SPT17xx, and SPT 18xx,the Symbol CSM150 or PSC Momentum plug-in barcode scanners
for the Handspring Visor, or the Socket Communications SDIO scanner for PalmOS handhelds
with an SDIO slot.
The complete software package consists of the following items:
For Windows, the following two additional files are used:
For Macintosh, the following one additional file is used:
Windows:
If you should ever wish to deinstall the conduit, you'll find a program named SCS Conduit Uninstaller.exe inside the CatScan folder which contains the conduit. Run (by double-clicking) the uninstaller and the conduit will be uninstalled.
Macintosh:
Verify that the standard Palm desktop software, including the "HotSync Manager" software, is installed on your computer. If HotSync Manager is not installed or running, do not proceed, but return to the manual that accompanied your Palm, Symbol, or Handspring handheld unit, and follow the instructions there to properly install the desktop software.
Drag the file CatScan Conduit into the Conduits folder inside your Palm folder (or wherever your Palm software is stored). Now start the HotSync Manager application (most typically using the "instant Palm menu" on the right end of your menu bar). In HotSync Manager, select Conduit Settings under the HotSync menu. You should now see the conduit named "CatScan" listed. Double-click on it to bring up the settings window. We'll discuss the settings for the CatScan conduit below. Verify at this time that the "Install" conduit is set to "Install files". Close the Conduit Settings window by clicking on the close box in the upper left corner.
Now select Install from the HotSync menu, click on the Add To List button, and use the file browser to locate the file CatScan.prc, and click on Add File. If you want to install the sample file CSDB_AreaCodes.pdb, click on Add and select that file to install as well. Close the Install Handheld Files window by clicking on the close box in the upper left corner.
The next time you HotSync your handheld unit, two things will happen. First, the CatScan software will be installed into the handheld unit. Next, a folder named CatScan will be created in your user directory (see below for a diagram of where this folder is located). It is in that CatScan folder that subsequent actions (uploading inventories and downloading new catalogs) will occur. Each handheld unit into which you install CatScan software will have its own user name, its own user folder, and its own CatScan sub-folder. After you install the software and the conduit and this folder has been created by the HotSync, then you'll be able to set up a "catalog" to be installed into the software as described below.
To de-install the conduit, simply drag it out of the Conduits folder.
Before you license the software, it is fully usable for a period of 14 days. Once you have licensed the software and obtained a serial number from Stevens Creek Software, you need to enter that S/N into the software to fully license it. Run the CatScan program, tap on the Palm "Menu" button (in the extreme lower left of the screen, adjacent to the "Graffiti" area). Now select About CatScan from the Configure Menu in the CatScan software (depicted elsewhere in this manual). In the screen which appears (below), enter your serial number (SN). If you enter the correct number, your software will be licensed (and you'll see this indicated if you return to the "About" screen).
CatScan is designed to view (and modify) catalogs (databases). To create the catalog (database) to begin with, you will generally do so by creating a text file on the desktop (with some limitations, you can also create a catalog on the handheld unit itself; that will be discussed below). You can create this file by simply typing it in using a simple text editor (e.g., WordPad or NotePad on Windows, SimpleText on Macintosh), or, in most cases, you can export the information from an existing database or spreadsheet which already contains the information.
A catalog can contain up to 32 fields. The limit on the total size of all the contents of one record (the sum of the lengths of each field in the record) is 1024 characters; there is no limit (other than 1024) on any one field, but fields must be single line only (that is, they cannot contain multiple lines of text). Fields can be separated by tabs, or commas; in the latter case, if any field contains a comma, it must be surrounded by quotation marks (this is the normal configuration of a "comma-separated" file, also known as a CSV file). The first line of the file MUST contain the titles of each of the fields. A field can be missing in any record, but its place must be marked by an appropriate tab or comma. Fields in different records do NOT have to be the same length.
So a file might look like this (where
represents the tab character):
Area CodeStateCity/Area
408CASan Jose, Sunnyvale, Cupertino
978NJNew Brunswick
801UT
Or, if you prefer to use CSV format:
Area Code,State,City/Area
408,CA,"San Jose, Sunnyvale, Cupertino "
978,NJ,New Brunswick
801,UT,
The software determines whether this is a tab-delimited or comma-separated file based on the presence (or absence) of a tab character in the very first line. If a tab is found anywhere on the first line, the software assumes this is a tab-delimited file; otherwise it is treated as a CSV file.
The order of items in the database is up to you, both the order of the fields within one record and the order of the records themselves. However there are some issues that come into play. As you'll see, the main display of data allows for a single line of display for all fields except the final one, which is displayed on multiple lines if necessary. Thus if you have a database with one field that has lengthier contents than the others, you should put it last.Another consideration is search speed. You can lookup data in any field in the database, but there are two special fields - the index field (for catalogs which will be searched in conjunction with barcode scanning, this will typically be the barcode field), and the sort field, which is used to sort the database. The closer these two fields are to the beginning of each line (each record), the faster the software will operate.
The name of the file can be anything you like, with two exceptions - you are limited to 26 letters maximum, and the name must end in ".txt". So Books.txt, or AreaCodes.txt, or Catalog.txt would all be acceptable names.
To download data into the handheld unit, you must create a series of tab-delimited
text files containing the information and place them into a special folder (directory).
A typical setup is shown in the diagram below, but many of the names may be different.
First, you must locate your "Palm" folder, that is, the folder in which
all the standard Palm software is stored. This may be called Palm (e.g.,
C:\Palm), or possibly something else. On Macintosh only, you next locate
the folder named Users (this isn't present on Windows). Next, you must locate
the folder within that folder which corresponds to the handheld unit to which you
are installing the software.Whenever you HotSync a handheld unit to that desktop
computer for the first time, a new sub-folder is created (shown here as Boris).
If the name of the handheld unit is short, and has no spaces, the name of the folder
will be exactly the same as that of the handheld unit, as in this example (Boris).
This is also always true if you are using a Macintosh. However, if you are using
Windows, and if the name is longe or if there are spaces, the name of the folder
will be different. The folder for a handheld unit named "Natasha," for
example, will be named Natash. The folder for a handheld unit named "John
Smith" will be named SmithJ. So your first task is to identify the
proper folder.
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Macintosh Macintosh HD Palm Users Boris CatScan Downloads MyCatalog.txt Previous Downloads Uploads Previous Uploads |
Windows C: Palm Boris CatScan Downloads MyCatalog.txt Previous Downloads Uploads Previous Uploads |
You won't need to create any of these folders (shown in black) yourself. When you install your Palm (or related, e.g., IBM, Franklin, Symbol) desktop software, the main directory (shown as Palm above but this name may vary on your system) will be created, and, on a Macintosh, a sub-directory (or folder) named Users will also be created. Whenever you HotSync a handheld unit to that desktop computer for the first time, a new sub-folder is then created (shown here as Boris). After you perform two HotSync operations (one on Macintosh) during the install of the software as described above, the CatScan folder, along with its sub-folders Downloads, Previous Downloads, Uploads, and Previous Uploads will be automatically created.
Whenever you HotSync, the CatScan Conduit looks for files ending in ".txt" in the Downloads folder. If one or more such files are found, the contents of that file or files will be downloaded into your handheld unit. The file or files will then be moved to the Previous Downloads folder so that they won't be reinstalled by subsequent HotSyncs. To complete the story, data which are uploaded from the Palm back to the desktop are put first into the Uploads folder. If the same data are uploaded again, the previous version is moved into the Previous Uploads folder prior to uploading the new data to the Uploads folder. The Previous Uploads folder in fact holds up to nine previous versions of the uploaded data, numbered consecutively XXX01.txt to XXX09.txt, where XXX is the name of your database (e.g., Books) and XXX01.txt is the most recent of the previous uploads, XXX09.txt the oldest.
When you want to download ADDITIONAL items into an existing catalog, the format of the file is the same, and of course the name of the file must be the same (i.e., if the Conduit is set to "Synchronize" mode, a file named Books.txt will be appended to the existing Books database in your handheld unit. If the database is sorted and/or indexed (see below), the next time you access that database on the Palm, the new items will be sorted and/or indexed into place).
Once the software (and, optionally, the catalog) is installed on your handheld unit, go to the Applications window of your handheld and look for the CatScan icon:
Tapping on the icon will start the application, and you'll see a screen like the one shown below. If you haven't downloaded any catalogs into the software, you'll first be asked if you want to create a new catalog (database). If you answer yes, you'll have a chance to do so as described below under Creating a New Database on the Palm; if you answer no, the program will exit, because it cannot function without one or more databases.
Let's review the basic controls:
On the top line is the Database Selector. If you load more than one database into the unit, you select which database you are currently viewing with this selector. The next two lines are used to lookup items in the database. The Lookup Field selector selects which field you are going to look in; each field in your database will appear in this list. To the right is the Lookup Criteria selector, which offers you five choices - Equals, Contains, Starts With, Not Equals, and Not Contains (we realize the grammer isn't proper on the last two, but "Doesn't Contain" or "Not Equal To" are too long to fit). The next line contains the Lookup Text field where you enter the letters or words you are looking for, and a Lookup Button (the binoculars) which you tap on to perform the lookup. Once you do one lookup, tapping on the Lookup Button again without changing anything else (the field, the criteria, or the contents of the Lookup Text), it will act to perform a "Lookup Again", that is, it will find the next item in the database which matches the criteria.
If you have a unit like the Symbol SPT1500 or SPT1700 with a barcode scanner, or a Handspring Visor with the Symbol CSM150 or the PSC Momentum plug-in scanner, you can also perform a lookup by barcode scanning. When the scanner is activated, either with the Scan Trigger button (lower right) or the dedicated buttons on the unit, the Lookup Field is automatically changed to be the index field (how you set this field is discussed below), the Lookup Criteria is set to Equals, and the Lookup Text is set to the result of the scan.
In the main part of the screen is a summary of the information about the record which has been selected by the lookup operation. The left portion of the screen shows the field name (or the first part of it), and the right portion of the screen shows the contents of each field (limited to one line except for the final field). If the contents are too long, they will be truncated, we'll discuss how to see it all later. If there are more fields than can be displayed on one screen, a scroll bar on the right side of this area will allow you to scroll to see more fields.
On the bottom of the screen are buttons which allow us to delete the current record, to add a new record, to display a report (list) on screen, and to create output from the database in four formats - clipboard, MemoPad, printer (requires PalmPrint software from Stevens Creek Software), and email, to scroll forwards and backwards through the database, and to trigger a scan. For the Scan Trigger button, tapping on this button, or pressing the physical button immediately below it on the unit (the MemoPad button), will trigger the scanner (on the SPT1500 or 1700, you can also use the large scan buttons which are part of the hardware unit itself).
If you do not have a barcode-scanning equipped unit the bottom line of the screen appears slightly different:
In this case, scanner button is replaced with an information button; tapping on this takes you to the "About" screen of the software.
When you tap on the Menu button on the lower left of the Palm screen (adjacent to the Graffiti area), you'll see the Settings menu which contains six items:
Tap on Database and you'll see this screen:
There are a variety of special fields which you can designate for your database; any or all of them can be specified as -None- which will mean that special function isn't used by the software.
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Barcodes - Exact vs. Non-Exact Matching Selecting a numeric index also has another consequence, which is that ONLY the numeric value of the data in the catalog is considered when looking up a scanned (or manually entered) value (such as a barcode) in the database. Sometimes, due to the way in which barcodes are stored in a desktop database (from which they are downloaded into CatScan), the barcode may not have leading zeroes included, whereas the scanned barcode WILL include leading zeroes. Conversely, a barcode in a database might include dashes or spaces, whereas the actual scanned barcode will most likely include neither. If the Index field is set to the barcode field, and the Index field is marked as numeric, then the scanned barcode will match the stored barcode, despite these differences (absense of a leading zero or presence of dashes or spaces in the stored barcode). In other words, if you scan the barcode "01234", it will match "01234" in your database, OR "1234", OR "12-34", OR "1 23 4", etc. On the other hand, if the Index field is NOT marked as numeric, then an EXACT match between all characters in the scanned barcode and the stored barcode must occur, "01234" will match ONLY "01234" and NOT "1234" or "12-34" etc. |
If you are using the software on a barcode-scanning unit, in the lower right hand corner you'll see the small scanner icon. Tapping on that icon, or alternatively pushing the right-most Palm "hard" button (the MemoPad button), will trigger the scanner, and allow you to scan information into this screen, rather than writing it in.
When you load a new database into the Palm, this screen will appear automatically when you start the software, to encourage you to set the proper settings for that database before using it. Note that there are separate settings for each database; you control which database the settings on this screen apply to by changing the database selector on the top line of the screen.
To delete the currently selected database from your Palm, tap on the trash can icon.
Most of the time, you'll be downloading data from the desktop into CatScan. Particularly for data collection activities, however, you may find it desirable to create a database right on the handheld unit. On the ConfigureDB screen, at the bottom of the list of available databases, you'll find Create New. Select this item from the popup menu and you'll see this screen:
Enter the name of the database, and the name of one or more fields (you don't need to use them all, just fill in as many fields as you want to have in your database), then tap Create to create the new (empty) database (or Cancel if you change your mind, obviously). CatScan will then return you to the ConfigureDB screen to select the Sort field, Index field, and other configuration parameters for that database.
Note that when you create a database on the handheld unit, you are limited to eight fields maximum. If you want to create a database with the maximum of 32 fields that CatScan can handle, you need to create it on the desktop and download it into the handheld unit. Also note that you cannot add or delete fields from the database (or change their names) after you create it on the Palm, so you should think out carefully what you want before you start. If it becomes necessary, however, you will be able to upload the data to the desktop, modify it there, and then download it back to the Palm, so your decisions are not completely irreversible.
Tap on HotSync and you'll see this screen:
For "normal" use, you can leave the setting in this window set to Use desktop setting, and configure the actions of the HotSync Manager by using the desktop Custom setting, as with usual conduits. However some users may wish to have field personnel able to have access to database information via remote (modem) HotSync, and in those cases it can very advantageous to be able to configure the HotSync action remotely from the field. This screen allows you to do that.
Tap on Scanner and you'll see this screen:
When an item is displayed on the screen, either by a manual lookup process, a scan, or simply by scrolling through the database, it looks like this:
In this particular case, nothing is truncated except the name of the first field (shown as "Area Cod" but the full name is "Area Code"), but often, lengthy data will be truncated. If you tap in the Details Box on the line displaying any field, you'll get a "popup display" which lets you view the complete details of that field and, if you want to, modify the field as well. If you specify a Display Field in the database configuration (described above), then that field will automatically popup, without requiring you to tap on the screen at all. In this example, tapping on the line (or in this case three lines) that contain the "City" field will show you this display:
You can use this display simply to view the data, in which case just tap OK when you are done. Alternatively, you can modify the data, and then tap either OK (which updates the information and then returns to the main screen), or OK, Next Field, which updates the information and then displays the next field in the record, allowing you to move through the fields of the record one at a time (OK, Next Field isn't shown in this display, since in this example database, City is the final field; in the screen shot below, showing the Area Code field, it is displayed). You can also tap OK, Next Field if you haven't made any changes, just to view the next field.
If you are using the software on a barcode-scanning unit, in the upper right hand corner you'll see the small scanner icon. Tapping on that icon, or alternatively pushing the right-most Palm "hard" button (the MemoPad button), will trigger the scanner, and allow you to scan information into this screen, rather than writing it in.
The horozontal numeric keypad right below the dotted lines is straightforward - just tap the numbers to enter a number, e.g., tap "3" and then "4" to enter "34" as the quantity. Clear erases the input. The +10, -1, and +1 buttons add the indicated amount to the quantity currently shown. You can either tap these buttons directly, or you can push the "hard" buttons on the case immediately below - the Palm DateBook icon button for +10, the AddressBook (phone) icon button for -1, and the ToDo List icon button for +1 (the final button, the MemoPad button, triggers the scanner, as it does on the other screens, although you're unlikely to be scanning the quantity). Of course you can also use Graffiti to simply write in the correct quantity. Note that the +10, +1, and -1 buttons WILL work if you have fractional (decimal) quantities, as long as the quantities themselves are positive. Thus "2.3" will become "3.3" when you press the +1 button, etc.
One subtle difference distinguishes the one field designated as the Quantity Field from other fields. When other fields are displayed, the "insertion point" is positioned by default at the end. But if the Quantity Field is displayed, the entire contents of the field are automatically selected. The consequence of this is that to change the number, you don't need to first press Clear, and then enter the new number; instead, just enter the new number which will replace the previous contents. For fields other than the Quantity Field, if you want to replace the contents of the field, you will need to either press Clear first, or alternatively drag across the starting contents of the field to select them.
You have three choices of fonts for the displayed data (in this popup window only; the main screen always uses a standard font). To make this choice, tap on the Menu button and select Set Font from the Edit Menu:
When you do, you'll see this window letting you choose your font:
Choosing the third option ("large bold font") makes the display look like this:
This mode is especially desirable when you are using the software in a pure lookup mode, such as with a "Price Lookup" application. Set the Price field in your catalog to be the Display Field, and when you scan an item, it's price will be displayed in an easy to read font like that shown here.
To add a new record from scratch, just tap on the Add Record button (the plus sign) on the main screen. The software will display the first field, with blank contents like this:
Enter the information and then tap OK, Next Field to move on to the next field and enter its information, or just OK to the main display after entering information into only this field.
When you are finished with a database, and have printed out some information and/or uploaded it to the desktop, there are three things you might want to do which are activated by the Data menu:
Reset Quantities sets all quantities (in the designated Quantity Field) to zero, assuming that you have designated one of the fields in the database as the quantity field (if you haven't, it does nothing). Delete Records deletes all the entries in a database, while leaving the database itself intact. This is most commonly selected when you are using CatScan for data collection, and want to "clean out" the handheld unit after uploading the data. Show Database Info displays the number of items in the currently active database and the total amount of memory they occupy. In addition, if one of the fields in the database is designated as the quantity field, Show Database Info will also show the number of "non-zero" items, and the total quantity of all items (e.g., it will add 3 apples and 4 oranges and display "7" as the total quantity).
If you have performed a lookup which will find more than one entry (e.g., select all entries in our Area Code database where the State Equals "CA"), or if you haven't performed a lookup at all (or if you perform a lookup with a blank Lookup Field) so that all the entries in your database satisfy the lookup criteria, you may wish to look at a list of the items on screen. To do this, tap the Show On-Screen Report icon, and you'll see screen like these
CatScan will display the eligible entries in your database in one or two columns. The main column will either be the data from the Sort Field, if there is one, or barring that, the Index Field, if there is one, or, barring that, the first field. A smaller initial column (shown in the example above on the right) will be shown if a field is designated as the Quantity Field (which wouldn't really be the case for this Area Code database, but probably will exist for many of your databases).
Tap on any item on the screen, and you'll be returned to the main CatScan screen, with that item displaying in full detail mode.
CatScan also provides a complete report generation facility, allowing you to generate reports in both fixed and special formats, and direct those reports to the Palm MemoPad application, an email outbox, a printer (requires a copy of Stevens Creek Software's PalmPrint software), or the Palm Clipboard. After you perform a lookup function (either manually or by barcode scanning), tap the appropriate icon (clipboard, MemoPad, printer, or email) on the bottom of the screen, and you'll see this screen:
The first section of this screen controls what is put into the report. You can put the Displayed Record only, the Selected Records, All Modified Records (a modified record is one which has been changed since the last HotSync), or All Records into your report. "Selected Records" requires a bit of explanation, since only one record is displayed at any one time. However, if your lookup criteria matches more than one record, all of them are considered Selected Records. For example, if you set the Lookup Field and Criteria and Text to lookup all items for which the "State" "Equals" "NJ", then although only one area code from New Jersey will be displayed at any one time, all of the area codes in NJ will be considered "selected" and will print in your report.
An additional consideration when deciding what to print is the maximum size of the output. If you print, there is no limit to the output. The Palm Clipboard is limited to 1000 characters; if your report contains more information than that, only the first 1000 characters will be copied. Memos in the Palm MemoPad can contain up to 4000 characters, but if your report is longer than that, CatScan will simply create multiple memos to contain the entire report. Email is also limited to 4000 characters, but only ONE email will be created, so if your report contains more than 4000 characters, it will be truncated.
For email output, the output is automatically put into the outbox of an email application. If you have a Palm VII, CatScan places the order in the outbox of the iMessenger application. It does not send the email; you need to switch to the iMessenger program and do that yourself by tapping Check & Send. If you have a Palm with the email software M/S Mail from Mark/Space (www.markspace.com) installed, CatScan places the order in the outbox of the M/S Mail application. Again, it does not send the email immediately; you need to switch to the M/S Mail program and do that yourself by selecting the appropriate menu command. If you have a Kyocera 6035 Smartphone, or any other Palm with the Eudora email software installed, CatScan places the order in the outbox of the Eudora application. Again, it does not send the email immediately; you need to switch to the Eudora program and do that yourself by selecting the appropriate menu command. Finally, with any other Palm which has the standard Palm "Mail" program installed, the order is placed in the outbox of the standard Palm Mail program, from where it can be transferred to the outbox of your desktop Email program by the next HotSync. Note that if you have a Palm i705, neither iMessenger or Mail is present, and you must install an additional program such as M/S Mail for this feature in CatScan to be useful.
When you use CatScan to create emails, the "To" field in the outgoing email will be left blank unless you have previously used the Email To menu in the Settings menu to set the default "To" for your emails. Once set, this value will remain set until changed.
For the format of the report, you have three choices. Across lays out the fields across the page, with the field titles on top and then each record below that on a single line. The fields are made wide enough to accomodate the widest (longest) member of that field. An Across report would look like this (note that some of the longer lines may wrap because there is no restriction on them):
Area Code State City 732 NJ Cent. New Jersey: Toms River, New Brunswick, Bound Brook (see 908) 609 NJ S New Jersey: Trenton (see 856) 201 NJ N New Jersey: Jersey City, Hackensack (see 973) 856 NJ SW New Jersey: greater Camden area (split from 609) 973 NJ N New Jersey: Newark Paterson Morristown (split from 201) 908 NJ Cent. New Jersey: Elizabeth, Basking Ridge, Somerville, Bridgewater (see 732)
Down lays out the fields down the page, with the field titles shown on each line before the contents of that field, and an extra blank line between records. A Down report would look like this:
Area Code: 732 State: NJ City: Cent. New Jersey: Toms River, New Brunswick, Bound Brook (see 908) Area Code: 609 State: NJ City: S New Jersey: Trenton (see 856) Area Code: 201 State: NJ City: N New Jersey: Jersey City, Hackensack (see 973) Area Code: 856 State: NJ City: SW New Jersey: greater Camden area (split from 609) Area Code: 973 State: NJ City: N New Jersey: Newark Paterson Morristown (split from 201) Area Code: 908 State: NJ City: Cent. New Jersey: Elizabeth, Basking Ridge, Somerville, Bridgewater (see 732)
The final format option allows you to select from various special formats which
you create, as described in the next section.
When the "Scan & Print" mode is in effect, you won't see the choices
shown here. Instead, the What will be automatically set to Displayed Record
(that is, the entry which was just looked up or added to the database by scanning).
The format will be taken from the last time you "manually" printed a report
(or sent a report to the MemoPad or Clipboard), and can be any of the choices shown
here (Across, Down, or custom format).
You can create special formats, which are created directly in CatScan, but stored as regular memos in the Palm MemoPad application for convenience. A special format memo contains one or more special features, which are distinguished by one characteristic - they are surrounded by double angle brackets. In this manual, we use "<<" and ">>" which are each two characters, but the real characters are a SINGLE character each - ONE "double less than" or "double greater than" character, not TWO "less than" or "greater than" characters. On the Palm "popup keyboard, you'll find these characters in the lower right hand corner of the "Int'l" part of the keyboard. The "<<" character is in the lower right of the regular setting, the ">>" appears when you tap the Shift key on the keyboard. As you'll see below, however, normally you won't need to worry about entering these characters, because CatScan will do it for you.
There are five elements used to describe a report, each used in a pair to start and stop that element (very similar to HTML). These elements are:
CatScan provides the means for you to create and edit reports using these elements without ever actually seeing them, as will be described shortly. However, if you go to the Palm MemoPad application, you will see these elements there.
Within any of the Page Description Elements, you can have a variety of contents, both fixed (simple text) and variable (field contents). Any normal text prints as is. Other special elements require a special format, as follows:
With these explanations, here is a sample report. Note that in the PAGEHEADER element it is perfectly permissable to have a Field Name as part of the header; this is taken from the first selected record (but wouldn't really make sense unless it were the same for ALL selected records). In the body of the report, we print the Area Code centered on a column 8 characters wide (so that it is centered under the title "Area Code" on the first line), then we print the State field centered on a column 5 characters wide (again, to be centered under the title "State"). Note that we don't have to repeat the <<CENTER>> element; which continues in effect until changed. Now for the final column we switch the justification to left and print the first 20 characters of the City or Region where the Area Code applies.
<<TITLE>>Area Code Report<</TITLE>>
<<PAGEHEADER>>
Area Code report for <<State>>
<<LONGDATE>>
<</PAGEHEADER>>
<<DATAHEADER>>
Area Code State Region
<</DATAHEADER>>
<<BODY>>
<<WIDTH=9>><<CENTER>><<Area Code>> <<WIDTH=5>><<State>>
<<WIDTH=54>><<LEFT>><<City>>
<</BODY>>
<<FOOTER>>
End of Report
<</FOOTER>>
The output of this report would look like this:
Area Code report for NJ
Jun 23, 2000
Area Code State Region
732 NJ Cent. New Jersey: Toms River, New Brunswick, Bound Bro
609 NJ S New Jersey: Trenton (see 856)
201 NJ N New Jersey: Jersey City, Hackensack (see 973)
856 NJ SW New Jersey: greater Camden area (split from 609)
973 NJ N New Jersey: Newark Paterson Morristown (split from 2
908 NJ Cent. New Jersey: Elizabeth, Basking Ridge, Somerville
End of Report
Most of the "hard work" in creating memos containing the special print formats can be done for you by CatScan. Tap on Print Format in the menu from the main display and you'll see this screen:
You will see a list here of all memos in your MemoPad which fit the special format required for print format memos. Tap on one to select it as your special output format, and tap OK (or tap Cancel). Alternatively tap Edit to edit that format, or New to create a new format. When you tap Edit or New you'll see this screen:
This screen provides the ability to select each of the five sections of the report (Title, Page Header, etc.) using a popup menu at the top Within each section, you can enter (via Graffiti or other methods) plain text into that section of the report format, and/or use the buttons at the bottom of the screen to insert the various elements into that section of the report - fields, alignment specifications, dates, special characters, etc. Most of the buttons will generate a "complete" insertion, e.g., press Date and <<Date>> will be inserted into the report format. Two of the buttons, Width and #, do something a little different, because they require additional input. Press Width, for example, and you'll see this: <<Width=>>. Unlike the other buttons, however, the insertion point will NOT be placed after the >>, but rather before it. This is because "<<Width=>>" is not a complete specification, but it requires that you add a number which is the width for that field.
Some barcode printers require that when you send a barcode to be printed, you do not send the "check digit" (the last digit of the barcode). So you might have a 12-digit UPC barcode, but need to print only the first 11 digits. To do this, you need to make sure you are printing with left justification with a width corresponding to the barcode without check digit, like this: <<LEFT>><<WIDTH=11>><<FIELD=Barcode>>. Note that this will only work with barcodes of a fixed length (such as UPC codes).
Some examples for specific printers, showing sample text you'll want to enter into the BODY field, and assuming the field in your database containing the barcode is named "Barcode". Note that these are examples only. Some of the specifics in the examples control such things as the height of the barcode, whether the barcode is centered on the page, etc. Details on how to control each of these things can be found in the programming manual corresponding to each printer, obtainable from the printer manufacturer (often downloadable from their Web site).
Monarch 6015: <<ESC>>z4<<12>><<50>><<FIELD=Barcode>>
Datamax E-3202:
<<ESC>>a<<1>><<GS>>H<<2>><<GS>>h<<100>>
<<GS>>k<<65>><<11>><<WIDTH=11>><<FIELD=Barcode>>
Seiko DPU-3445:
<<GS>>h<<100>><<GS>>H<<2>><<GS>>P<<1>>
<<GS>>k<<0>> <<WIDTH=11>><<FIELD=Barcode>><<0>>
Zebra/Eltron (various models, e.g., P2242): [Note - this format starts and ends with a "return" and has a return (new line) after each command - these are essential. Also note that the quotation marks in the third line which are also essential.]
N
JF
B75,140,0,UA0,2,6,120,B,"<<FIELD=Barcode>>"
P1
When you are ready to upload inventory from the handheld unit to the desktop, you need to configure the HotSync settings. There are two settings which are relevant. Syncronize uses the standard "Palm paradigm" and uploads only the information from the handheld unit which has been changed since your last HotSync. That means, for example, if you modify 7 items, do a HotSync, and then modify 3 more items, only the last 3 will be uploaded when your setting is Syncronize. The alternate setting is Upload Handheld Data to Desktop. With this setting, all the data which resides on your handheld unit is uploaded, whether or not it has been changed since the last HotSync. Of course, if you want to temporarily disable the conduit, you can also select Do Nothing from the configuration window.
Remember (as discussed in Configuring the HotSync above) that there are two ways in which the HotSync action is controlled. If CatScan is set to Use desktop setting, then you control the action of the HotSync from the HotSync "Custom" (Windows) or "Conduit Settings" (Macintosh) menu on the desktop. If CatScan is set to any other setting (using the menu), then that setting will be the operative one, and your desktop setting will be ignored.
Another feature of the conduit allows you to automatically execute a program (Windows) or AppleScript (Macintosh) following the upload of the data. On Windows, create a file named OnUpload.txt inside your CatScan folder. The contents of that file should be a single line of text, containing a typical Windows command line (such as might be entered using Run), for example, Notepad C:\Palm\Boris\CatScan\Uploads\Inventory.txt (which would automatically open a newly uploaded Inventory file using the Notepad application). Of course, if you want to execute more than one command, you can simply make a batch file of commands, and use your one command to execute the batch file. On a Macintosh, the file is named OnUpload and should be an executable AppleScript file; anything you can do with AppleScript can be used in this file. The creation of suitable batch files and AppleScripts is left as an exercise for the reader.
There are several special things to note about the use of CatScan in conjunction with the Socket Communications SDIO scanner.
The SDIO scanner works on all Palm OS 4.1 and higher devices (through 5.x; not including the as-yet-unreleased PalmOS 6.x at this time). It requires a Palm handheld device with an SDIO slot, which include (as of this writing) the following Palm devices: Zire 31, Zire 71, Zire 72, Tungsten C, Tungsten E, Tungsten T, Tungsten T2, Tungsten T3, Tungsten W, Treo 600, m125, m130, m500, m505, m515, and i705. Some of these devices (e.g., the m-Series) were originally released with PalmOS 4.0; they must be upgraded to PalmOS 4.1 before attempting to use the SDIO scanner (this update is available at no charge from Palm).
Different Palm devices have differing orientations of the SDIO slot. In the newer devices, like the Tungsten T3 shown below on the left, the slot is "normal", and the SDIO scanner is inserted as shown in the picture, with the word "Socket" facing the user. Some of the older devices, like the m505 shown below on the right, have a "reversed" slot, so the SDIO scanner must be inserted with the word "Socket" facing away from the user. Also, depending on the physical characteristics of the individual device, it will be preferable on some (as shown on the T3 below left) to include the rubber "collar" on the SDIO scanner; on others, as on the m505 shown below right, it is essential to remove the collar, because with it in place the scanner will not fully insert into the slot.
Left: Tungsten T3 with Socket Communications SDIO scanner inserted in the
"normal" configuration
Right: Palm m505 with SDIO scanner inserted as required in the "reverse"
configuration
Here are some tips provided by Socket for obtaining the best scanning performance from the SDIO Scanner. Note in particular the non-intuitive suggestion #4.
As of this writing, our ScanConfig program does not work with the Socket SDIO scanner. However, Socket provides a somewhat similar program (with more limited functionality) called SocketScan. If you want to override the default barcode choices of CatScan, use the Settings->Scanning menu in CatScan and check the "Don't Configure Scanner" box. In that case, the configuration you set up with SocketScan will remain in effect when CatScan is operating. Note, however, that regardless of the "scan trigger" you select in SocketScan, CatScan will override that choice, because it is "hard-coded" so that the MemoPad button is used to trigger the scan (you can also tap the on-screen button if you prefer).
Known limits of the software are as follows:
If you need technical support for CatScan, you should first check our support web page, http://www.stevenscreek.com/palm/support.html, where we have tried to assemble answers to all the most commonly encountered problems with downloading, installing, and using our software. If that doesn't solve your problem, we encourage you to do so by email at support@stevenscreek.com.
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All Rights Reserved.