USENIX Program Schedule Loader

Introduction

The USENIX Program Schedule Loader was first used at LISA in December 1998. It reads events from a text file and loads them in to the datebook application of a 3Com Palm device.

The Schedule Loader is based on install-datebook, which is part of pilot-link. I used version 0.9.0 but others should work. I modified the application so that it would attach a note to the datebook entry. The old input format wasn't suitable for this so I changed it, and made it use my favorite parser, scanf, which simplified the code.

I had been using a laptop computer for this, but at Usenix 2000 I won a pet shark, and I hope to use it at LISA in December.

Contents

The tarball contains the following files:

COPYING: GPL

Instructions: My instructions to the people who set up and ran the machine. You will want to modify this for your equipment and situation.

Makefile: For building the install-datebook application. You will want to modify this to reflect wherever you have installed pilot-link.

getdate.[chy]: Steve Bellovin and Rich Salz's date parser.

install-datebook.c: The source code.

libsock.diff: Try this if you have trouble with the serial port not being closed properly.

lisa00: Schedule used as input to the application for New Orleans LISA 2000.

Old: Schedules from previous conferences.

usenix: A shell script for automating the hotsync process. It simply runs install-datebook in a loop with "monterey" as input.

usenix.html: This blurb.

How-to

Here is a general outline of what you should do to set up your own USENIX Program Schedule Loader. I assume you are familiar with Unix and know how to run the compiler. If not, find someone who can.

Get and install pilot-link. Modify my Makefile to suit. Build install-datebook. Edit "monterey" and put in your schedule data. Edit the Instructions, print it out and give it to the person who will be setting up and running the equipment. Edit the "usenix" shell script if necessary. Copy all the files to the machine you'll be using. Test it before you ship it. Good luck.

Jim Rees