Contents
Introduction
Installation
Running Foreign Desktop
Starting
the application
Getting
Internet rates
Disclaimer
Troubleshooting
Foreign Desktop is written in the Java language. This allows the same program to run on different machines, regardless of whether they are PCs, or Sun Solaris workstations. Support will only be provided for Win95/98 on a PC.
In order to run a Java program you need to download and install the
Java Runtime Environment (JRE) [Note: Java 1.1.6 was used to develop
the software]. The latest JRE for Windows 95/98 (approx 2.5MB) can
be downloaded from:
Create a directory for Foreign Desktop files. For example create C:\Foreign. Copy all the Desktop files (Foreign.class, Bitmap1.gif, Foreign.bat) to this directory. This will be the Foreign Desktop working directory.
The location of this ForcDB.PDB file will depend on how you installed your Palm software from 3Com. For me, the file is located in C:\Palm\SetoE\Backup\. You'll probably find it in a similar directory.
C:> copy C:\Palm\SetoE\Backup\ForcDB.PDB C:\Foreign
C:> Foreign(Note: Foreign.bat calls "jre -cp . Foreign". You may need to modify the Foreign.bat file if the jre program is not in your path. For example if jre is in the C:\java directory you might need to change the batch file to be "C:\java\jre -cp . Foreign".)
This will bring up the program screen on your PC:
The program works by processing a list of commands you type into the text box. The format for the commands is quite simple and is shown right above the text box. For example, assume your reference currency is the American Dollar (USD) and you wanted to change the Japanese Yen rate to 125. Simply type:
The "JPY" and the "125" are the important numbers. The description "Japanese Yen" doesn't really matter, but there must be some sort of text there. The "0.008" is the number of USD per JPY, or the inverse of 125. You can actually put any number here since it really is not used. However there must be some number there. For example, the following would work just fine too:
JPY blah blah blah 1234 125
You can enter more than one line of commands. For example:
JPY blah blah blah 1234 125
CAD blah blah blah 1234 1.5101
EUR Euro
1234 0.94
Use your web browser to go to Xenon Laboratories web site, http://www.xe.net/currency/table.htm. Use their "Interactive Currency Table" to generate a table of currency values based upon the reference currency specified in the Foreign application on your Palm handheld.
Cut and paste the currency table entries from your web browser into Foreign Desktop's text box. When you're ready, press the "Make PDB" button and use your Palm Install Tool to install the ForcDB.PDB file in your Foreign Desktop working dirctory back onto your Palm handheld. Do a Hotsync to finish the install.
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LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. THE SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION, IF ANY, PROVIDED
HEREUNDER IS PROVIDED "AS IS". THE AUTHOR HAS NO OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE
MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT, UPDATES, ENHANCEMENTS, OR MODIFICATIONS.