DocInOut v2.51 (for PalmPilots using the Palm OS 2 and above)
© Copyright 1999 Skip Bremer. All Rights Reserved.
This program is freeware for non-commercial use only and absolutely no warranties or guarantees are provided.
The latest version can always be found at www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Foothills/1307/
Contents
2.51
2.5
2.41
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.0
1.0
0.91
0.9
0.8
Unpack the zip file into any directory--preferably in the directory where you want to permanently house DocInOut.exe and perhaps the three conversion utilities, makedoc.exe, jconv95.exe, and handdesk.exe--although the utilities can later be placed in your path if you like.
If necessary, move DocInOut.exe and the three conversion utilities to a permanent location. (If you are upgrading from a previous version, be sure to copy the new DocInOut.exe file to where your old one resides, overwriting the old one.)
Run DocInOut.exe from that permanent location.
DocInOut will go straight to its Options dialog where you can check its default settings and install DocInOut into the registry.
Important information: Even though DocInOut is careful to wrap all command lines sent to the conversion utilities with quotes so they can accept long file names (the quotes under DOS for this purpose is a Win9x feature), it appears that some of these utilities can still have problems if they are placed in a long file name path. So, for instance, keep them in C:\Windows or C:\DocInOut or something like that. DO NOT store them in something like C:\Program Files or C:\Conversion Files as this will probably break them.
Conversions
DocInOut must be installed into the registry so it can present itself on the Windows Explorer context shell menu (right-click on a file to see it) for all PDB/PRC and TXT/CSV files. On PDB/PRC files, you will see the additional menu items Make Text File..., Make CSV Files... and Update Pilot PDB/PRC.... On TXT/CSV files, you will see either Make Pilot Doc... or Make DB File... menu items. Selecting these will...
With TXT/CSV files you can also optionally edit them either with DocInOut's internal editor or your default system TXT/CSV editors either before converting them or after making them.
With PDB/PRC files you can also optionally have these made files automatically installed for you either with DocInOut itself or with the standard pilot install tool.
DocInOut also checks to be sure that the PDB/PRC file you selected is in fact a pilot doc file or a JFile/HanDBase DB file.
Finally, if you have elected to make DocInOut your default pilot program install tool, simply double click any of your PDB/PRC files and they will be quickly installed for you by DocInOut. Further options, instructions, and tips are found on DocInOut's Options screen.
Installations
You can optionally set up DocInOut to be your default pilot program install tool. It is quicker (with less fuss) than the standard install tool. In the Options dialog, check the Install DocInOut as your default pilot install tool checkbox. You can always reverse this feature anytime by running DocInOut directly again and then unchecking the checkbox. DocInOut is smart enough to go look in the registry and figure out the appropriate key, so it can later write it when you use it to install a file. If you select this option, two things will happen. 1) The default menu item Open that runs when you double-click a pilot file will now silently launch DocInOut to install the file quickly for you. 2) Another menu item, Install... is added so you can right-click and pick that item whenever you want to use the standard install tool.
Please keep in mind that it is easy to install and uninstall the context menu options whenever you wish, in case they get in your way, for instance.
Also keep in mind that if you ever reinstall your normal default CSV file handler (like Excel), that will probably destroy the DocInOut registry settings for the context menu for CSV files as DocInOut piggybacks on the existing handler's settings. In that case, simply start DocInOut directly, uninstall that registry support option, restart DocInOut directly again, and reinstall it to fix the problem.
Internal Editor
The internal editor is provided for quick editing of your files either before converting them or after they are converted. It is completely optional and you don't have to use it as there is an option to use your default system editors (normally Notepad for TXT files and Excel or the like for CSV files). It has a capacity of 2 MB and offers the basics for file viewing and editing.
DocInOut uses the freeware utility makedoc.exe from Pat Beirne to decompress and compress doc (PDB/PRC) files. Please review the makedoc.txt file if you wish to know further details. DocInOut passes the following command lines to makedoc.exe:
PDB->TXT
<path>makedoc.exe -d "path\pdbfile" "path\txtfile"
TXT->PDB
<path>makedoc.exe "path\txtfile" "path\pdbfile" "title"
DocInOut uses the freeware utility jconv95.exe from Land-J Technologies to convert JFile DB files. Please review the jconv.txt file or check www.land-j.com know further details. DocInOut passes the following command lines to jconv95.exe:
PDB->CSV
<path>jconv95.exe 2 "path\pdbfile" "path\csvfile" ["path\ifofile"]
CSV->PDB
<path>jconv95.exe 1 "path\csvfile" "path\pdbfile" "title" ["path\ifofile"]
DocInOut uses the freeware utility handdesk.exe from DDH Software to convert HanDBase DB files. Please check www.ddhsoftware.com if you wish to know further details. DocInOut passes the following command lines to handdesk.exe:
PDB->CSV
<path>handdesk.exe command:tocsv csv:placequotes csv:fieldnames csv:overwrite csv:infile:{"path\pdbfile"} csv:outfile{"path\csvfile"}
CSV->PDB
<path>handdesk.exe command:topdb pdb:hasquotes pdb:fieldnames pdb:overwrite pdb:infile:{"path\csvfile"} pdb:outfile{"path\pdbfile"} pdb:dbname{"title"}
Note about pdb:dbname{"title"}. Handdesk allows picking up information from a DB file (popup lists, column widths, etc.) when converting from a CSV to a DB file; the only problem is it has to be another DB file other than the one you are about to update. Well, DocInOut has a smooth way to make this easy. It believes you are normally going to update an existing DB file. So (if you elect to use this option) it first copies the said DB file to another temporary DB file and then points to that temporary file for the DB file information when making (updating) the original DB file! It works great, is easy (DocInOut does it all--you don't), and very accurate. When its done, it cleans up by removing the temporary DB file as well. Have fun!
Run DocInOut.exe directly.
Go to the Options dialog and uncheck the registry support checkboxes (this sets your Explorer menu back to what it was for PDB/PRC/TXT/CSV files before installing DocInOut).
Remove DocInOut.exe and the conversion utilities from your computer, if desired.
DocInOut does not use some of the more advanced switches that some of the conversion utilities provide (with the exception of the optional JFile .ifo information file feature). It passes them their basic conversion syntax to ensure nothing upsetting will be inadvertently sent to them, thereby keeping the conversions very reliable.
Mark Pierce has made an ActiveX component (two of them actually) for the doc conversion routines and by using these I could dispense with calling Pat Beirne's DOS makedoc.exe program. I almost shipped DocInOut that way. But I decided I wanted to keep this simple and quick and definitely did not want to go through setting up ActiveX registrations in your registry. Right now DocInOut is simple, quick, and seems to work quite well with makedoc.exe, so until something changes, that's the way I plan to keep it. Both DocInOut.exe and makedoc.exe work on Windows NT as well.
The JFile DOS converter, jconv95.exe, is quick, although it seems that at times to leave blank lines in CSV files that it creates, which make it bomb when it tries to convert that CSV file back into a DB file. Therefore DocInOut always checks the entire CSV file after it is written by jconv95.exe and removes any blank lines that are found. This is a quick operation that you won't even notice.
The HanDBase DOS converter, hddos32.exe, is accurate, but seems to take a while to do conversions. The Windows converter, handdesk.exe, is a little faster and because it accepts command lines, DocInOut was able to be wrap it into its fold. It is still not a speed demon, so don't worry if the conversions take a little while. The end results appear solid. The quick window flash you may see on your screen just as handdesk.exe finishes its conversion routine is ok; do not worry about it.
Please let me know if you have any problems or think something should be changed.
