Do you have more than 160 words of text on your PalmPilot?
Would you like to know how many words you have written in a memo?
Do you use several large text based programs?
Would you like to be able to cut/copy/paste an entire 5,000 word report in one operation?
How about a clipboard that survives a reset?
Introduction
ClipHack replaces the Pilot's 1000 character (approx 160 word) clipboard with a dynamically-sized clipboard of up to 32000 characters. As a bonus, ClipHack provides an instant word and character count when cutting or copying 20 words or more. ClipHack enhances the pasting process by detecting when the clipboard contents would exceed the size of the current field and display a dialog offering the chance to skip the paste or truncate the clipboard text to fit the field. Unlike the standard clipboard, ClipHack's clipboard survives a reset.
Installation
As ClipHack is a Hackmaster extension, you should have Hackmaster installed first and then install ClipHack.prc. Hackmaster is a product of Daggerware and is available from http://www.daggerware.com. It is low-priced shareware which every PalmPiloteer should register.
As with any Hackmaster extension, you must enable ClipHack from the Hackmaster control panel. If uninstalling or upgrading any hack, remember to disable the hack from the Hackmaster.
Operation
ClipHack works with almost every PalmPilot application. Simply Cut/Copy/Paste as normal from the menus or from the Graffiti shortcuts. When cutting/copying more than 20 words of text, ClipHack will briefly display the word and character count for the text being cut/copied. This display may be paused by pressing anywhere on the screen. The word/char count display will remain onscreen until you lift your pen or finger.
When pasting text into a field, where the text being inserted would make the field exceed the maximum number of characters permitted, ClipHack displays a dialog from which you may cancel the paste operation, or truncate the clipboard to fit the field.
Version Notes
V1.1 - Fixed a memory error that would render ClipHack inoperable. Expanded clipboard to 32000 characters
V1.0 - Initial release
FAQ
Why do I need to ask any questions?
Basically, you don't. Load Hackmaster, load ClipHack, enable ClipHack from Hackmaster, and then cut/copy/paste huge chunks of text - and ClipHack will even tell you how huge they are.
Why was there a limit in the first place?
PalmOS stores the clipboard in the precious Dynamic Heap which has only 14K free space even if you have 1MB memory. This heap is used for your hack's and program's temporary storage space. ClipHack frees up more of this heap by creating a new clipboard that exists in storage memory (the rest of your memory).
Why is there still a limit with ClipHack?
The editing fields within PalmOS are limited to 32K text to edit. After allowing some space for overhead, most programs that allow large text fields seem to permit from 28-29000 characters. ClipHack supports a theoretical maximum of 64K when accessed via the Clipboard API rather than the Field API. A limiting factor is the amount of continuous free memory on your PalmPilot. Due to the way the clipboard functions work, the clipboard text must be stored in one block of memory. Thus the attempt to copy/cut a large block of text may fail if your PalmPilot is almost full. Users of PalmOS 1 (models 1000 and 5000) should update to PalmOS 1.06 (Freely available from http://www.palmpilot.com/ ) to reduce the risk of memory fragmentation.
Why can't I copy a whole Doc file?
As Doc (the excellent large text file viewer available from http://www.concentric.net/~rbram/doc.shtml) can read documents much larger than 32K it deals with only part of your document at a time. Although ClipHack still permits cutting/copying over five times as much text than before, a future version of Doc will provide an interface to permit copying much larger blocks of text.
Why does ClipHack appear so large in the Memory application?
The size reported by Memory is for the hack itself (4K) and the text in the clipboard. So, no, I haven't just given you a 30K hack!
Why does it say Device Full?
Well, it means what it says :) There is not enough contiguous memory left to store the clipboard text.
I can't copy received or stored large email from the inbuilt PalmPilotPro email package.
The Pro's mail package refuses to copy more than 1000 characters from received or saved email because it checks the length and generates the error message itself. It is hoped that this will be addressed in a future release of ClipHack. The solution is to select reply, which copies the whole text into an edit field from which it may be copied with ClipHack, then cancel the reply.
What programs will ClipHack work with?
All of them! Virtually all programs access the clipboard via the Field cut/copy/paste functions which are fully operational with the larger clipboard. A few programs (mostly inbuilt) access the clipboard directly thought the clipboard functions, which have no limit checking. The Mail program implemented limit checking itself to avoid overwriting the end of the old clipboard. The Clipboard View program on some PalmPilot archive sites will crash your PalmPilot if run with a clipboard larger than 10000 characters.
Why don't you add <Feature> to ClipHack?
Quite possibly I will! Already planned are features like Spike to copy multiple times, concatenating the text to the clipboard. Also Multiple Field Copy to copy the text from multiple fields (such as the address book) and paste them back, either as text in a memo, or into another address book entry. A clipboard viewer will also be developed. Some of these enhancements will be made available only to registered users.
How do I register?
ClipHack is shareware with a registration fee of US$7. You may evaluate ClipHack for a period of 30 days, after which you must register. Register securely using Credit Card on the WWW via http://www.deskfree.com/.
Or you may register using Cheque/Cash/First Virtual/Credit Card via Kagi by running the included Windows program and emailing/faxing/posting the output of that program. If you wish to register with First Virtual and are not able to run the Windows registration program, email your First Virtual details to sales@deskfree.com.
Support shareware - and keep quality PalmPilot software coming.
This file is over FIVE times as big as your original clipboard, yet ClipHack can manipulate text FIVE times larger than this text.
