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I am hoping to create a simple program for my pocket PC - basically just a searchable database of marinas and anchourages around the UK. I already have the information stored on my PC as an excel file.
There are about 200 entries, but ideally I want an easy interface working a bit like the PPC contacts. i.e. Tabs for letters (A to Z). Tab A would show areas beggining with (A) such as Aberdeen, Arbroath etc etc. When you click on the area it takes you to a page with detailed notes for that area.
Is there any tools out there that are easy to use rather than using microsoft development tool?
The program will be distributed to sailing friends etc.
Something drag and drop would be lovely!
useful!
well lockarm - this sounds like a really useful little program
actually the microsoft development tool is about as easy as it gets.
The problem with the simpler tools is that the final program ends up being a bit crappy to use - the development environment doesn't give one enough flexability to do any thing really useful.
To answer your question however - here is a program.
http://www.syware.com/prodlib/win_ce/vce/vce.htm
Actually I'm looking for a small project to do some practice development with....would you be interested in sending me a copy of the excel file?
Ever since I recieved the MDA I've been very eager to use it to read ebooks. I've never had a machine capable of doing so, so I am very uneducated about the entire field.
I have acquired several .lit and .pdf ebooks. I know there is a program instantly installed on the MDA to read pdfs, and it is my understanding that I am supposed to use Microsoft Reader for .lit files.
However . . . neither of these programs seem fit to read anything on this phone. The pdf reader makes me scroll left and right, and fitting anything to the page makes the entire thing unreadable. And Microsoft Reader seems very poorly made, suffering the same problems and unchangably large text.
Does anyone know a solution to my problem? Another program to read the files, or settings I am simply missing?
Thanks in advance.
I am using Mobipocket reader on my blue angel for more than 6 months - it's the perfect tool for me www.mobipocket.com. And its free
Before I was using Microsoft reader, but Mobipocket comes with a desktop and PDA software and the desktop software can convert very good a lot of files, which you can read easilly on the PDA
Hi,
The most popular one is Microsoft Reader which is freely available and there are literally TONS of free e-books on their site for you to download.
http://www.mslit.com/default.asp?mjr=FRE
Repligo is nice, and can kinda convert pdf.
I use Isilo generally.
Use pdf2txt to convert pdf if necessary.
V
I've never used those format's, but I've been using uBook from Gowerpoint and I love it. I use it in conjunction with all the stuff I get from Gutenberg (the BEST place to get free ebooks) and haven't had a problem since. You can use it free if you don't mind a minor annoyance every three pages of the reminder or you can pay a little bit to register.
Mack, I have used Microsoft Reader, and it just seems far too weak. I didn't like it. No margin control, font size, etc. . . . unless I'm wrong. Feel free to correct me, itd make this a lot easier!
I tried MobiPocket and so far it seems like the best. I can control those functions I just mentioned, and seems to convert pdfs well. However, it stills seems to have few problems (It seems to kill itself randomly and - as far as I can tell - doesn't save my font settings.
I found a program called Convert Lit to, well, convert .lit files. I haven't tried it yet but I've heard good things.
I haven't tried the other suggested readers, but, judging from their websites they don't seem as good as MobiPocket. Ill eventually get to them.
Off topic....
does anybody use RSS to get news on your phone and which sites you use.....?
Mobipocket reader is good.
Regards,
Arto.
RussianInLa: I like newsreader, it does the job quite well.
For RSS channels, I grab a bunch of usual suspects - check out my old website newsreader,
www.vijay555.com/news
However, I'm improving that with many (illegal) news scrapers, grabbing full articles from many different sites (eg Wired). Their normal RSS feed just gives headlines.
That's a good option if you can host php - write your own scraper and grab ANY webpage as RSS
V
Ubook
Have to agree with Jose_v, ubook is the best all round reader. It doesn't read pdf files, which for me is fine but can read ebooks in text, htm or html and rtf formats, all of which can be zipped to save space. It will also read palm and mobipocet format files that are not drm'd. Zip compression is better than mobipocket's, so you save that little bit extra space on your precious mini-sd.
It has recently become shareware and comes up with its logo every few pages, which is easy to get rid of as you just press down. Seeing as I have been using it for about 3 or 4 years now, I purchased it without hesitation when it became shareware.
Use it, you will learn to appreciate it.
To change the font on MS Reader, go to the Library page, click Settings, and change your font size. You can't do anything about the margins, though someone told me you could change them by opening a document in MS Word, expanding the margins, then converting to Reader. Haven't tried it yet.
Speaking of Word, download the free Word-to-Reader converter. Anything you can read in Word, including TXT and HTML files, can be converted to yo9ur own LIT files. You can even customize the cover picture. http://www.microsoft.com/reader/developers/downloads/rmr.asp
uBook is great, and I use it for all my old Palm ebooks, but I have so many LIT files, it's just easier to read them in Reader. Besides, none of the other programs have a PC version. I can read the same file on my desktop or laptop if I want, and if I sync the files, my PPC remembers where I was when I was reading it on the other device.
Re: Ubook
fuzzywuzzy said:
Have to agree with Jose_v, ubook is the best all round reader. It doesn't read pdf files, which for me is fine but can read ebooks in text, htm or html and rtf formats, all of which can be zipped to save space. It will also read palm and mobipocet format files that are not drm'd. Zip compression is better than mobipocket's, so you save that little bit extra space on your precious mini-sd.
It has recently become shareware and comes up with its logo every few pages, which is easy to get rid of as you just press down. Seeing as I have been using it for about 3 or 4 years now, I purchased it without hesitation when it became shareware.
Use it, you will learn to appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to third uBook, I used it on my old HPC and through a number of Pocket PCs and it is a wonderful app. Why I haven't actually registered it yet is beyond me, I can't imagine a better reader.
I have begun writing a Wiki program for my PPC.
I wanted to be able to access and carry all my technical information with me and not rely on being able to connect to a web based wiki. I must admit this was based on another wiki program called "Blade Wiki", but not having all the features I wanted I decided to write my own.
I originally only wrote this program for my own use, but have decided to release it to anyone who might have a use for it. I have released it as open source. The source code can be found at Basic4PPC.
Features:
Quik Easy Markup
Mostly compatible with Blade Wiki
Take phots and save them directly into your wiki
Draw and save it into wiki
Some SQL data base connectivity
all files saved as text files
Field encryption
Code folding
Include one wiki page inside another
Will only run on WM5 and WM6. Needs dotnet V2.
NOTE:Do not sync "pppcw.ini" from desktop to ppc
Its probably not quit ready for a Wiki novice, but it does work well for me.
Getting Started:
Create a directory inside your MyDocuments folder perhaps "MyWikis".
Copy "wikistyle.css" to each wiki folder that you create.
Now simply open PPPWiki and navigate there.
Happy Wiki-ing
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tsteward said:
I have begun writing a Wiki program for my PPC.
I wanted to be able to access and carry all my technical information with me and not rely on being able to connect to a web based wiki. I must admit this was based on another wiki program called "Blade Wiki", but not having all the features I wanted I decided to write my own.
I originally only wrote this program for my own use, but have decided to release it to anyone who might have a use for it. I have released it as open source. The source code can be found at Basic4PPC.
Features:
Quik Easy Markup
Mostly compatible with Blade Wiki
Take phots and save them directly into your wiki
Draw and save it into wiki
Some SQL data base connectivity
all files saved as text files
Field encryption
Code folding
Include one wiki page inside another
Will only run on WM5 and WM6. Needs dotnet V2.
NOTE:Do not sync "pppcw.ini" from desktop to ppc
Its probably not quit ready for a Wiki novice, but it does work well for me.
Getting Started:
Create a directory inside your MyDocuments folder perhaps "MyWikis".
Copy "wikistyle.css" to each wiki folder that you create.
Now simply open PPPWiki and navigate there.
Happy Wiki-ing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a really good implementation and enhancement of Dale's bLADE Wiki. I started using his wiki program last year to help organize my notes. I used to use Notepad to take quick notes, then try to organize them into directories that made sense so I could find them later. Not only was that a lot of effort to keep organized, I would often lose something or more likely update the wrong text file.
When I saw how I could use a wiki to organize everything, it was information organization nirvana for me.
digitaldon37 said:
This is a really good implementation and enhancement of Dale's bLADE Wiki. I started using his wiki program last year to help organize my notes. I used to use Notepad to take quick notes, then try to organize them into directories that made sense so I could find them later. Not only was that a lot of effort to keep organized, I would often lose something or more likely update the wrong text file.
When I saw how I could use a wiki to organize everything, it was information organization nirvana for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment I am working on Namespace feature so you can have the best of both worlds, A wiki and also keep data in its respective directory.
I found the wiki to be great and it has helped me get organised, but I didn't like that fact that every file was all in one directory.
So at the moment a link to another page is [page_name]. The namespace version will allow [sub_directory\page_name]. Helping to organise your information even better.
Ok not a lot of interest here.
If you really want to see what this program is capable of please come to my home page
Personal PPC Wiki Home Page http://pppcwiki.freehostia.com/
Just had a look at Marketplace and can't see an ebook reader client.
Anyone know of one please? I would have thought that the HD2 big screen was perfect for reading.
The HD2 is excellent for reading ebooks, but you need to specify which format your ebooks are in.
My preference is for Mobipocket but this can't handle protected eReader files. For that you would need to download eReader . However I couldn't get this to install from the PC installer, though it's OK from This topic using the CAB file.
Thanks Neil, I'll give them both a try.
I like both but prefer Mobipocket!
Just a hint though- with both you need to go into the options to select screen tapping to tunr pages as the HD2 doesn't have a D-Pad
Oh- & both are free programs!
What is an ebook? I mean what is the file extension? Is there only one format for all the ebooks out there? Is it a LIT like the Microsoft Reader, or a different format?
alex fung said:
What is an ebook? I mean what is the file extension? Is there only one format for all the ebooks out there? Is it a LIT like the Microsoft Reader, or a different format?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file extensions are dependent on the format the ebook is encoded with, which determines which ebook reader needs to be used.
Ebooks are either encrypted or open format. To comply with the publishers requirements, all mainstream ebooks are encrypted, and different formats use different modes of protection. There is an increasing problem with being able to buy ebooks in different countries- for example many ebooks available from FictionWise can't be downloaded in UK due to licensing restrictions, but another company, BooksOnBoard have a bigger selection of globally available titles.
As you mention, Microsoft Reader used the .lit extension, but as this program doesn't work with WM6 it's a bit of a problem. There are other programs than can read .lit files, such as uBook (microbook) but they can't read any with DRM. There are ways however to strip the DRM on the PC version of MS Reader which still works.
The earliest mobile ebook reader was on the Palm Pocket, and the program I mentioned above, eReader works with these files which are still being used for mainstream books. They have the .pdb file extension
Mobipocket books have the .prc file extension but Mobipocket can also read html, text files and unencrypted eReader files.
There is unfortunately a move towards more proprietary formats with the release of devices like the Amazon and Sony ebook hardware. Also, many new ebooks are being released using the ePub format which is an Adobe protocol and is not available for any mobile devices.
Sorry for the long post! Its abit of a soapbox for me as I've been usign ebooks for a long time and relish the idea of having a large number of books always available on my devcie, especially on holiday. I don't like the way my choice has been limited more and more over the past year!
If you have your books in simple text formats (ie txt, rtf, doc, html), alreader should be perfect for you.
the format which is winning the ebook format wars is .epub and there is areader out there for that particular format...Freda
blackheart2925 said:
the format which is winning the ebook format wars is .epub and there is areader out there for that particular format...Freda
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that- it's a very good start. It is only for non-encrypted ePub files though, and unfortunatley the vast majority of commercial titles are encrypted
NeilM said:
Thanks for that- it's a very good start. It is only for non-encrypted ePub files though, and unfortunatley the vast majority of commercial titles are encrypted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are tools on the internet that can be used for decrypting DRM-protected EPUBS (a Google search on INEPT will lead you in the right direction). Depending where you live, it may or may not be legal for you to download and use them though
Jim
I use Micrsoft Reader and Mobipocket. First because I have a big archive with books in .lit format, and the second one because I can convert lots of formats in books who works for it and I like this program allot. one problem if I can call it a problem is lack of updates for it. For example to make progress bar from bottom of page bigger or to make some animation with page flip (now I see iPad have implemented that). It may seem like some graphics nonsense but I think this are very important because of psychological effect (feeling good reading a book but filing good about it from start of the program) at the end of day you read a book to relax and feel good (technical or any educational books come usual in .pdf format so are not included in discussion). and I think because of power and size of screen HD2 deserve better graphics. Don't forget that iPhone had big success because of better graphics with a OS witch odder ways it was waaaaay inferior to WM, just because of that psychological effect created by very well designed graphics.
Grab a copy of freda (search here on xda). It's the best free epub reader out there. There'll be a new version released soon by Jim.
I do like Freda, but it's not finger friendly. Particularly the Library View. You need fingers like a small bushbaby to select a particular book.
Best I've tried up to now though.
I used Palm to read ebooks since lots of years ago, when I moved to WM I still using the same aplication: iSilo
iSilo consist in two aplications... one in WM wich you use to read and another on the pc wich you use to encode the files to iSilo format (pdb). You can encode lots of file formats including plain txt and html (with images) or grab complete websites.
I love iSilo cause a 5 megabytes pdf can be just a 200k pdb file and got autoscroll with is a feature I love to read books (ipad don't have that)
Alpha4 said:
I do like Freda, but it's not finger friendly. Particularly the Library View. You need fingers like a small bushbaby to select a particular book.
Best I've tried up to now though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you've popped some feedback on the freda thread. Jim is always looking for improvements so comments from the user base will drive this!
Yep I will fix that display to make the lines a bit bigger. Actually, I've been thinking about implementing a setting to let the user control the font-size and line spacing used for controls (because some people don't mind poking the screen with a fingernail, whereas others really want to use finger-tips - but there is a trade-off in that the larger the controls, the fewer lines will fit the screen).
Anyhow, I had been thinking the setting should have values called 'small/medium/large', but it's clear that what I need is 'bushbaby/human/gorilla'
Thanks for using Freda.
Jim
what about flip page animation like in SPB Shell v.2 or iPad? Is that posible to implement?
Jim Chapman said:
Yep I will fix that display to make the lines a bit bigger. Actually, I've been thinking about implementing a setting to let the user control the font-size and line spacing used for controls (because some people don't mind poking the screen with a fingernail, whereas others really want to use finger-tips - but there is a trade-off in that the larger the controls, the fewer lines will fit the screen).
Anyhow, I had been thinking the setting should have values called 'small/medium/large', but it's clear that what I need is 'bushbaby/human/gorilla'
Thanks for using Freda.
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Jim, sounds good. One point I will make is that the HD2 has a capacitive touch screen and, as you no doubt know, a fingernail won't register a touch at all. Almost any other body part is fine though .
I look forward to the next version of Freda.
carbunaru said:
what about flip page animation like in SPB Shell v.2 or iPad? Is that posible to implement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Freda has a rather simplistic animation which appears when you scroll up/down, or slide pages left/right. It would be nice to more sophisticated animation approach (like Stanza for instance), which shows the page contents distorted and shaded as they turn. I may implement that at some stage, but it would be complicated because I'd have to use the DirectDraw Sprite APIs, rather than the regular .NetCF GDI APIs - and that (a) would involve a fair amount of re-writing (b) might create portability problems.
Thanks for your interest in Freda,
Jim
Thanks for answer. I think a program with this kind of features will became no one on market because the trent (made by Apple) is for people to looking to "looks" of progams and not their utility.
Just my opinion.
Hi all, I know you can get some rss feeders that purport to download the entire article so you can read it all even offline, but I have not as yet found out how to get either Newsbreak (which I am not sure if it does) or SPB News (which does but I cant figure it out) to do this... can anyone please help me with easy to follow instructions so I can get the full article to read off line etc... thanks in advance...
Spb News can, sort of...
I am using Spb News on my HD2. It is not (and by far) the best RSS reader out there but for a selected number of feeds, there are indeed "templates" which will fetch you the full articles instead of what would otherwise just look like a worthless bunch of tweets. Here is a short extract of the developer's documentation:
Templates in Spb Insight project are intended to download and parse web documents of different kind, mostly news sites. Since different web sites have very different page formatting, a template needs to be created for every site. A template contains information about the site and code to help parse content, clean it up from menus, advertisements and so on.
The template language was created with easiness, popularity and conformity to internet standards in mind. Wide-spread internet language Jscript (a.k.a. ECMAScript) was chosen as the basic language, wrapped with XML to enable metadata processing, such as channel names etc.
One template can contain definitions for multiple channels, as there are usually several channels on one site that has the same formatting and the parsing code for them should be shared.
Despite the recent release of the renamed v2.0 (from Insight to News) bringing next to nothing new, Spb has seemingly moved their resources away from this product so that the "channels" are no longer kept up-to-date. It is now essentially a matter of trial&error to find out those feeds from the online catalogue that still can return you the full articles, or, you program yourself a template. A third option is to use one of the user-contributed templates directly from the forum.
Good luck and happy news reading!
Z.
Thanks for the info, I was hoping there would be an easy (ier) solution as I am not that savvy with technamolology...
I will have a look and see if I cant figure it all out... cheers.