Hi foutaine-ga,
Welcome to the world of Palm programming. I hope this answer will
help you get started quickly with Palm development.
1) Where can I find online tutorials for using Microsoft Visual
C++ to
create Palm OS applications ?
Well, unfortunately the answer to this question is that you
CANNOT develop Palm application with MS VC++. This is because the
compiler that ships with VC++ generates code for an x86 hardware
platform(like the Pentium processors) not the Motorola 68K platform on
which the Palm is based.
While you cannot use VC++ to develop Palm apps, you can use it
to develop 'Conduits'. You would have noticed that many Palm
applications have a seperateWindows/Mac component which is used to
transfer data to and fro between your Desktop and your Palm. These
software components that are installed on your Desktop PC are called
'Conduits', and can be developed using VC++.
The best resource for information on Conduit development is
Palm itself. You will need to download the Windows Conduit Development
Kit(CDK) which you can use with VC++ & VB. You can find the CDK and
tutorials at :
- PalmOS : Desktop Development : Windows CDK
( http://www.palmos.com/dev/tools/cdk/win/ )
This site also cantains a lot of information and tutorials
on Palm development and i highly recommend that you check it out.
You can also take a look at the following book extract on
creating Conduits using VB.
- O'Reilly.com : Building Palm Conduits
( www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/excerpt/vbpalm_4/index1.html
)
=========
But since your original need was to be able to develop Palm apps
without expensive upgrades, lets see what options we have. In order to
develop applications for the Palm, you can use the following main
compiler systems :
1) MetroWorks CodeWarrior : The official development environment
for the Palm OS. But, as per your wish, we discard this option.
2) GCC (or the GNU Compiler Collection) : Some programmers modified
the FREEly available GCC C/C++ compiler to produce Palm executebles.
This compiler and related tools were then bundeled into a package
called Prc-Tools. This package and related SDKs can be FREELY
downloaded from :
- Palm OS PRC-Tools, the GCC Tools for Palm OS
( http://www.palmos.com/dev/tools/gcc/ )
You can find the installation instruction at :
http://prc-tools.sourceforge.net/install/cygwin.html
For a comparison of the above two systems, check out :
- Palm OS : 2. Development Environments and Languages
( http://cocoon.it.jyu.fi/docs/palmos/book/ch02.htm#P172_12008
)
========
You will notice however, that the editor available for use with GCC
is no match for VC++. So lets take a look at the various IDE's
available to you :
- VC++ : Yes! With a little modification, you can use the VC++ ide
with GCC to create Palm apps. However, you will not be able to use all
the options available in the IDE, and before you are able to use gcc,
it will require some setting up. You can find how to setup VC++ to use
GCC in the following article :
- Setting Up Your GBA Development Environment
( www.matt-tighe.co.uk/gba/tutorials/vstudio/vstudio.htm )
Although the article says its for GBA development, it will
work for Palm too. You will have to replace all the file & directory
references with those specific to your computer.
You may find that it is simpler to just buy one of the following
IDE's than mess around with VC++.
- M.LABS Mobile C++ : This is an IDE for developing Palm
applications using C/C++. It has practically all the features provided
by VC++ and also provides a C++ framework to enable rapid Palm app
development. The Lite version costs a mere $29.99. You can check out
the product details and screenshots at :
- MobileSoft Labs --- Products {mobileStudio C++}
( http://www.mobilesoft-labs.com/mobilestudio.htm )
- Falch.net DeveloperStudio : DeveloperStudio for Palm OS is a
professional Windows based IDE. It is available as a Professional
Edition ($229) and Personal Edition ($129). Check out the product
website at :
- Falch.net DeveloperStudio for Palm OS
( http://www.falch.net/Products/#DeveloperStudio )
- PilotMAG : PilotMAG is a windows IDE for GCC that enables you to
easily design Palm Pilot forms on-the-fly. The full registered version
costs $20.
- MonteSoft : Pilot Mag
( http://montesoft.tripod.com/ )
- VfdIDE : VfdIDE is a package integrating a WYSIWYG Visual Form
Designer,Integrated Development Environment and a Line Level Debugger
for developing Palm apps.You can purchase a basic version for $25 and
a full featured version for $55.
- Homepage Ole Grossklaus : VFDIDE
( http://www.vfdide.com/ )
You can also find a list of other IDE's and tools at :
- Palm OS Tools and Downloads
( http://www.palmos.com/dev/tools/ )
My recommendation is that you go for a cheaper IDE like MobileStudio
C++ if you do not want to upgrade to Codewarrior.
==========
You can find a number of tutorials with the relevant source code in
Palms SDK, available on their site. For freely available source code
for Palm apps, try the following sites:
- PalmOpenSource.com
( http://www.palmopensource.com/ )
The PalmOS Open Source Portal containing a large number of Palm
apps with their source code available. Also contains some useful
tutorials.
- SourceForge
( http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/trove_list.php?form_cat=314&discrim=165
)
A filtered list of projects on sourceforge for the Palm, written in
C++. Source code for most of these projects is available.
- Ron Nicholson's PalmOS Computing General Information Page
( http://www.rahul.net/rhn/palm/ )
A very useful collection of Palm related links. Contains links to
some open source Palm software.
===============
Hope this helps.
If you need any clarifications, just ask!
:)
================
RELATED LINKS
--------------
- An introduction to the Palm platform
By Christian Graus
( http://www.codeproject.com/ce/Palm_Introduction.asp )
An overview of the Palm world, including a list of C functions which
have preferred equivalents in PalmOS
- Palm OS Programmer's FAQ
( http://tangentsoft.net/palmfaq/index.html )
A must read for anyone developing on the Palm.
- Palm OS : Developer Documentation
( http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/docs/ )
The official help files and tutorials.
- Palm OS : Developers Section
( http://www.palmsource.com/developers/ )
The official developers resource.
- Palm Programming: The Developer's Guide - Table of Contents
( http://cocoon.it.jyu.fi/docs/palmos/book/TableOfContents.htm )
Free online book from O'Reilly
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