Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Conklin Systems. The software and the solutions described in this document are furnished under a license agreement. It is against the law to copy or reverse engineer the software or solutions except as specifically allowed in the license agreement. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the written permission of Conklin Systems.
This software, all manuals as well as all solutions are copyright © 2005 Conklin Systems All rights reserved.
Companies, names, and data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted.
Conklin Systems and CS Online are trademarks of Conklin Systems. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders, used only to the owner's benefit, without the intent to infringe.
The following warranty and liability disclaimer apply to this product. Conklin Systems ("Conklin Systems") MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. REGARDING THE CS ONLINE FOR PALM OS ("CS ONLINE") SOFTWARE. CONKLIN SYSTEMS DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE CS ONLINE SOFTWARE IN TERMS OF ITS CORRECTNESS OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE CS ONLINE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU""
IN NO EVENT WILL CONKLIN SYSTEMS, ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE CS ONLINE SOFTWARE EVEN IF CONKLIN SYSTEMS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Conklin Systems' liability to you for actual damages from any cause whatsoever, and regardless of the form of the action (whether in contract, tort (including negligence), product liability or otherwise), will be limited to $50."
CS Online is a VT100 terminal emulator, serial debugger and Telnet application for Palm OS organizers.
Users of Online can connect their handheld to other computer systems and access real computer power and network resources wherever they are. Online has been used to connect to Unix systems and then surf the web using Lynx, edit files with vi and emacs - and even to read and write e-mail using elm!
CS Online can be connected to either a modem or the serial port of another computer or device (such as a hub or router), as well as do a Telnet session over a TCP connnection (such as can be made via 802.11, wireless modems, or smartphones.)
Thank you for choosing CS Online!
This guide provides thorough, step-by-step instructions and troubleshooting information. You'll want to read the Installation and Setup chapters at least once. From then on you'll be likely to use only those sections or chapters you need for information on specific tasks. The User's Guide is divided into six chapters, as follows:
Conklin Systems wants you to use and enjoy CS Online to the fullest possible extent. Should you have questions, comments, suggestions, or requests, we would be happy to hear from you. Here's how to reach us:
Conklin Systems online
Without a doubt, the first place to look for information on CS Online
is the Conklin Systems' website,
which is where you will always find the most up-to-date information.
Support:
For the most up to date support information, visit our online
Support Center.
Technical support:
Please check our website's
Frequently Asked Questions
for CS Online, which contains answers to common questions.
You can also ask questions, share usage tips and make suggestions on our Palm Forums.
If you need further assistance, email: support@conklinsystems.com.
Email the following departments for answers to specific questions:
Postal Mail:
This manual assumes the user has knowledge of fundamental Palm OS concepts. If you are unsure how to enter text, select commands from menus, or other related concepts, please consult the owner's guide that came with your organizer.
Before you begin, take a moment to make sure everything was included in your CS Online for Palm OS package. The package should contain the following, whether you have the full electronic or packaged version of the product:
To use CS Online, you'll need:
If you have not already done so, it is a good idea to take a moment now to fill out and return the registration card (included in retail package only) to Conklin Systems. By registering your name in our customer support database, you receive free technical support, a newsletter packed with tips and product news, and special offers to enhance your new product.
If you are unsure how to install an application into your organizer, please consult your the manual which came with it.
Before you install CS Online, you should make a copy of the original disk and/or files and store the originals in a safe place, along with your registration code. Use a copy to install CS Online from your Windows or Macintosh via InstallApp, Palm Desktop or similar program during your next HotSync session.
When you first run your new software, you'll need to enter a registration code (received via e-mail and at checkout). Enter your registration number to fully enable the software, or tap "Demo" to use as a demo.
The demo version of Online provides a 40 launch or 30 day evaluation period, whichever comes first. To purchase a registration code, please visit our online store. Once purchased, you will receive a registration code at check out and via e-mail.
The number on the lower right shows the version of the program you have installed.
To learn more about each of the settings and how to configure CS Online, read the following Setup section. For general information, read Using Online.
The first time you use Online, you should take a moment to visit each of the choices in the "Options" menu to make sure everything is properly configured.
Method
Select a method. Select "Serial" to conmunicate via a serial port, including
IRDA, Infrared and Bluetooth connections. Choose "Telnet" to Telnet directly
to a host over TCP/IP.
Note: "IRDA" will not work on devices running OS 3.3 thru 4.0 due to a bug in Palm OS. As of the writing of this manual, the only currently shipping devices that this feature will work as designed are the older Visor units running OS 3.1. We hope to see Palm correct this in a future OS, possibly as early as OS 4.1.
When available, IRComm is a preferred method of connecting to a device via IR, and is well supported on OS 3.3 and higher. IRComm is supported by most computers, PDAs, and mobile phones. "Serial IR" / "IRDA" is a less robust protocol, mostly used in custom hardware projects where IRComm is not supported for reasons of cost or complexity.
Port
Select the serial port/device to connect to. CS Online uses the available
serial port names as supplied by the device, so these can vary. We've seen
"Serial", "u328" and "ser0" for the hardware serial port, and "Infrared",
"IRCOMM" and "sir0" for the IR port.
Select "Infrared", "IRComm" or "sir0" for devices with an integrated IR modem. "IRComm" is only available on devices running Palm OS 3.3 or later. On some Palm and most Sony handheld devices, not all of the ports are named correctly on the handheld device. Because of this design flaw, you may see "blank" entries in the port list. One of these "blank" entries is the serial port.
Baud
Select a rate from the menu from 300 up to 115200. Rates over 9600 will
require some form of flow control, or data may be lost.
Data Bits
Select 8, 7, 6 or 5 data bits. Most modern systems use 8 data bits. Some,
such as CompuServe dial-up, use 7. Very rarely are 6 or 5 data bits used.
Parity
Select None, Even, or Odd. Most systems use None. A few, such as
CompuServe dial-up, use Even. Very rarely is Odd used.
Stop Bits
Select 1 or 2. Most modern systems use 1 stop bit.
Handshake
Select between None (off), software (using XON/XOFF flow control
characters) and Hardware (using RTS/CTS hardware handshaking lines if
available).
Host (Telnet Method)
Enter the name of the server you want to Telnet into. The server must allow Telnet connections, if you have problems connecting, please contact your ISP to find out if Telnet connections are allowed on your server.Port (Telnet Method)
Enter the port number you want to Telnet into. The default Telnet port is 23.Select "Terminal" from the "Options" menu to edit settings that control the font size, end of line character, line feeds, whether the display will track the cursor, to enable or disable VT100 emulation, and to have the cursor wrap-around when it reaches the end of a line.
Emulate
Choose between VT-100 (80 by 24 virtual screen), TTY (dumb terminal) and Hex (useful for serial debugging).
Font
Choose between the larger font (32 characters across per screen) and
smaller font (40 characters across per screen).
Color Selection
The 2 boxes the right of the Font Size options allow you to change the default
colors for your session. The box with the 'A' (left side) is for selecting the
Text color, and the blank box (right side) is for selecting the Background color.
More information on color selections follows.
Return
Select CR, LF, or CR+LF for sending a return, line feed, or both when a
return character is to be sent.
Backspace
Select BS or Delete for the character to send when a backspace character
is to be sent. Most systems expect to use backspace, some systems
(usually unix/linux) prefer delete.
Add LF (incoming)
Turn on to have a line feed character added to each return character received.
Display Follows Cursor
Enabled to have the virtual screen scroll to follow the location of the cursor.
Auto wrap to next line
When enabled, when the end of the line is reached, the next character
will be placed at the beginning of a new line.
Local echo
When enabled, each character you send will be sent to the screen as well
as the remote device.
Pacing
When enabled, Online will delay for the selected number of ticks (60ths of a
second) after each character sent via paste, macro, or button macro. This is
useful for talking to systems that can't keep up with data sent as fast as
possible. The default setting, "Off", introduces no delay.
Hi-Res
When enabled, Online will use the hi-res mode of HandEra (320*240) or
Sony CLIÉ (320*320) or Palm OS Hi-Res API (Palm OS 5 devices and
selected Palm OS 4 devices). While the text will be extremely small, this
allows a full 80 columns to be viewed at once! High Res option will not
appear on devices without hi-res support.
Color Selection
Online allows you to choose the text color and background color that best
suits yours needs. Over the decades, there have been a number of popular
color schemes, from Green-text-on-Black (dedicated terminals) to White-on-Blue
(Atari home computers) to Black-on-White 'paper' like schemes. There is
no 'right' color so pick whatever works best for you.
While the following images show a full color color-selector, if your unit supports different shades of gray, that is supported too.
Indexed Color Mode
Online allows you to choose colors 2 different ways, depending on the
capability of your hardware. Some Palm-powered united support "indexed
color" mode, in which there is a palette of available colors for you to
choose from. If your device supports palette mode, then you will see
the color picker shown.
Direct Color Mode
Later model Palm-powered hardware supported what's called "Direct Color" or "RGB" mode.
In direct color mode, you can choose the individual values of Red, Green and
Blue that make up all possible colors.
RGB mode offers many more colors to choose from than Indexed color mode. If you pick a Text or Background color that isn't supported by your particular device, then the system will find the closest matching color in the Index, and will use that.
The Palette or RGB pick on the lower right may or may not be visible, depending on the capabilities of your unit.
Select "Macros" to edit the names and text sent for each of 12 macros. Use the scroll arrows to view/edit the macros in groups of 6.
Each may contain text to send, or special sequences such as:
| ^x | control-X (where X is any letter a-z or A-Z) |
| ^^ | caret (^) |
| \b | backspace |
| \d | delete |
| \e | escape |
| \f | form feed |
| \l | line feed |
| \n | newline (uses EOL setting) |
| \r | carriage return |
| \t | tab |
| \v | vertical tab |
| \0 | null |
| \\ | backslash (\) |
| \xnn | hexidecimal code - xx = ASCII value of character to send in hex |
Select "Buttons" to edit the names and text sent for each of the 4 tool bar buttons as well as the 4 hardware keys. Each may contain text to send, or special sequences (see Macros above).
Use Hardware Buttons
When enabled, each of the hardware buttons can be re-defined to send a
macro.
Defaults
Will set all of the names and text to the "Factory Defaults".
Select "Logging" to edit settings for the log file, such as the inclusion of a header for each new record created, and the ability to log incoming text in hex format (instead of text). VFS option will only appear on handheld devices with VFS support.
Log To
Select a location to log the incoming data to. Consult the table below
to select the method most appropriae for a given situation.
| Log To | Limited To | View With |
|---|---|---|
| Memo Pad | 4K per record. Records created as needed | Memo Pad |
| Doc file | Amount of free main memory | A "Doc" file reader such as AportisDoc, WordSmith, TealDoc, etc. |
| VFS File | Amount of free space on card. Cards commonly come in 8 - 128 MB versions, with some cards even larger, such as compact flash hard disks. | View on the Palm with a VFS aware text file viewer or place the expansion card on a PC and read as you would any other text file. |
Log header (date/time)
If selected, a header will be written to the top of each record created
containing the date and time the log was started.
Annotate Log
Add notes to your data log by choosing Menu > Session > Annotate log.
Log as hex (8 per line)
If selected, data will be written in hexadecimal format rather than as regular
text. Useful for debugging.
Log unprintable character
If selected, all incoming data will be logged. When off, only printable
characters (roughly ASCII 32 to 127 or " " thru "~") and end of line characters
will be logged.
Log sent data
If selected, all data sent out from your device will be recorded to the
log as well. If you are logging in HTML, the outgoing data will be
color-coded to make it easy to see the interaction between client and
host.
Log as HTML
If selected, your log will be written out with HTML markup language
to make the log a valid web page. While you can select this option
for both Memo Pad and Doc File logs, it is really meant to be used
with VFS files.
When HTML logging is enabled, the VFS file name will automatically have ".html" appended to it.
Online takes advantage of HTML to make the log easier to read. Outgoing data, log headers and log annotations are each colorized, making it quite easy to read and interpret the log. If your Palm-powered device includes a Web Browser (Tungsten-C and Treo 650 for example) then you can view the log on device, but since logs can easily get quite large, we recommend viewing them on your desktop PC's web browser.
Symbol Technologies makes a number of PalmOS-based handhelds with integrated laser barcode scanners, and some with WiFi support as well. These units are ideal anywhere objects need to be quicly and easily tracked. And with CS Online's integrated Symbol scanner support, scanning applications can interact directly with line-of-business host applications.
Integrated scanning operation
When a Symbol unit is detected by CS Online, the scanner is by default turned on.
When the 'scan' hardware button is pressed, the scanner attempts to scan a barcode.
If a code is successfully scanned, CS Online sends the Scanner Macro over the
current connection.
Powering the scanner creates a significant drain on the handheld's batteries. For extended use of the device without scanning, uncheck the Enable Scanner box to power down the laser scanner on the device.
The Scanner Macro supports all the same macro codes as documented in Macros, plus the following additional codes:
| \sd | Scanned data - the bar code found by the scanner |
| \sd | Scanned data - the bar code found by the scanner |
| \st | Scan type - the scanned code's bar type code |
| \sa | Scan date (xx-xx-xx) - the date according to the handheld |
| \sb | Scan time (xx:xx:xx) - the time according to the handheld |
| \ss | The device serial number of the handheld |
| \sh | The hotsync ID of the handheld |
The scanner macro allows simple integration with existing host applications with little or no modification. For example, imagine a user logged in to a Unisys mainframe on an inventory management screen. To enable single-button integration, the scanner needs to:
This sequence can be encoded in the scanner macro as:
\e[H\t\t\t\sd\t\st\t\ss\rOnline can be connected to either a modem or the serial port of another computer or device. If connecting to a modem use the modem cable available from Palm. You can also combine a null modem adaptor with the cradle or serial cable to turn it into the equivalent of the modem cable.
Online also works great with the clip-on modem from Palm, the Snap-On modem from Option International, and if using Palm OS 3.3 or later, IR modems and alternate serial ports such as Compact Flash devices with the TRG Pro or the TDK Global Pulse GSM software modem.
When you are ready to connect, tap the "On" push button. Tap it again to disconnect. Disconnect when you are not transmitting or receiving data, as this will help prevent excess drain on the batteries.
You can dial a phone number by either using the "Connect" command of the session menu, or by entering AT commands directly in the input buffer, i.e. "ATDT 5551212" to dial the number 555-1212.
Communications parameters can be changed by using the "Options" menu. Online supports a range of baud rates and communication parameters.
There are several ways to send data:
Palm OS on-screen Keyboard Tap the "abc" or "123" buttons, enter a string of text, and tap "done". This will send whatever is in the text area to the serial port and onwards to the target device. You can send special characters (escape, control, tab, etc.) by using the codes summarized in a chart below.
| ^x | control-X (where X is any letter a-z or A-Z) |
| ^^ | caret (^) |
| \b | backspace |
| \d | delete |
| \e | escape |
| \f | form feed |
| \l | line feed |
| \n | newline (uses EOL setting) |
| \r | carriage return |
| \t | tab |
| \v | vertical tab |
| \0 | null |
| \\ | backslash (\) |
| \xnn | hexidecimal code - xx = ASCII value of character to send in hex |
For example (a complex one at that), to send the sequence ESCAPE [ Y CONTROL-C Hello RETURN you would enter "\e[Y^cHello\r" in either the popup keyboard or macro text definition.
Direct Entry
When connected and online, any graffiti characters entered are
sent directly to the serial port.
Line-at-a-time Entry
Tap on the far left triangle to pop up the Line Input buffer. In Line-at-a-time mode,
your keypresses and graffiti characters are added to the line, but not sent until you
either hit Send, or hit/stroke the return key.
A second popup shows you a history of your last 9 commands. Simply tap on any previous command to bring it back into the line editor.
Line Input characters are not sent through macro processing, since the escape codes used in CS Online are also used on/needed by many command line hosts.
Macro Entry
Select what you wish to send on the pop-up list and the
selected item will be sent. You can set your own macros
by selecting "Macros" from the "Options" menu.
Buttons
By default, the 4 on-screen buttons are mapped to control cursor
movement. However you can label and define these buttons any way you like.
You can also (optionally) map the 4 hardware buttons to send macro text as well.
Shortcuts
The Palm OS shortcut feature works in Online. Any shortcuts entered will
be sent to the selected port. This is a good way to send frequently used strings.
Send a MemoPad memo
Choose the "Send Memo" menu item, select the memo you wish to send from
the dialog box, decide to skip the title line, then press OK - the memo's
contents will be sent to the serial port. If you use the "skip first line" option,
the first line of text in the note will note be sent. In this manner you can use
the first line of memo pad records as a "title" to aid in selecting the record.
Text in the memo pad record will be interpreted the same as text in a macro;
i.e., special characters (\n, etc.) are decoded before being sent.
Paste Clipboard text
Choose "Paste" from the edit menu to send the contents of the clipboard
The on-screen arrows are cursor keys. They send the VT-100 commands to move the cursor to the serial port. The hardware up and down buttons are used to pan the virtual screen up/down one line for each press of the button.
File Transfer (VFS only) – Sending a File
Send a VFS file using Xmodem or Ymodem. In the terminal window, issue the command to start the file transfer,
then select Options > Session > Send File and select the file you want to send. After selecting the file, tap OK.
You will then be presented with the protocol to use for sending the file. Your choices are XModem, XModem-1K,
and YModem. After tapping OK, the file transfer will start.
The organizer polls the serial port for data all the while it is online. A "Line Feed" can be appended to incoming data by choosing a check box in the Terminal Settings dialog.
The screen can be cleared by using the "Clear Screen" menu item.
Tapping the "Log" push button will log data to Memo Pad records. Since Memo Pad records are limited to 4K, an additional record will be created each time the limit is reached. You can add your own notes to the log by selecting the "Annotate Log" menu choice.
Wrapping can be toggled with the "Wrap" option in the terminal options dialog.
File Transfer (VFS only) – Receiving a File
Receive a VFS file using Xmodem or Ymodem. In the terminal window, issue the
command to start the file transfer, then select Options > Session > Receive File.
You will be presented with a dialog that allows you to choose the protocol for the
file transfer. If you choose XModem, you will then be presented with a dialog which
lets you set the name for the received file and the location. If you choose YModem,
you will be presented with a dialog that lets you select the location for the
saved file (the filename will automatically be set). After tapping OK, the file
transfer will start.
When in VT100 emulation mode, Online keeps an 80x24 terminal screen in memory, but only displays what it can on-screen. A small map shows which part of the terminal window is currently seen. You can move around the 80x24 virtual terminal in two ways: either by tapping the pen on a different section of the map, which will move to display that section; or by tapping in the received data area.
Imagine this as the square where incoming data is displayed...
[A][B]
tap in upper left corner [A] of output area to go up and left
[C][D]
tap in upper right corner [B] to go up and right
tap in lower left corner [C] to go down and left
tap in lower right corner [D] to go down and right
Tip: You can also use the hardware up and down buttons to scroll the display up or down a single line for each press of the button.
You can change the font of the display via the "Large Font" checkbox in the "Display" dialog reached via the "Options" menu. This switches between a 7pt and 8pt fixed-width Minico font. The 7pt font allows Online to display 40 characters across the screen, greatly reducing the amount of scrolling required.
You can determine whether the screen in view moves automatically to follow the cursor by using the Display Follows Cursor checkbox in the same dialog.
Note: For devices that support a hi-res display (HandEra 330, Sony CLIE or Palm OS device with HiRes), you can elect to have a full 80 column display. Just enable the "hi-res" checkbox via the Terminal Settings dialog.
Most commands can be accessed from the Online menu bar. To access the menu bar, simply tap the "menu" button in the silk-screen area at the bottom of the screen. While the image and name of the button is difference from unit to unit the location is usually the same - the button that is at the bottom-left corner of the Graffiti area. Newer devices from Palm, Handspring and others will have a slightly different icon and may or may not have the label "menu" under the icon, but the location is ALWAYS the bottom-left:
| Communications | M | Adjust various communications parameters. |
| Terminal | T | Adjust terminal emulation settings. |
| Macros | R | Define a set of macros for the macros popup menu on the main form. |
| Buttons | B | Define macros for the on-screen buttons as well as (optionally) the 4 hardware buttons. |
| Logging | L | Set preferences related to logging text to memo pad records. |
| Scanner | Only visible on Symbol scan-enabled PalmOS handhelds. Allows you to adjust scanning options | |
| Register | Brings up the registration dialog. Enter your reg code here. | |
| About Online | A | Shows information about Online (such as version number) and product credits |
| Copy Screen | C | Copy the contents of the entire emulated screen (up to 80*24) to the clipboard. Trailing spaces will be eliminated. |
| Paste | P | Paste the contents of the clipboard to the current edit field (dialogs), or to the open connection (main form). |
| Send Memo | X | Send the contents of a memo pad record to the open connection. |
| Clear Screen | S | Clears the contents of the screen and resets the cursor location. |
| Keyboard | K | Brings up the on-screen keyboard. Enter text and tap 'Done' to send. |
| Graffiti Help | G | Brings up an on-screen Graffiti reference. |
| Dial | D | Allows you to enter a phone number for an attached modem to dial. |
| Hang Up | H | Commands an attached modem to hang up. (Sends the command "ATH" to the modem). |
| Annotate Log | Allows you to enter a string of text to append to the log file. |
| PF1 | Sends the DEC VT100 PF1 key character. | |
| PF2 | Sends the DEC VT100 PF2 key character. | |
| PF3 | Sends the DEC VT100 PF3 key character. | |
| PF4 | Sends the DEC VT100 PF4 key character. | |
| Delete | Sends the ASCII DEL (delete) character. | |
| Break | Sends a 500ms BREAK signal. Only available for serial/modem connections. |
If you are experiencing problems, first check the Frequently Asked Questions section on the Conklin Systems web site. These documents contain the most common questions and answers that we receive for each of our products. If your question is still not answered, use the following information to contact product support.
Check the How To Reach Us section for a wide
variety of contact information and support options. All Conklin Systems support
is handled via the web.
If you do need to report a problem or request assistance when using this version of CS Online, please include the following information when you contact us. The more of this information that you can provide, the faster and better we can assist you.
Copyright 2005 Conklin Systems