Palm OS Programming, 2nd Edition

Graffiti Debugging Shortcuts

There are a number of hidden debugging aids that you can access using the Graffiti shortcut mechanism.

Warning

These debugging mechanisms can drain your battery quickly or wreak havoc with your data. Use them judiciously; no matter what, turn them off as soon as you are through with them.

The Graffiti debugging shortcuts are accessed by writing the Graffiti shortcut character (a cursive lowercase L) followed by two taps (the two taps generate a dot, or period), followed by a specific character or number. It’s common to open the Find dialog box before writing them (see Figure 7-9). (Find has a text field that’s available in all applications, and it’s nice to have the feedback of seeing the characters as you write them.)

Figure 7-9. The Find dialog box with a shortcut

Here is a complete list of these shortcuts:

.1

Enters debugger mode. The device opens the serial port and listens for a low-level debugger to connect to it (e.g., the Palm Debugger application). Do a soft reset to exit this mode.

.2

Enters console mode. The device opens the serial port and listens for a high-level debugger like CodeWarrior to connect to it. Do a soft reset to exit this mode. ...