PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide, Second Edition

Doc Files

If your challenge is reading a lot of text, not writing it, you need a Doc reader. These little Palm applications are text readers, complete with search-and-replace, bookmarking features, a choice of display fonts, and much more generous document lengths than in the built-in Memo Pad program (which limits each page to 4K of text).

Several such programs, including TealDoc, SmartDoc, and AportisDoc, are included on the CD-ROM that comes with this book; see Chapter 10, for a complete discussion of these programs and Palm reading material. Chapter 10 also describes how to make your own Doc-format documents. Once you’ve begun dumping your email, articles, web page text, and other readable goods into Doc files destined for your PalmPilot, you’ll quickly discover two huge advantages to this system: first, you can now indirectly use your computer’s keyboard as a fast and familiar text-input device. And second, you’ll find that you can make even the most boring business meetings pass more quickly when you can be reading entertaining material on the tiny screen in front of you without risk of detection.

Where Are My Fonts?

Fonts are getting more attention as the PalmPilot grows up. The Palm III, for example, was the first to offer a choice of three different fonts in each Palm program. Its Palm OS 3.0, meanwhile, offers “hooks” that will make it easy for programmers to add new fonts.

If you have an older model, you can always install FontHack Plus (included on the CD-ROM that ...