Programming Visual Basic for the Palm OS

Chapter 6. Web Clipping Applications

When the Palm VII was released in 1999, it was a device that took Palm’s message of the connected organizer to the next level. By supplying a device with an integrated cellular radio capable of connecting to digital wireless networks in the United States and Canada, the ability to attach to data anywhere, anytime became a reality.

In addition, the Palm VII is poised to revolutionize mobile electronic commerce, by supplying a secure means of coordinating field automation with customer needs. For example, a company that equips its sales staff with appropriate web software can enable real-time processing of purchases on the customer premises—wherever they are.^[42]

In this chapter, we will look at how to build a distributed application using Palm’s Web Clipping technology. A Web Clipping Application (WCA) is a special type of Palm database that consists of HTML documents and graphics. Unlike a typical Internet web site, which resides entirely on a web server, the WCA is precompiled and stored on the Palm PDA. The operating system knows how to display the data and graphics in a WCA to the device user. And a special library in the Palm—called INetLib—uses the Palm radio network to access the Internet and retrieve remote data when necessary.

The HTML code that is retrieved over the Internet from the remote web server is called the Web Clipping, or sometimes simply the clipping.

Occasionally, you will see the Web Clipping Application referred to as ...