Treo Essentials

The Palm Desktop application serves as a desktop PIM for entering and managing data that's synchronized with your Treo. You can use Palm Desktop to create PIM records and then synchronize them with your device. Beyond basic PIM data, Palm Desktop also enables you to move media files back and forth between your device and desktop computer as well as launching the palmOne Quick Install application and accessing VersaMail accounts. Following are the default applications and data types you can manage with Palm Desktop:

  • Calendar

  • Contacts

  • Tasks

  • Memos

  • Media

  • Quick Install

  • VersaMail

The first four applications are the standard PIM applications on your Treo that take care of managing calendar events and appointments, contacts, tasks, and memos. The Media support in Palm Desktop is what makes it possible to share pictures, videos, and music between your Treo and your desktop computer. Quick Install is simply a link to the palmOne Quick Install application for installing new applications onto your device. And finally, VersaMail allows you to create and manage email accounts for synchronization via VersaMail.

The next few sections explore these features of Palm Desktop in more detail. Keep in mind that the PIM applications on the Treo side of the equation are covered in more detail in upcoming chaptersthe focus right now is on learning how to manage applications and data on the desktop side for synchronization.

Schedule Calendar Events

If you haven't already done so, launch the Palm Desktop application on your computer. Calendar is the first Treo application you see referenced in Palm Desktop, as is evident by its icon in the upper-left corner of the application window. If Calendar isn't already selected, click this icon. The remainder of the Palm Desktop window changes to the desktop calendar, as shown in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2. You can use the desktop calendar in the Palm Desktop application to create and manage calendar data for your device.

Because I'm starting out clean with no previous PIM data, the desktop calendar shows no events. You'll notice an event list on the left side of the desktop calendar and on the right, a small calendar view of the current month and the upcoming month. Below the small calendars is a list that can be changed to show either contacts or tasks. Along the top of the desktop calendar is the Category list for filtering events, along with a day navigation control and buttons for jumping to another day or returning to today. Along the bottom are tabs for selecting different views on the calendar, such as Day, Week, Month, and Year.

To create a new event in the desktop calendar, follow these steps:

1.

Click the New Event button. The New Event dialog box, shown in Figure 4.3, opens.

Figure 4.3. The New Event dialog box prompts you to enter the details for a new event.

2.

Enter the event details, including a description, the start and end time, the location, the date, and whether you want an alarm to notify you of the event. You can also categorize the event by choosing a category in the Category pick list in the lower-right corner.

3.

If you'd like to create an event that repeats, click the Repeat tab and specify the details of how the event repeats.

4.

You can add a note to the event by clicking the Note tab and entering a text note that you'd like to associate with the event.

Tip

To flag an event as private, click to enable the Private check box. Other types of PIM data can be flagged as private using the same technique.

5.

When you're finished editing the new event, click the OK button to create it. The new event is added to the calendar, but you won't see it in the event list unless you navigate to the day of the event. Click the day of the event on the small calendar in the main Palm Desktop window, and make sure you aren't filtering out the event's category in the Category pick list. The event now appears in the event list, as shown in Figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4. The newly created event is now visible in the desktop calendar of the Palm Desktop application.

Tip

To delete an event, select it in the event list and press the Delete key. Optionally, you can right-click the event and select Delete from the shortcut menu.

The next time you synchronize your device with the Palm Desktop, the new event is added to the Calendar application on your device. Similarly, events you created on your device appear in the desktop calendar in Palm Desktop. Any changes you make to events in the Palm Desktop application carry over to your device upon synchronization.

Organize Contacts

The Contacts application appears just below Calendar in Palm Desktop. To activate the desktop contact manager, click its icon. The Palm Desktop window changes to the desktop contact manager, as shown in Figure 4.5.

Figure 4.5. With the desktop contact manager in the Palm Desktop application, you can create and manage contacts for your device.

The desktop contact manager looks somewhat similar to the desktop calendar, in that it has a Category list at the top and multiple tabs at the bottom. The List tab at the bottom is probably the most important tab because it enables you to view contacts in a compact list. The other tabs offer different approaches to viewing contacts, including a photo view that displays a picture of each contact.

To create a new contact in the desktop contact manager, follow these steps:

1.

Click the New Contact button. The New Contact dialog box, shown in Figure 4.6, opens.

Figure 4.6. The New Contact dialog box prompts you to enter the details for a new contact.

2.

Enter as many contact details as you want, including name, contact information, chat and Web addresses, mailing addresses, birthday, and even a contact photo. You can also categorize the contact by choosing a category in the Category pick list in the lower-right corner.

3.

To add a note to the contact, click the Note tab and enter a text note you'd like to associate with the contact. For example, you might want to enter the names of the contact's spouse and children.

4.

When you're finished editing the new contact, click the OK button to create it. The new contact is added to the desktop contact manager and appears in the contact list; make sure you aren't filtering out the contact's category in the Category pick list.

Tip

The contact photo is used in the Phone application on your Treo to serve as a photo caller ID when the person calls you. The easiest way to set the contact photo is to edit the contact on your device and take a picture of the person with your Treo camera. In other words, you'll probably want to leave the contact photo blank when creating contacts in the desktop contact manager. However, if you happen to have pictures of contacts on your desktop computer, by all means set the contact photo. You can let the photos automatically resize to the smaller contact photo size (144x144), or you can manually resize them yourself to 144x144 by using an image editor before setting the photo in the contact.

The new contact is added to the contacts on your device the next time you synchronize. Future changes made to the contact on your device or in the Palm Desktop application are automatically updated on the other when you synchronize.

Work with Tasks

The Tasks application is linked through Palm Desktop via the desktop task manager, which is accessed by clicking the Tasks icon just below Contacts. The Palm Desktop window changes to the desktop task manager, shown in Figure 4.7.

Figure 4.7. The desktop task manager in the Palm Desktop application allows you to create and manage tasks for your device.

The look and feel of the desktop task manager should be familiar now that you've seen the desktop calendar and contact manager. Similar category and sorting options appear along the top of the window, and a single tab appears at the bottom along with a couple of buttons.

To create a new task in the desktop task manager, follow these steps:

1.

Click the New Task button. The New Task dialog box, shown in Figure 4.8, opens.

Figure 4.8. The New Task dialog box prompts you to enter the details for a new task.

2.

Enter the task details, including a description, the priority level (1 is the most urgent and 5 is the least urgent), the due date, and whether you want an alarm to notify you of the task's due date. You can also categorize the task by choosing a category in the Category pick list in the lower-right corner.

3.

To add a note to the task, click the Note tab and enter a text note that you'd like to associate with the task.

Tip

To delete a contact, select it in the contact list and press the Delete key. Optionally, you can right-click the contact and select Delete from the shortcut menu. This same approach works for deleting other types of PIM data in the Palm Desktop application.

4.

When you're finished editing the new task, click the OK button to create it. The new task is added to the desktop task manager and appears in the task list (see Figure 4.9); make sure you aren't filtering out the task's category in the Category pick list.

Figure 4.9. The newly created task is now visible in the desktop task manager of the Palm Desktop application.

The new task is added to the tasks on your device the next time you synchronize. If you delete the task or otherwise modify it in the future, it's automatically updated upon a device synchronization to keep your device and desktop data in sync.

Manage Memos

Tip

To flag a task as completed, click to enable the Complete check box.

The Memos application is connected to the Palm Desktop application through the desktop memo manager, which is accessed by clicking the Memos icon just below Tasks. The Palm Desktop window changes to the desktop memo manager, shown in Figure 4.10.

Figure 4.10. The desktop task manager in the Palm Desktop application enables you to take control of memos for your device.

I realize this discussion is starting to get a bit redundant, as the Palm Desktop PIM features are very similar. However, for the sake of completeness, I'll continue to wrap up this little desktop PIM tour by showing you a quick look at the desktop memo manager. The familiar category and sorting options appear along the top of the window, and a few tabs appear at the bottom along with a couple of buttons.

To create a new memo in the desktop memo manager, follow these steps:

1.

Click the New Memo button. The Palm Desktop window changes to display a text entry field where you enter the memo (see Figure 4.11).

Figure 4.11. The Palm Desktop application window provides a text entry field for entering a new memo.

2.

Enter the text of the memo in the text entry field. The memo is created and updated in the memo list as you enter the text. In other words, you don't do anything special to finish creating the memo.

3.

If you would like to categorize the memo, click the Edit Memo button and select the category from the Category pick list that appears in the Edit Memo dialog box. Click the OK button to accept the changes.

The new memo is added to the memos on your device the next time you synchronize. If you delete the memo or otherwise modify it later, it automatically updates upon a device synchronization to keep your device and desktop data in sync.

Import and Export Data

You might find it helpful at some point to import or export data with the Palm Desktop application. For example, if you've been using a PIM that Treo doesn't support, you might be able to export data from it and import into Palm Desktop to prevent having to re-enter everything manually. The import and export features in Palm Desktop are carried out based on a certain type of PIM data, such as events or contacts. More specifically, you select the PIM application in Palm Desktop, and then carry out an import or export operation on that application's data.

Data can be imported in several different formats that depend on the specific data being imported. First, you need to reference the application from which you are exporting data to see what formats are available. Then match up that data type with Palm Desktop to import the data. As an example, Palm Desktop accepts the following file types for importing contact data:

  • Comma-separated text

  • Tab-separated text

  • Address archive

  • vCard file

Understanding the details of these data formats isn't as important as finding a format that's compatible with the application from which you are exporting data. Comma- and tab-separated text are fairly common data formats used regularly to shuttle data from one database to another. For example, Microsoft Excel is capable of exporting an Excel spreadsheet as comma-separated text. I doubt you store your contacts in an Excel spreadsheet, but you get the idea.

Tip

Most PIM applications, such as Microsoft Outlook, include flexible export features that enable you to export PIM data in a variety of different formats, including those supported by Palm Desktop.

To import a data file into the Palm Desktop application, follow these steps:

1.

Click to select the PIM application in Palm Desktop.

2.

Click the File menu, followed by Import. The Import dialog box opens and prompts you to browse for the data file and select the import file type (see Figure 4.12). In this example, I've selected a comma-separated text file containing exported contact data.

Figure 4.12. The Import dialog box in Palm Desktop prompts you to browse to the data file to be imported.

3.

After selecting the file type and browsing to select the data file, click the Import button to import the data. The Specify Import Fields dialog box opens and prompts you to map Treo contact data fields with those in the import data file (see Figure 4.13).

Figure 4.13. The Specify Import Fields dialog box prompts you to carefully map Treo data fields to fields in the data file to be imported.

4.

The Specify Import Fields dialog box is extremely important because it determines exactly how data is imported. Palm Desktop doesn't magically know how to correlate data fields in the import file to those on your Treo, so you must help it along. Most of the mapping is obvious, but some fields might not map at all. For example, there is no field in Treo contacts for Suffix, which in Outlook stores the suffix (Mr., Mrs., and so forth) for a contact. You have to make sure this field isn't mapped to a Treo field; it simply isn't imported.

5.

When you finish mapping the data fields in the Specify Import Fields dialog box, click the OK button to finish with the import process. The data is added to Palm Desktop, where you can then fine-tune it and synchronize it with your device.

You'll probably find that you're more likely to import PIM data than export data, but you still might need to export data on occasion. An advantage of Palm Desktop's export feature is that you can export individual records or all the records for a particular type of data.

Following are the steps required to export PIM data from Palm Desktop:

1.

Click to select the PIM application in Palm Desktop.

Tip

If you're exporting a contact or contacts to an application that supports the vCard contact type, select Export vCard instead of Export from the File menu. Similarly, if you're exporting events and you want the output to be in the vCal format, select Export vCal instead of Export from the File menu.

2.

If you want to export individual records, select those records in the data list in Palm Desktop.

3.

Click the File menu, followed by Export. The Export As dialog box opens and prompts you to specify the export data file and file type (see Figure 4.14). Near the bottom of the dialog box, select All or Currently Selected Records to specify what records you want to export. In this example, I'm exporting a single task.

Figure 4.14. The Export As dialog box in Palm Desktop prompts you to specify the export data file and records to be exported.

4.

After specifying the export file and file type, click the Export button to export the data. The data is exported and stored in the file you specified.

Importing and exporting data in the Palm Desktop application is the fastest way to migrate PIM data to and from your Treo if you don't have the luxury of synchronizing directly with Microsoft Outlook. I highly recommend considering at least importing data into Palm Desktop to ease the pain of initially setting up your device, assuming you have PIM data stored in an application capable of exporting in a suitable format.

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