How-To: Use PowerRUN To Store AvantGo Files on Expansion Cards

I found this to be a very useful post.

Just to clarify. Workbench is still in development and the features in WB will be migrated over to myWorkbench. There might be some overlap and I am considering discontinuing WB. Its still up in the air.
There will be a new version of WB soon.

If Palm had enhanced the Launcher to launch apps from the card and have a better way of managing dbs on the card then we would all be happy ;)

Danny

WAB1966

(I used PowerRun since version 0.3b)

Until now the average user had not to stirr in a ancient DOS filing system - he even had not to know there is one around.

He worked with the data and that was it.

The whole approach mingling with the stoneage DOS filing system will hit Palm dearly and bckfire with booster!

The average user (not the techie here around) will not give a damn - and is repelled by the fact that Palm OS 4.0 simply does not even support the weird thing.

It is a misscarriage which will backfire on the market immediately - no matter what tricks you kindly offer at 3rd party (!) in running to palms help, if Power RUN or any other weak tool is enabling to read the cards.

The Palm jetisnoned himself now in stoneage up on the tree - long before the legendaty Newton - no matter what the "techies" here may use as a workaround - the VFS is the biggest mistake since the US election - and the outcome is the same - a stupid is firm on the bridge.

A palm lover

The way PowerRun works, is to collect all files which have the same creator ID with the app, and put them into specific folder in MS, delete them from RAM, create a 1KB shortcut in RAM.

When the user click on the shortcut icon, it ** LOOKS LIKE ** to user that you are "executing" that program, but actually the action behind is -- PowerRun goes into MS, copy all files under that folder into RAM (including app and data) and execute the **REAL** app file.

After you exit the program, PowerRun moves all files inculding modified data back into MS, free up the RAM space again.

OK here is why I partially agree with the poster of this topic "Poor Guy" that I think Mr. Jay's idea is a bad idea:

Yes if you put 3 of 300KB programs into PowerRun, you free up 1MB space in RAM, u can use it in whatever way you want, you can install other 600KB of programs into RAM, when you run any program of those three, you only need 300KB free space in your RAM for PowerRun to handle it.

If you run AG in the way Jay says, yes it works, I won't say it doesn't work. But in order to D/L 1MB of channels next time(I here assume the totall size of channel is 1MB), you **STILL HAVE TO HAVE ** 1 MB free space available in your RAM when you perform hotsync to D/L AG channels.

The only advantage of Jay's idea is when you exit AG, it will move the channel content into MS and free up 1MB space from RAM.

BUT BUT BUT BUT.....
YOU CAN NOT PLAY WITH THIS SPACE, even you use only 100K of it, the next time you hotsync AG IS GOING TO TELLING YOU NO ENOUGH SPACE AVAILABLE because it only sees 900KB free space and it need to put files with 1MB into it.

So where is the point by doing what Jay says? Why bother to do this? OK here is the conclution:
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By doing that, I free up 1MB space from RAM when I exit AvantGo, but in order to D/L my AvantGo channels succefully at the next time I hotsync, I have to keep this 1MB space free ALL THE TIME.
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I don't see ANY advantage for putting AG in PowerRun in that way.

This is only IMHO, anybody is welcome to correct me if you think I am wrong.

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achen
achen2002@yahoo.com

What's the difference between Jay's post and running a 100K app using PowerRun when you already have 90K of space remaining in your internal RAM?

Currently on my 16Mb card, I have Ababall, Album ToGo, BigClock, dbscan, Got life, Lunar, Mapopolis, Minidig, Orrery, PacMan, Planet Lander, RockBlaster, SFCave, and Zap!2016. All run just like they were in native RAM, except the largest take a couple of seconds to move and execute. Here is where the difference between SD and MMC show up; The load from SD is about twice as fast.

AvantGo? It's in ROM thanks to JackFlash. Just the 310k PRC file, the rest stays in RAM and I don't have to think about it. As of this writing, I have 16.8Mb of apps, Db's (104 files), but still have 3.2Mb of free RAM on the Palm. I'll have to experiment with PowerRun, as I'd like for the apps on the card to show up elsewhere sometimes.