RemoteClipBook and RemoteClipHack

From the Pittsburgh Pebbles PDA Project

by Rob Miller

• Purpose
• Downloading and Installing
• Using RemoteClipHack
• Using RemoteClipBook
• Troubleshooting

Purpose

RemoteClipBook and RemoteClipHack are a pair of Pebbles applications that cut-and-paste text between your Palm and a Windows PC, and open hyperlinks from your Palm on the PC.

When your Palm is plugged into a PC running Pebbles, these programs automatically redirect the Palm's cut-and-paste operations to the PC's clipboard. Essentially, these programs make the Palm an extension of the PC, so that cutting and pasting text between a Palm app and a PC app feels the same as between two PC apps or two Palm apps.

These apps also provide hyperlinking, where a URL or filename displayed on the Palm can be activated as if it were a hyperlink clicked on the PC. When a URL is opened in this fashion, the PC displays the corresponding Web page using its default browser. When a filename is opened, the PC behaves as if the corresponding file or directory were double-clicked in Windows Explorer. Hyperlinking is particularly useful when you want to store a list of Web bookmarks (or filename shortcuts) on your Palm. Hyperlinking also makes it convenient to visit URLs associated with people in your Palm address book.

Both RemoteClip apps provide these remote cut-and-paste and hyperlinking capabilities. They differ mainly in user interface:

• RemoteClipBook is an ordinary Palm application. In addition to remote clipboard and hyperlinking operations, it provides a database for storing chunks of text (much like the built-in MemoPad). This database is useful as a "staging area" for cutting and pasting text between other Palm apps and the PC. It is also useful for storing lists of URLs and filenames, as bookmarks for hyperlinking.
• RemoteClipHack is a Hackmaster hack which makes remote cut-and-paste and hyperlinking available in all Palm applications. With RemoteClipHack, there is no need to switch applications to cut-and-paste between the Palm and the PC. Simply plug in the Palm, perform the usual Cut, Copy, or Paste command, and RemoteClipHack will detect the connected PC and automatically redirect the operation to the PC's clipboard. For all clipboard operations (connected or not), RemoteClipHack also expands the normally-small Palm clipboard to hold 64KB. For hyperlinking, RemoteClipHack provides a command in all applications that treats the currently-selected text as a URL or filename and attempts to open it on the PC.

Generally you will need only one of the RemoteClip apps. If you want remote cut-and-paste and hyperlinks in all applications, then you should use RemoteClipHack. If you would prefer not to replace your clipboard functions (perhaps because you're already using another clipboard hack which conflicts with RemoteClipHack), then you should use RemoteClipBook. RemoteClipBook is also convenient for storing bookmark lists, although any application that stores text (like MemoPad) can serve equally well.

The RemoteClip apps coexist peacefully, so you can install and use both of them if you wish.

These applications are described in a paper:

Robert C. Miller and Brad A. Myers, "Synchronizing Clipboards of Multiple Computers," CHI Letters: ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, UIST'99, vol. 1, no. 1. November 7-10, 1999. Asheville, NC. pp. 65-66.

Downloading and Installing

1. The RemoteClipHack and RemoteClipBook are downloaded with the rest of the Pebbles applications in one big zip file. See the main downloading instructions.
2. RemoteClipHack only: Install Hackmaster if you haven't done so already.
3. Make sure the plugin Clipboard.dll is in the same directory as the PebblesPC program on your PC. (This plugin serves both RemoteClipBook and RemoteClipHack.) Click on the Plugins button in PebblesPC to make sure Clipboard is displayed in the list of loaded plugins.
4. Install RemoteClipBook.prc and/or RemoteClipHack.prc on your Palm.
5. RemoteClipHack only: go to Hackmaster on your Palm and enable RemoteClipHack.

Using RemoteClipHack

Using the PC Clipboard

Assuming everything is installed and configured properly, RemoteClipHack lets you perform a cut/copy/paste operation between a Palm application and the PC clipboard with just two steps:

1. Connect the Palm to the PC (using the cradle or a HotSync cable).
2. Cut, copy, or paste using the Palm menu or command shortcuts (/X, /C, /P).

That's it! If the remote connection succeeds, your Palm will beep, and the cut/copy/paste operation will operate on the PC's clipboard. If the remote connection cannot be made, you will hear nothing, and the cut/copy/paste will revert to using the Palm's clipboard. Check out Troubleshooting for tips on solving connection problems.

Clipboard Data Formats

The PC clipboard can store a wide variety of data formats, but RemoteClipHack is only equipped to deal with text. If you try to paste images or PC application objects to your Palm, RemoteClipHack is liable to paste nothing (unless the clipboard objects can render themselves in text format).

There is one exception to this rule: if the PC clipboard contains filenames (resulting from a cut or copy operation in Windows Explorer), RemoteClipHack will convert the filenames to text, separated by line breaks. You may find this feature useful for building up a list of filenames for hyperlinking.

Activating a Hyperlink

To activate a hyperlink (either a URL or a filename) displayed in any text field on the Palm, follow these steps:

1. Connect the Palm to the PC.
2. Select the hyperlink. This can be done in two ways:
   • Position the cursor anywhere in the hyperlink. RemoteClipHack will automatically find the ends of the hyperlink by searching for spaces to the left and right of the cursor.
   • Select the entire hyperlink. If the hyperlink contains spaces (like many Windows filenames, but few URLs), you need to use this method.
     
3. Activate the hyperlink by drawing a stroke starting from the Find button and extending up into the Palm screen, as shown:
   

If the operation succeeds, your Palm will beep, the entire hyperlink will become selected on the Palm, and the hyperlink will be opened on the PC. URLs are opened in a browser window, and filenames are opened as if they were double-clicked in Windows Explorer.

If your Palm beeps but nothing happens on the PC, then the file could not be found.

If the remote connection fails, you will hear no beep from the Palm. Check out Troubleshooting for tips on solving connection problems.

Using RemoteClipBook

ClipBook Database

RemoteClipBook allows you to store a database of text items, much like MemoPad. Like MemoPad, RemoteClipBook has two views: a List view which displays the first line of each item in the database, and an Edit view which displays a single item for viewing and editing.

Since RemoteClipBook is designed to facilitate cut-and-paste and hyperlinking, however, its List view behaves slightly differently from MemoPad's. In RemoteClipBook's List view, you can:

• Select an item by tapping on it;
• Edit an item by double-tapping on it (or by invoking the Edit menu command on the selected item);
• Cut, copy, or delete the selected item (using the PC clipboard if connected, otherwise falling back to the Palm clipboard);
• Paste the clipboard contents as a new item (using the PC clipboard if connected);
• Activate the selected item as a hyperlink on the PC.

The Edit view provides the usual Palm text editing features, plus remote cut/copy/paste and hyperlinking as described below.

Using the PC Clipboard

Assuming everything is installed and configured properly, performing a cut/copy/paste operation between RemoteClipBook and the PC clipboard involves just two steps:

1. Connect the Palm to the PC.
2. Cut, copy, or paste in either the List view or the Edit view, using menu commands, buttons, or command shortcuts.

That's it! If the remote connection succeeds, your Palm will beep, and the cut/copy/paste operation will operate on the PC's clipboard. If the remote connection cannot be made, you will hear nothing, and the cut/copy/paste will revert to using the Palm's clipboard. Check out Troubleshooting for tips on solving connection problems.

Activating a Hyperlink

To activate a hyperlink (either a URL or a filename) displayed in RemoteClipBook, follow these steps:

1. Connect the Palm to the PC.
2. Select the hyperlink. This can be done in three ways:
   • In the List view, simply select an item. RemoteClipBook will assume that the last non-blank line of the item is the hyperlink.
   • In the Edit view, position the cursor anywhere in the hyperlink. RemoteClipBook will automatically find the ends of the hyperlink by searching for spaces to the left and right of the cursor.
   • In the Edit view, select the entire hyperlink. If the hyperlink contains spaces (like many Windows filenames, but few URLs), you may need to use this method.
3. Activate the hyperlink by selecting the Open On Desktop menu command or button. (Alternatively, you may use the RemoteClipHack gesture to activate the hyperlink: draw a stroke starting from the Find button and extending up into the Palm screen.)

If the operation succeeds, your Palm will beep, the entire hyperlink will become selected on the Palm, and the hyperlink will be opened on the PC. URLs are opened in a browser window, and filenames are opened as if they were double-clicked in Windows Explorer.

If your Palm beeps but nothing happens on the PC, then the file could not be found.

If the remote connection fails, you will hear no beep from the Palm. Check out Troubleshooting for tips on solving connection problems.

Suggested Uses for RemoteClipBook

Here are some suggested uses for the RemoteClipBook database:

• Staging area for cut-and-paste between Palm and PC. You can move text between your PC and any Palm app via RemoteClipBook. (Note that RemoteClipHack is far more convenient for this task, since it eliminates the need to switch Palm apps.) To get text from the Palm to the PC, start with the Palm unplugged. Copy the text to the Palm clipboard, then paste it as a new item into RemoteClipBook. Then connect the Palm to the PC, and copy the item from RemoteClipBook to the PC clipboard. Finally, paste the text into a PC application. To get text from the PC to the Palm, you need to essentially reverse these steps: copy the text to the PC clipboard, connect the Palm, paste the text into RemoteClipBook, unplug the Palm, then copy the item from RemoteClipBook into the Palm clipboard, then paste into a Palm application.
• Boilerplate text. You might use RemoteClipBook to store chunks of text that you use frequently, such as email signatures or function header templates.
• Bookmark lists. RemoteClipBook can store a list of Web bookmarks, one per text item, which can be activated as hyperlinks from the List view. You can precede the URL of a bookmark with arbitrary amounts of description (such as the page title) to improve the readability of the bookmark in the List view. As long as the URL is the last line of the item, RemoteClipBook will find it and activate it correctly.
• File and directory shortcuts. Since RemoteClipBook can hyperlink to filenames as well as URLs, you can store a list of frequently-used files or directories on your Palm. Your Palm can carry shortcuts easily from machine to machine, and it can never be obscured by a PC window (as the Windows Desktop is frequently obscured).

Troubleshooting

If you don't hear a beep from your Palm when performing a remote clipboard operation or activating a hyperlink, then the Palm was unable to make a connection. Here are some possible reasons why the connection might fail:

• Pebbles is not running or not listening to the serial port on the PC. Follow the Pebbles instructions to start up Pebbles and open the serial port to which your Palm is connected. Test the connection by running some other Pebbles app, such as Remote Commander.
• The Clipboard plugin is not installed in Pebbles on your PC. Check this by bringing up Pebbles and clicking on the "Plugins" button.  If Clipboard is not shown in the list, you need to copy Clipboard.dll (found in Pebbles.zip) into the Pebbles directory on your PC.
• Your Palm is not connected to the PC. Test the connection by running some other Pebbles app, such as Remote Commander.
• Another Palm application is using the Palm serial port. The RemoteClip apps will not attempt to make a connection if another application (such as HotSync or Networking) is currently using the Palm serial port.

The following failures are possible with RemoteClipHack only:

• RemoteClipHack is not installed or not enabled on the Palm. Go to Hackmaster on your Palm and make sure that the RemoteClipHack is listed, and that its checkbox is checked.
• A conflicting clipboard hack is installed. RemoteClipHack does not interoperate with other hacks that override the standard Palm clipboard (such as Clipper, or EVEdit). If you have any of these hacks installed, disable them before you try RemoteClipHack, or use RemoteClipBook. (Note that RemoteClipHack itself expands the Palm clipboard to 64KB, so if that is the only feature you need from a clipboard hack, you might consider using RemoteClipHack instead.)

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