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Springboard stocking stuffers (continued)
Depending upon how much data you are moving, it will take anywhere between 30 seconds and a few minutes until the programs and data on the Flash Module are ready for use. The first time the 8MB Flash Module is used, the File Mover program needs to format the memory on the card - this process takes about two minutes.
Most program executables have no problems running in flash, although some programs have accompanying files and databases which they need to write changes to in order to function. These programs require the databases to be stored in user memory, but the program executable can be stored in flash. You'll have to experiment with moving programs and data back and forth between flash and user memory to determine if the application can be used successfully in flash.
Games like SimCity, Giraffe, and the software version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf worked perfectly. Some programs we tried wouldn't work properly because their data files couldn't be seen in flash memory. For example, AvantGo's channel databases weren't visible. AportisDOC 2.1 crashed when we tried reading DOC files loaded in flash and TealDOC crashed when we closed large DOC files loaded from the module, especially the 196K DOC version of the Microsoft antitrust ruling we obtained from Memoware. Aportis has since informed us that version 2.2 of their AportisDOC reader, which will be released soon, will have full support for DOC files stored in 8MB Flash Module.
Mini-interview with Handspring
We asked Jeff Hawkins, father of the PalmPilot and Handspring's CTO about why certain applications behave badly in flash. Here's what he and Robert Gosselin, Director of Developer Relations at Handspring, had to say:
JH: The problem is likely that not all applications handle flash memory properly. The 8MB Flash Module behaves like read-only memory most of the time. Most, but not all, applications behave properly with either the app or its static data in read-only memory. However, if the app tries to modify the data in Flash or tries to create new files in Flash it won't work. We found that some applications don't check for errors when opening a database for write access or trying to write to a database. The rules that an application developer needs to follow to make sure they work well with a flash card are not hard, but there hasn't been a flash card to deal with before, so even "well behaved" apps may not work well with Flash(TRG's Flashpro has similar issues). So some applications will need to be modified to work properly with read only memory. If an application doesn't handle Flash well you can, of course, place the application and its data in RAM.
RG: Jeff is right when he is says there are minor differences between applications running from internal Read/Writable memory (like other Palm platforms) and Springboard module memory which is currently read-only.
Not all of the Palm OS API calls work when an application is in ROM memory (even if it is internal). For example, the Palm SDK documentation mentions the MemPtrRecoverHandle API call, which is not allowed on read-only memory.
The other thing that we have introduced with the Springboard expansion slot is that module now sits on what is called Card 1 (where internal memory is on Card 0). Palm OS has always supported this option, but nobody in the past has implemented it. That might be a problem for some applications.
If you're a developer and you need help getting your Palm applications to run well in Flash Module and are interested in getting your software running on Springboard ROM's, We at Handspring will be placing a developer presentation on our Web site shortly. You'll be able to access it by going to the Handspring Web site, clicking on the Developers link,and then clicking on Technical Information.
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