Documents To Go
Having tried most of the DOC file readers, editors, and spreadsheet applications for my Palm and Handspring devices, I was intrigued by the integration Documents To Go promised. With all the requisite Palm-groupie anticipation, I installed the Documents To Go Windows desktop. I then installed the corresponding handheld device applications, totaling about 256K of memory, onto my Palm device. Installation was a breeze. An icon appeared on my Windows desktop which, when selected, opened the well-designed file management window pictured in Figure A.

FIGURE A


The desktop application provides information about your files. Roll over picture for a larger image.

I could then drag and drop Word, Excel (or even Lotus, WordPerfect, WordPro, QuattroPro, etc.) files onto the desktop icon or onto the Documents To Go Desktop window. After a quick HotSync, the documents were transferred to my Palm device, and I was ready to go.

A document viewer in four parts
There are actually four applications DataViz will squeeze into your device RAM. The main application is called Documents. The remaining applications are WordView, WordView+, and SheetView. The Documents To Go screen is shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

Documents To Go loads four associated applications onto your device.

WordView provides support for the DOC format, while WordView+ lets you see enhanced formatting. Fortunately, after installation, the only application you ever need to really worry about is Documents, since it serves as the interface for file opening. The remaining three applications can be tucked away in your Utilities folder to avoid confusing the cramped Launcher screen.

Documents To Go handsomely delivers Word and Excel files on the Palm OS devices, with WordView+ capabilities that provide support for tables, bold and italic text, bulleted lists, underlining, and margin indentations. You can see examples of stylized text in Figure C.

FIGURE C

Much of the formatting from your desktop PC files is preserved in WordView+.

The readability in WordViewer+ is impressive due to the well-implemented document formatting support. Also, the promise of opening my bevy of standard DOC format e-texts is a great bonus. SheetView, meanwhile, features bonuses like re-sizeable column widths and snazzy customizable bookmarks. It makes finding those elusive "Total" rows a cinch in large multi-sheet spreadsheets like the one pictured in Figure D.

FIGURE D

SheetView offers a peek at your spreadsheet info.

Accessing files
To access your files on the device, you select the Documents icon. A list of available documents shows up in alphabetical order, named as they were on the desktop. The size of the files is also visible for reference. See Figure E for an example.

FIGURE E

The list of available files for viewing is accessed using the Documents application on your handheld.

Storing, sorting, and filtering
The files can be categorized either on the desktop before HotSync or on the Palm device. I found this useful for keeping track of project-based work. The files can also be listed in order of size or most recent viewing date. Figure F shows the Display Options screen.