SDK User Tips
This section covers tips on the following topics:
1. Accessing your backup, method #1
There are two very different methods for accessing your backed-up files on your emulator.
This one is taken from Steve Lichfield's very excellent site 3-Lib.
Windows 95/98
To quickly access your backed-up files in the EPOC / Symbian SDK add the following line to your PC's autoexec.bat file, then reboot.
SET _EPOC_DRIVE_P=
c:\Psion\YourName\Backup\Internal
where YourName is your Psion username - if you have moved your backup to a different drive or folder then obviously substitute the actual path of the backup for the one here, and it is all on one line.
The next time (and every other time!) you start the SDK you will see a new disk drive ("P").
This tip works well for Compact Flash disks as well. You can set it, for example, to be the "Q" drive with
SET _EPOC_DRIVE_Q=
c:\Psion\YourName\Backup\CompactFlash
where YourName is your Psion username, and CompactFlash is the name of the Compact Flash drive, and it is all on one line.
If you do access your backups from within the Emulator and want to make changes to any file, it's probably a good idea to copy the file to the "C" drive first. Doing this will stop PsiWin complaining about you tampering with its backup dates and times!
Windows NT4
To do the same under Windows NT4, which doesn't use autoexec.bat etc, use the following procedure, sent in to Steve Lichfield by Jeff Gaste:
- Open My Computer
- Click on Control Panel icon
- Click on System icon
- Click on Environment tab
- On the last but one line (Variable) type
_EPOC_DRIVE_P(where P will appear as an additional drive on your Psion SDK etc.) - On the last line input the Value of the path, e.g. C:\Psion\YourName\Backup\Internal
- Click, then "Set" and OK it.
You may, of course set up different 'drives', not just 'P', but also 'Q' for your Compact Flash card, for instance.
Windows XP
I have successfully done this on Windows XP Professional, although the procedure is slightly different to that on NT4:
- Open My Computer
- Click on Control Panel icon
- Click on System icon
- Click on Advanced tab
- At the bottom of the window click the Environment Variables button
- In the System variables section click the New... button
- A new dialog window will appear. In the Variable section
type
_EPOC_DRIVE_P(where P will appear as an additional drive on your Psion SDK etc.) - In the Value section enter the path to the backup, e.g.
H:\Psion\YourName\Backup\Internal(where YourName is your name as it appears in the pathname) - Click OK and roboot to make sure the settings take hold.
As above, you may, of course set up different 'drives', not just 'P', but also 'Q' for your Compact Flash card, for instance.
2. Accessing your backup, method #2
This method has been reportedly more successful in some cases. Don't ask me why, that's computers for you!
There are three startup files called:
epoc.ini
vga.ini
large.ini
Assuming that you have installed to drive C, they can be found in C:\epoc32\data\
Each produces a different size screen on your PC.
You need to edit whichever of these startup files you choose to use to point it to your Psion backup.
Yours (large.ini) might look like this:
ScreenWidth 800
ScreenHeight 600
ScreenOffsetX 85
ScreenOffsetY 50
LedOffsetX 33
LedSize 14
_epoc_drive_j C:\erj
_epoc_drive_c D:\Psion\CM5mx\Backup\Internal
_epoc_drive_d D:\Psion\CM5mx\Backup\Lexar80
where "D" is the PC drive containing your backup folders (Yours will probably be "C") and the rest is the path to your backups.
The only catch is that this will not work if there are spaces or non-standard characters in the name of your Psion. If there are you will have to rename your Psion.
3. Accessing your backup, method #3
As a last resort you can try this method. I've had reported from one user that for some reason (?!) PsiWin corrupts his data when he uses PsiWin Backup.
His method is therefore to manually copy his Psion data from c:\Documents, via PsiWin to the PC folder, X:\Epoc32\Wins\C\Documents (where X: is the drive on which the SDK is installed) and the Contacts data as below, to \system\Data\Contacts.cdb.
Method #4
Tony Williams wrote to me to say that he uses this method:
It is very easy to access your contacts direct from the SDK if you keep your contacts on your CF on the Psion and map the CF to drive D on the SDK using your method 1 (I'm on XP). I keep nearly everything on CF on the Psion, for security and to keep RAM free for processing. Method 1 doesn't work for the RAM though, as you say, the SDK defaults to its own directory.
4. Accessing your Contacts
I was a little disappointed to discover that once I had set up my emulator to access my back-up, using one of the methods above, I was still unable to access my Psion Contacts.
The Psion stores the Contacts information in a file in the internal folder
\System\Data\Contacts.cdb
This file is not accessed from your backup, as the emulator defaults to its own System folder. Which is fair enough.
I have found that copying the Contacts.cdb file from my back-up location to L:\Epoc32\Wins\C\System\Data (where L: is the drive to which I have installed the SDK) will do the trick for me.
I usually do this manually, but you can also use a BAT file to do it, or a synchronisation application such as qFileSync or SecondCopy 2000.
5. Installing software on the emulator
In this example I show how to install a Mah Jong application on the EPOC R5 OPL Emulator.
- To install applications, you need to know that the EPOC emulator
calls its main drive C: just like a PC. The virtual drive C is located
at
C:\Epoc32\Wins\C. The Mah Jong for EPOC SIS file should be copied to the folderC:\Epoc32\Wins\C\System\(using Windows Explorer - and this CAN be done while the EPOC Emulator is running - it will recognise it immediately)
- In the emulator navigate to the folder C:\SYSTEM\ where you will
find your "mahjong.sis" file. Double-click this. The program will
install - follow on-screen instructions.
(To navigate either double-click the open folder marked "(Close)" at
the top of the screen, or Press Ctrl+G to Browse). - You will find the Mah Jong icon under Extras on the menu icon bar
along the bottom of the screen.
6. Running Applications
Steve Lichfield's excellent site 3-Lib contains a number of useful tips for using the EPOC SDK including this one.
Most shareware and freeware applications are written in OPL and can be made to work with the EPOC emulator with a modicum of effort. A couple of common files crop up occasionally in reported problems:
Toolbar.opo
This can be copied if necessary from your Series 5. If you can't find this file, either grab it from
or just create a new "Program" document in any folder and use the "Create standard files" command. Toolbar.opo will then magically appear in the current folder and can be copied across to
\epoc32\release\wins\deb\z\system\opl.
Sysram1.opx
Although there is a file of the same name compiled for the ARM chip in the Series 5, the compiled-for-PC version you may need for the emulator can be downloaded at
Put a copy of it in
\epoc32\wins\c\system\opx.
Other OPXes
It's worth noting that there are several other common OPXes that
have been written by third-parties. Many of them have now been compiled
for the PC by their authors and are available. Just place the modified
OPX files in the same folder as Sysram1.opx above: \epoc32\wins\c\system\opx.
Try the RMR Software web site first for these:
See John McAleely's web site for more up-to-date OPX news
Read Only
Once you've set up your PC-compiled OPXes in the correct folder, make them 'Read-Only' before going any further. Otherwise, the installation of further applications may possibly overwrite your new PC OPXes with Series 5 versions!
7. Greyscale emulator
As well as running the emulator in its lovely, default mode of 256 colours you can make run it in greyscale too, so that it looks just like your Psion Series 5mx.
-
Navigate to the folder: \Epoc32\Release\Wins\ Deb\Z\System\Data\wsini.ini
- Using a text editor, such as Notepad, change the line WINDOWMODE COLOR256 to read WINDOWMODE GRAY4 (Note the American spellings, and shame on Psion!)
If your emulator runs from the \Rel folder, obviously change the file at \Epoc32\Release\Wins\Rel\Z\System\Data\wsini.ini
The two options are COLOR256 and GRAY4.
You can find more details, and another method, in the file /sysdoc/emul/emulconfig/emulconfigappearance.html, and if you have the C++ SDK installed also /sysdoc/cpp/wserv/wssys.html
8. Printing from the emulator
(From Charles Newgas)
Printing from the emulator. Although it is not possible to print direct from the emulator, you can print to file and copy the file to your printer with only one extra mouse click.
The easiest way to do this is to create a DOS batchfile called "EpocPrint.Bat" on your Windows95 desktop. Inside it put just the single line Copy C:\epoc32\wins\c\printfile lpt1: (Change the drive and printer port letters if necessary). It is now easy to print from the emulator. Simply print to file using the driver that is most appropriate for your printer (the emulator will default to using file "printfile" in the root of the virtual internal disk), and double-click on the batchfile on your desktop.
9. PC drive icon problems
When I installed the EPOC OPL SDK R5 on my Windows 98se machine and rebooted the PC the icon for the C: drive in My Computers has changed to an EPOC icon and when I double-click it to explore the drive I get an error as though I am trying to install Windows! How odd! I uninstalled and the problem rectified. I posted this on one of the Psion newsgroups and got the following fix.
I have to confess that I am not sure how to rectify this if you are running Windows XP. I haven't experienced this problem
On the CD are some files to make the CD icon look special in the windows explorer. If you install the SDK on C: then these files overrule the normal hard drive icon of your C: drive.
What you need to do is use the MS-DOS SUBST command to make the PC regard the EPOC folder as a separate drive:
-
Create a separate directory, say C:\ER5OPL
-
Add these lines to to your AUTOEXEC.BAT: (replace F: with a free drive letter)
REM ---------------------------------------
REM Make the Epoc ER5 OPL SDK
REM visible as drive F:
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\subst F: C:\ER5OPL
-
Reboot the PC
-
Install the SDK on this virtual drive F:
Now your SDK is nicely separated in it's own directory, accessible through drive F:
There's also more info on this subject in the SDK itself, and on the SDK Installation page.
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