Viewing .pdb documents

[tekenen]

After using iSiloX, under MacOSX, and getting the .pdb output, is there a way to view the document, as it would appear on my palm, without uploading to the palm first?

[iSilo]

There is no application to directly view an iSilo .pdb on a Mac. If you really need to do this, you can run a Windows emulator and then use "iSilo for Windows" (a separately licensed product) or use the Palm OS emulator from Palm.

[Gunner2005]

I certainly appreciate your input, and your thought process is great but there has to be a better way to read PDB files on OS X. I've been told that PorDiBle (http://pordible.victoly.com/) which is a converter, but also a reader should work. However I have been unable to make it work as a reader.<p>
I have also tried to use ereader's ereader (http://www.ereader.com/) however it simply tells me that I need to get the most recent version (2.6.2) which doesn't exist. When I emailed their support staff they said others had complained of that problem but that they had been unable to replicate the bug which I don't believe for a second.<p>
My most recent endeavor involved trying to get the PalmOS emulator which I then discovered that I actually needed the PalmOS simulator so I could run Treo 600/650 ROMs but of course that's only available for Windows. <p>
There has to be a solution, and not having it is making me annoyed. Anyone with any thing useful to say feel free.

[Gunner2005]

So I finally managed to view a Silo document on a machine that was not my Treo 650. On my iBook G4 I had to run windows XP by Virtual PC then download and install PalmOS simulator. Then I installed isilo and the .PDB database I was trying to read. It worked.
So let me reiterate: I run a simulated PalmOS on my emulated Windows XP on my Apple hardware - now you know why this post was titled retarded success. I will continue to try to refine a better method.
In other news I tried using ABC Amber Palm Converter to try to convert to PDF and to HTM. No success. Will advise.

[Gunner2005]

Yup so Virtual PC can indeed run iSilo for Windows and that will open the PDB files. Of course I don't want to rely on Virtual PC, so the next step is to figure out the best way to extract the info that I view on iSilo into Word or PDF or whatever. Another step closer for sure though.
Obviously all this could be solved by releasing an iSilo reader for OS X, particularly since you already know that people are using iSiloX there is more than likely a market. Just a thought.

[Gunner2005]

In Response to Voltage Spike's comments on the iSiloXC message board:

First of all, PDB isn't a document type. A PDB file could hold any data: JPEG, MP3, ZIP ... these could all "fit" within a PDB file. Since iSilo documents are specific to iSilo, only an iSilo reader can read them. There is no such reader for the Mac OS.

If you wish to try the Palm emulator for Mac OS X, then you may have some luck. Unfortunately, I have heard that Palm hasn't kept the emulator up-to-date with the latest Mac OS releases.

I agree, you are absolutely correct, however my goal is not to solve the mystery that is the PDB it is how to convert (in one form or another) a textbook in PDB format created by iSilo into one that can be read by Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, a web browser or whatever. Not being a programmer I can't program something to revert it, and like you said since it contains many possible file types it may be the case that that's not possible. What I can do is figure out a way to get the information out of the file and into a new file. That is my goal. Help is appreciated.
Gunner

[Voltage Spike]

What I can do is figure out a way to get the information out of the file and into a new file.

What you want to do is decompile a closed file format into something more open ... a fairly difficult task that would take a significant amount of technical knowledge. Unless the developers open up their file format, or you can find someone with both the skills and motivation, this is unlikely to happen.

As a slight aside, this is the reason I never download iSilo documents. I always start with an open format and do the conversion myself.

By the way, did you ever attempt to run the latest Palm emulator for Mac? If so, why wouldn't it run?

[Gunner2005]

I see what you're saying about the decompling a closed file format into something more open, and that is above my level of expertise. For me though, bringing up this topic and having other people ask as well, I hope that the developers will open up their file format. In addition, part of my goal is thus: since I can view the words and pictures on a computer (as opposed to a palm) there should be some way to move them into another format - it may involve screen capture or copying and pasting or whatever. Think of taping songs from the radio (back in the day) just because you can't hear the song when and where you want doesn't mean that you can't change it to a form that you can (by taping it when it comes on).
I agree with you on the not downloading iSilo documents since you artificially appear to trap yourself in their reader, however I have documents to which I have no source and only iSilo will read them, so that is a moot point.
As for the Mac PalmOS emulator, I did run download and run it successfully. The only problem is that the emulator only emulates the Palm III, VX, and VII (I think) all of which are PalmOS 4 not PalmOS 5 or Cobalt. Unfortunately only the "PalmOS simulator" will emulate PalmOS 5 and 6. Why they call it a simulator not an emulator is beyond me, and why it is only for PC is also beyond me but that's the way it is. I probably could read the iSilo books on the OS X PalmOS emulator but it's not the best solution in my opinion.
I like the discourse though and I appreciate your input.

[jamesd1477]

Maybe I missed a point here; but if you have Isilo installed (in your Emulator) then install Adobe Distiller and then just print the whole document to PDF. If you need it in Word (RTF) then get a converter. Its a proprietory file base so screwing around with converters is expected. Hope this helps

[smilryboy]

How has your success been coming? I purchased a Nokia E61 and need to find a way to do this with alot of my files.

[TimButterfield]

To read the files on OS X, I first open the file in iSilo on Windows and print it to a PDF file. (CutePDF (http://www.cutepdf.com/) is a decent free writer). The resulting PDF file can be read just fine in Preview on OS X.

With that said, I would like to add my vote for iSilo for OS X to allow reading the .pdb files natively on OS X.

[Dave165]

Hi, I am very new to this and just got my first handheld, a Palm TX
and I have downloaded some files that have graphics, drawings in
them and they are saved as Blazer Bookmarks and I can view them
fine on the Palm, but like everyone else, I would like to view them
on my Mac OS 10.3.9 or OS 10.4.7 desktop. Has ANYONE been able
to do this without going to Virtual PC as stated here? That would be
expensive and I hate Windows! :) Anyway, if anyone knows of a
way, or software - whatever of doing this I would love to hear about
it, as I am sure many others would also. Palm support is of No help. :(
I hope someone has some ideas! Thanks in advance for any help.

Sincerely, Dave165 :)