YiShow Explorer for Palm v6.3


 Table of Contents

About YiShow Explorer
Supporting Documents
Applicably Models
Version Changes
Screenshots
How to use
        Software Installation
        Setup
        Palm Icon Display Mode
        Palm Detail Listing Display Mode
        External Storage Card Icon Display Mode
        External Storage Card Detail Listing Display Mode
        Specifying Copy Directory Screen
        Select File Copy Destination Directory Screen
        Using YiShow to View Image
        Using YiShow to View DOC File
        Using YiShow to View Text File
        Customizing YiShow
        Other Convenience Features
Legal
Contact Us
 

•YiShow Explorer

 YiShow Explorer is a powerful application Launcher for Palm handheld PDAs. It integrates the functions of viewing pictures, reading e-books, and managing files in one program. Its features include:

     You can download YiShow's trial version here and use it for 30 days. Please purchase the official version after trying for 30 days at Handango or  Palmgear.

     BUY NOW YiShow Explorer for Palm.

•Supporting Documents

  YiShow Explorer supports the following file formats

 

•Applicably Models

     YiShow Explorer can be run on devices having PalmOS v3.5 or above. Currently we've tested YiShow on the following devices:

•Version Changes

  1. The function that indicate in Chinese and Korean was added to "Doc Viewer". Multilanguage system is not indicated, it can indicate in Simple-Chinese(GB2312) and Korea(KSC-5601) through installing the font of YiShow Explorer. If the main memory were not enough, the font could be saved in memory stick(/palm/programs/yishow/font/).
  2. The function of row unit scroll, automatic scroll, the setting of TAB letter width, etc. were added to "Doc Viewer". 
  3. add a new function which can show the icon of  BlueTooth on the Title.
  4. add a new funtion which can show level of  reception on the title of  Treo, which has a telephone function.
  5. The Icon of "Title bar","Info","Battery","Memory", "BlueTooth", "Signal", etc. in Launcher screen could indicate or non indicate individually.
  6. a new function, by which can show the name of Creator in the property.
  7. a new function which can be used to redefine the Hard Button 1.
  8. If you're upgrading from previous version, please uninstall the previous version first from the standard Launcher before you proceed the upgrade.
  1. Enhanced support palmOne series' 5-Way Navigator Button.
  2. Enhanced support multi memory card.
  3. Fixed display icons problem in Treo 650.
  1. When starting an application from a memory card, the function which synchronizes a database was added.
  2. The function which display/un-displays a category tab bar was added.
  3. The scroll bar was added.
  4. The button which carries out right-and-left movement of the tool bar was added.
  5. The setting item which disabled cache used when displaying the icon of a memory card was added.
  6. It changed so that a list mode could also use a category bar.
  1. When displaying icon explanation of a launcher screen, the function which penetrates the background color of a character was added.
  2. Added color setting for displaying Category Tab.
  3. The function on which DOC/PGP is not displayed by "all" the category was added.
  1. Support the displaying of GIF files.
  2. DOC/Text files in big size are available.
  3. The Category Tag editing page will be activated if you press the Category Tag button more than 0.5 seconds.
  4. The secrecy function is improved: if the system key is set, you have to input the key to change Category Tag from the hiding form to the displaying form,and you have to input the key if you want to exit from YiShow.
  5. This function is available: when you turn off your palm, your system will be automatically locked.
  1. Fixed various bugs in PalmOS v3.x and v4.x.
  2. Added feature that can automactically set system's "Security" setting to "Hide Records" when the power is turn off.
  3. Added a menu item for system's "Security".

This version newly added support for Palm Tungsten TT3's 320x480/480x320 with enhanced interface and features:

  1. Supports Palm Tungsten TT3's 320x480/480x320 screen. At Launcher's interface all graphics and DOC files can be shown on 320x480/480x320's screen.
  2. Enhanced Category Tag's capability. You can now not only display Tag bar at all four directions (top, bottom, left & right), but also switch between Icon and Text view of those Tags. You can also hide specified Item too.
  3. Category's Tag will be automatically sorted. You can still drag the Tag for custom arragement.
  4. Enhanced Tool bar capability to allow you select the feature you like from 20 pre-defined functions.
  5. Added Select Mode. If you select functions such as copy or delete, you will be brought into the Select Mode for a choice of multiple Icon, which allow batch operation.
  6. Unified the operation method of List Mode and Icon Mode. The different now is when you are in List Mode and select "All" for Category, then all the database in RAM will be listed.
  7. You can select to hide Title and/or QuickLauncher Bar now.
  8. You can set the screen to be either "Default" or "High-Color" Mode. The screen will use 256-color mode for "Default", while it will forcing to use HiColor when the mode is "High-Color". If you have setup to use a background image, the screen will use the same mode as background image's.
  9. Enhanced keyboard support, you can use keyboard to perform most of the basic operation now.
  10. Enhanced battery and RAM capacity's Icon mode.

For this version upgrade:

  1. Enhanced background setting. You can use any kind of background, regarding the image resolution, as long as YiShow can displays.
  2. Added the ability to scale up the small image for background. 
  3. Added the ability to force a high-color image into 256-color mode. 
  4. Added the ability to right-align icons. You can set to align icons to either left or right in “Setup”.
  5. Added auto refresh of registered program in QuickLauncherBar. You can set the number of software to be refreshed in “Setup” or totally disable it. 
  6. Completely rewrote the engine to display Text file, changing font will no longer require to reload the file now. 
  7. Added color setting for displaying DOC/Text.
  8. Added functionality for switching Battery and RAM display mode.
  9. Added supports for multi-external storage cards.
  10. Added capability to identify WebClipping database file. Now WebClipping database will correctly being shown on the Explorer.
  11. Category will be sorted before display when using “TAB”.
  1. Added QuickLauncherBar. You can drag and drop frequently use program onto the QuickLuncherBar for easy access. You can disable this functionality in the preference or adjust the update option. 
  2. Added color setting for displaying DOC/Text 
  3. Added option to hide or display RAM and Battery level's status. 
  4. Added functionality for switching Battery Level and RAM display. 
  5. Added option to disable automatic database scanning function. 
  6. Due to the preference's option increased, the setting for DOC, Image and Background have been moved to another screen.
  1. Added feature for setting the font's color.
  2. Largly enhanced database management's function. You can select ROM Appl/RAM Appl in RAM listing mode to display the program's database and preference database for copy/delete operation. For details please read RAM Detail Listing Display Mode.
  3. The small icon display was changed in high resolution mode.
  4. Battery residual quantity and the free memory were displayed in high resolution mode.
  1. Added strong support for palm/Launcher in memory Card. When you store programs in the palm/Launcher directory, you can launch them the same way as those stored in internal RAM, with category management support. Also, when inserting and removing memory Cards, YiShow will automatically import/export the programs in palm/Launcher without losing their category setting. It's easier than using shortcuts.
  2. Added support for viewing images; the image filename can be shown.
  3. Skin management is added. Now you can manage skins through SKIN Manager (under Options) for changing the skin and wallpaper; just simply store the skin in the directory "/palm/program/YiShow/SKIN" in a memory Card, and wallpaper in "/palm/program/YiShow/Wallpaper". For details please read Customizing YiShow.
  4. Quickly display icons for programs stored in MS.
  5. Supports CLIE PEG NX70/NX60 series' 320x480 display
  6. Supports CLIE PEG NX70/NX60 series' hardware JPG decoding function

This version is basically ported from YiShow Explorer for CLIE v4.5 with enhanced features for PalmOS v5.0. YiShow is now able to use high resolution screens for devices such as Acer s50/s60 that support PalmOS v5.0 high resolution API. Compared with previous versions, a totally new interface is provided with Tab Category management function for dynamically switching between Toolbars. Moreover, 16bit background images are finally supported; you can now enjoy beautiful launcher screens.

  1. Added Tab-type Category management for easy access and can switch between Tool bars.
  2. Added 16bit background and skin support for PalmOS 4.0 and above.
  3. Supports High resolution background and skin setup function only for devices that support the PalmOS 5.0 high resolution API.
  4. For background images, you can now use PCX, PGP, JPEG format files instead of only BMP. In particular for PGP images, you can beam them to other Palms or simply Hot-sync them with your PC. It not only provides an easier way to change the background image, but it also lets users without MS to enjoy this function.
  5. Added 16bit icon support. Through the setup of Skins, you can change the Title bar, Tool bar, and icons to high resolution with high color. With using 16bit backgrounds, you can create a very beautiful launcher screen. However, the launcher screen will only switch to use 16bit color when using a 16bit background; so you can only use a 16bit skin with it.
  6. Short-cut format changed, now the new YiShow's short-cut can be displayed like normal files. You can even launch it directly if it's executable. All the short-cuts created with old version will be deleted.
  7. Supports Pop-up Category menu and Tab Category function. When used the first time, it will retrieve the categories setting from the built-in launcher and automatically generate short-cut(s) for program(s) stored in /palm/Launcher.
  8. Deleted DOC, PGP and ShortCut categories. Added button for displaying DOC and PGP and the button for Palm/Launcher.
  9. Added the ability to copy files between different MS with one CLIE.
  10. Added the ability to change the font for the launcher screen and display mode.
  11. Added the ability to change time/date display format.

•Screenshots

Starting YiShow Explorer will display the directory listing of either internal RAM or an external storage card.

The following screenshot is captured from Palm m505/m515, displaying internal RAM.

The following screenshot is captured from Palm m505/m515, displaying external storage card.

 

320x480 Screen

480x320 Screen

 

•How to Use

Software Installation

Decompressing YiShow Explorer for Palm will get you the following files:

yishow-English.prc

YiShow Explorer for Palm (English version)

yishow-Japanese.prc

YiShow Explorer for Palm (Japanese version)

Setup

Please refer to the following screen:

  1. If checked, YiShow will be used as the default launcher.
  2. If checked, the Title of the Launcher screen will be displayed.
  3. If selected, automatic database scanning. Strongly recommand you that do not disable automatic scanning function, it may cause fatal error when using software like PiDirect.
  4. If checked, you can use Category Tab Bar.
  5. If checked, if you launch application from memory card, it will synchronize database.
  6. If checked, you can use QuickLauncherBar.
  7. Set the number of automatic refresh item for QuickLauncherBar.
  8. If checked, if you power off, it will sets security mode to "Hide Records" mode.
  9. If checked, if you power off, it will locks Palm device.
  10. If checked, YiShow will display the background image in full screen mode.
  11. image that smaller than screen resolution will be tile.

  1. If checked, will also show out the DOC and the PGP in "All" Category.
  2. If checked, the avaliable RAM will be shown digitally.
  3. If checked, the remaining battery level will be shown digitally.
  4. If checked, selecting an icon will only highlight the text description.
  5. If checked, YiShow will force those icons, .
  6. If checked, Enable icon cache.
  7. Sets the Launcher's icon font color.
  8. If checked, transparent background color when displaying the text.
  9. Sets the Launcher's icon font type.
  10. Setup Launcher's screen color. You can set the screen to be either "Default" or "High-Color" Mode. The screen will use 256-color mode for "Default", while it will forcing to use HiColor when the mode is "High-Color". If you have setup to use a background image, the screen will use the same mode as background image's.
  11. Sets the number of icons shown in the Launcher screen.
  12. You can set to use left alignment or right alignment when displaying Icon, or even distributed average alignment.
  13. You can set to use top alignment or bottom alignment when displaying Icon, or even distributed average alignment.

 

  1. If checked, when contracting images for full screen display, the image length/width ratio will be maintained.
  2. If checked, the screen will be compressed in high speed.
  3. If checked, the image filename will be shown when viewing an image.
  4. If checked, the title will be displayed when viewing a the DOC/Text file.
  5. If checked, you can adjust the frontground and background color when displaying DOC/Text file.
  6. Sets the delay time for slide shows.

 

  1. Icon you can select in Category Tag.
  2. Setup the position of the Category Tag.
  3. Setup the display method of the Category Tag.
  4. Current Category Tag's Icon.
  5. Select the current Category Tag for modification.
  6. To high the Item in current Category Tag, you need to set the system's Security to "Hide Data" to be effective.

The below is an example to show you how you can compose a display by setting the Title and Category Tag:

By setting to display Category Tag at the bottom with Status Bar switched into Tool Bar, you can achive the effect of  old Version Screen. The snapshot when setting Category Tag at the top of the screen. The screen effect after disabling the Title; Category Tag set at the bottom and switch Status Bar into Tool Bar. The snapshot when disabling Title and Category Tag set at the top.

 

Palm Icon Display Mode

  1. Change the time display format.
  2. Launch the "Preference" application.
  3. Display battery status.
  4. Display RAM status.
  5. Category button.
  6. Display the YiShow menu.
  7. Category Tag. You can drag the Tag in Category Tag for custom position arrangement.
  8. A page view (with Previous and Next) for Category Tag.
  9. Launcher icon. If it's a program icon, tapping it will launch the program directly. If it is an image/DOC/Text file, tapping it makes YiShow display the content too. If you tap and hold for more than a half second, a command window will pop-up. You can also drag and drop the icon to perform file operations and category management.
  10. Scroll Bar.
  11. Launch "Security" setting.
  12. Switch to Tab-type Category bar.
  13. Page Up/Page Down button.
  14. Switch to display files in external storage.
  15. Beam button. Drag and drop an icon to this button for beaming.
  16. Slide Show button. Dragging and dropping an icon to this button will pop up a file management window.
  17. Copy button. Drag and drop an icon to this button to copy the file into external storage.
  18. Delete button. Drag and drop an icon to this button in order to delete it.
  19. Big icon display mode button.
  20. Small icon display mode button.
  21. Detail listing mode button.
The snapshot for Select Mode.

 

The snapshot for the popped-up Tool Selection List.

 

The snapshot for popping Quick Launcher List via the Quick Launcher button on Tool Bar. The snapshot of a popped-up Category Select List. If you have multiple storage cards, the list will show you all the cards for you to switch into.

 

JOG Operation(Same uage for all the screen)

  1. Rotating the Jog selects an icon.
  2. When an icon is selected, pressing down the jog launch the program, or views the image, doc or text, etc.
  3. When an icon is selected, pressing down the jog for over one half second brings up the file management menu.
  4. When an icon is selected, pressing down the "back button" will de-select the icon.
  5. When no icon is selected, pressing down the jog changes the category.
  6. By pressing down the jog and rotating it at the same time, you can change to next page.

 

Keyboard Operation(Same uage for all the screen)

  1. Right key can selects an icon.
  2. When an icon is selected, Directory key (up, down, left & right) will change selected icon.
  3. When an icon is selected, Enter key to launch the program, or views the image, doc or text, etc.
  4. When an icon is selected, Space key to popup the file management menu.
  5. When an icon is selected, Back key will de-select the icon.
  6. When no icon is selected, Enter key to changes the category.
  7. PageUp/PageDown key to flip pages.

 

RAM Detail Listing Mode

  1. List the database and preference database of the application.
  2. Check box for selecting the file you want to process.
  3. Database Icon.
  4. Database name.
  5. Database size.

 

External Storage Card Icon Display Mode

  1. For details regarding each button, please refer to "Palm Icon Display Mode".
  2. The content of the file will be displayed when tapping the bitmap or DOC/Text file icon. If it's a program icon, the program will be executed. If it's a directory icon, the screen will switch to show the directory content.
  3. If you have multiple storage cards, all the cards will be listed for selecting display file type.
  4. To create a directory, Tap File->Create Directory.

When launching a program from an external storage card, please bear the following in mind:

YiShow Explorer can execute programs from both internal RAM and external storage. Since internal RAM is typically smaller, with most devices having only 8MB, putting programs in external storage can greatly reduce the space needed by them. Nonetheless, you can organize them by creating different directories by their type or attribute for easier usage. However, please keep the following in mind if you use this feature:
    1. Copy all the associated files into internal RAM and then execute the program.
    2. Turn on the "All Install" mode in the Setup menu. You can also turn on the "All Delete" option too, so that when the program exits, all the files will be cleared from RAM by YiShow Explorer. Of course, any updated data be erased and thus you will lose those changes.


[Note]Executing programs stored in MS need double RAM space. You are encouraged to keep at least 1MB free space for proper execution.

External Storage Card Detail Listing Display Mode

 
The snapshot of display storage card in List Mode.

 

If you set to use "select mode" display in List Mode, you can select "all check/all clear" in the menu to select/clear all items.

 

Specifying Directory.

Allow for directory changing. If there're multiple storage cards you can select it from the "Target" list.

 

Specifying Copy Destination Directory

When copying file(s) from external storage, you will see the following screen.

  1. To copy file into other directory, select the destination directory from the tree list and click "OK".
  2. To copy file into internal RAM, select "Palm" as the destination. Only files with extension of prc/pdp/pga can be copied to internal RAM.
  3. If multiple card slots are available and you want to copy file between storage cards. First select the card, that contain the destination directory, from the "Target" list and then select the destination directory.
  4. If only a single card slot is available and you want to copy file between different storage cards. Select "Other MS" as destination, all the file will be temporay stored at internat RAM. Then replace the card with the target storage card, click "OK" then all the directories in the new card will be shown. Afterward just select the destination directory and click "OK" to complete the copy action.

 

Using YiShow to view Images

No matter whether you're in Icon display mode or Detail listing mode, tapping an image icon will show you its content. After the picture is displayed, you have the following operations:

JOG Operation

  1. Rotate the Jog up and down to view the previous or next image.
  2. Press down the jog to contract an oversize image to fit the screen.
  3. Press down the back button to exit viewing the image.

Keyboard Operation(Same uage for all the screen)

  1. Directory key (up, down, left & right) can scroll the screen.
  2. PageUp and PageDown can scroll the screen page by page.
  3. Enter button to contract an oversize image to fit the screen. Under the fit screen mode, pressing Enter again will flip back to normal mode.
  4. To exit Icon Display Mode, press "Back" button.

 

Use YiShow to read DOC file

No matter whether you're in Icon display mode or Detail listing mode, tapping a DOC/MeDOC icon will display its content. After the content is shown, you have the following operations:

  1. Close the file.
  2. Change the display font.
  3. Display MeDOC file's Index (Only MeDOC has this feature).
  4. Display the current location within the file. You can change the location by tapping it.
  5. Display the current paragraph. You can change the paragraph by tapping it.
  6. Jump to the beginning of the DOC.
  7. Jump to the defined Bookmark.
  8. Setup a Bookmark.
  9. Jump to the end of the DOC.
  10. Jump to the previous page.
  11. Jump to the next page.

JOG Operation

  1. Rotate the Jog up and down to flip the page.
  2. Press down the jog to jump to the defined bookmark.
  3. Press down the jog for over one half second to set a bookmark.
  4. Press down the back button to exit viewing the document.

Keyboard Operation(Same uage for all the screen)

  1. Use up/down button and PageUp, PageDown to flip pages.
  2. Press Enter button to jump to the defined bookmark.
  3. Press Space button for over one half second to set a bookmark
  4. Press Back to exit viewing the document.

 

Using YiShow to read Text files

No matter you're in Icon display mode or Detail listing mode, tapping the Text icon will display the content. After the content is shown, you can have the following operation:

The basic operation is the similar to DOC/MeDOC except it has no index button.

Customizing YiShow

1. Customize buttons and icons with Skin.

2. You can setup the wallpaper too:

To setup wallpaper, select the image file and pop up the management window, select "Backimage" and it's done.

The useable wallpaper has to be the same size as the device's screen resolution. You can use 16-color (for mono. devices), 256-color, or true color images.

When using 256-color wallpaper, the image's color palette will be adjusted to match the PalmOS's 256-color palette. Thus the resulting image will contain some distortion if the two palettes do not match. If the image contains more colors, I suggest you use true color mode for better results. If speed comes into consideration, you can use 256-color mode with some image processing for better results.

  1. Resize the high/true color image to fit the device's resolution.
  2. Use 256-color standard palette and dithering to reduce color-space.

Tap Option->Delete Background.

3. Using Skin Manager for simple and fast skin/wallpaper switching

  1. Copy the SKIN files into the memory Card in "/palm/programs/YiShow/SKIN".
  2. Copy the wallpaper files into memory Card in "/palm/programs/YiShow/Wallpaper".
  3. From Options, select SKIN Manager.
  4. Select the file you want to switch to and tap the Load button as shown below:

 

Other Convenience Features

1. Using Short-cuts to launch/manage files

Using a short-cut for programs stored in external storage can greatly simplify operation, as if the program were stored in internal RAM. You can also manage the short-cut's category and launch it directly in the launcher screen. To create a shortcut, from the command pop-up window mentioned above, select "ShortCut". YiShow is not only capable of generating shortcuts for programs, but also DOC/MeDOC, Text and image files for convenience.

2. Hiding a file/directory from other people's viewing

In order to hide a file/directory, just set its attribute to "Hidden." This depends on the level of security set in the "Security" screen. Files that can be hidden include all types of files storing in MS, DOC, PGP, and Short-cut file storing in RAM. If you want to hide programs stored in RAM, just move it to the MS and create a short-cut for it, then hide the short-cut.

  1. When Security is set to "Show Records", even if the file is set to "Hidden", the file will be shown normally.
  2. When Security is set to "Mask Records", the file will be shown but cannot be executed.
  3. When Security is set to "Hide Records", file will not be shown nor be executed.

3. Edit Category

YiShow has several Category edit modes. Beside dragging and dropping icons to the category button or the tab category button, you can also tap Menu>Edit Category to edit the category as if you were editing the built-in launcher's category.

4. It is suggested that you store programs in the directory of palm/Launcher in the MS, so that you can use them the same way you using programs in RAM.

When running YiShow for the first time, it will automatically scan the palm/Launcher directory in the MS and import the programs storing in it. Then you can setup categories as if they were stored in RAM. When switching Memory Card, YiShow will automatically sense the change and import the new program list with their corresponding category settings. The difference between this and creating shortcuts are:

  1. There's no database generated in RAM.
  2. When changing MS, the program list will be automatically loaded with corresponding category settings.
  3. All the programs in /palm/Launcher will be imported at one time.

If you want to manually update the program listing for /palm/Launcher, you can select Options->Refresh Apps from the menu or by tapping the Tab-type category bar and selecting refresh.

•Legal

•Contact Us

For the most up to date news about YiShow Explorer, please visit my homepage at http://www.i-mobitech.com/, if you find a bug or have any idea about YiShow, please let me know. You can write me at support@i-mobitech.com, Thank you!

Copyright (C)2001-2004 IPPEI KINOSHITA (Piao Yi Bing)

HomePage: http://www.i-mobitech.com/