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3    Palm OS Garnet Simulator User Interface Reference

Testing with Palm OS® Garnet Simulator

Palm OS® Garnet, Release 5.4

This chapter provides a reference for the Palm OS® Garnet Simulator user interface elements.

Menu Reference Summary ^TOP^

The Palm OS Garnet Simulator menus include:

Displaying the Palm OS Garnet Simulator Menu Items ^TOP^

Right-click (use mouse button 2) on the Palm OS Garnet Simulator screen to display the menu items.

Figure 3.1  Palm OS Garnet Simulator Menu Items

Reset Menu ^TOP^

Use the Reset menu to perform a reset of the current simulation session.

Soft ^TOP^

Performs a soft reset of the current simulation session. This is equivalent to pressing the reset button on the back of a handheld.

Hard ^TOP^

Performs a hard reset of the current simulation session. A hard reset erases all data in the simulation session, restoring it to the equivalent of a new handheld.

View Menu ^TOP^

Use the View menu to view information about the installed databases, the contents of the heap, or the user interface events.

Databases ^TOP^

Opens the Databases dialog box, shown in Figure 3.2, which lists the databases included in the current simulator session.

Figure 3.2  View>Databases Dialog Box

Using the Databases Dialog Box

  • Click on the plus sign icons to view the details of a database.
  • Click on the minus sign icons to close the details view of a database.
  • For databases that have contents, click on a record to view the record's contents in the right view pane.

NOTE: The dimmed databases in the Databases dialog box are the read-only databases.

Heaps ^TOP^

Opens the Heaps dialog box, shown in Figure 3.3, which displays the contents of the heaps for the current simulator session.

Figure 3.3  View>Heaps Dialog Box

Using the Heaps Dialog Box

  • Use the View>Refresh menu to refresh the heap information that is displayed.
  • Use the View>Lock menu to keep the heap information from being updated.
  • Use the View>Unlock menu to allow the heap information to be updated.
  • When viewing the ROM heap, click on a chunk number to view the contents of a chunk in the bottom view pane.

Events ^TOP^

Opens the Events dialog box, shown in Figure 3.4, which displays the user interface events for the current simulator session. If the Shift key is held down in the event viewer, the numerical ID of an event is appended to its name in the hte log.

Figure 3.4  View>Events Dialog Box

Using the Events Dialog Box

  • Use the View>Lock menu to keep the events information from being updated.
  • Use the View>Unlock menu to allow the events information to be updated.
  • Use the View>Filters menu to allow filtering events to be displayed in the event viewer, as shown in Figure 3.5.
  • Use the Edit>Clear menu to clear the events information that is displayed.
  • Use CTRL-A to select all the events information.
  • Use the Edit>Copy menu or CTRL-C to copy the events information to your system clipboard.

Figure 3.5  Event Filters Dialog Box

Install Menu ^TOP^

Use the Install>Database menu to install PRC, PDB, and PQA files. The Install>Database menu displays the Install Database dialog box, shown in Figure 3.6.

Figure 3.6  Install Database Dialog Box

Using the Install Database Dialog Box

  • To install a single database, select a PRC, PDB, or PQA file and click Open.
  • To install multiple databases, use Shift-click to select multiple PRC, PDB, and PQA files and click Open.

Gremlins Menu ^TOP^

Use the Gremlins menu to perform Gremlin testing. The Gremlins menu displays the Gremlins dialog box, as shown in Figure 3.7.

Figure 3.7  Gremlins Dialog Box

For more information on using Gremlins, see "Using Gremlins."

Settings Menu ^TOP^

Use the Settings menu to change the settings for the current simulation session.

Display>Color Depth ^TOP^

Set the color depth for this simulation session:

  • 2 colors
  • 4 colors
  • 16 colors
  • 256 colors
  • 65536 colors

NOTE: If you change the setting for Color Depth, Palm OS Garnet Simulator performs a soft reset.

Display>Allowed Screen Depths ^TOP^

Opens the Allowed Screen Depths dialog box, shown in Figure 3.8, so that you can set the screen depths appropriate for this simulation session.

Figure 3.8  Allowed Screen Depths Dialog Box


NOTE: If you change the setting for Allowed Screen Depths, Palm OS Garnet Simulator performs a soft reset.

Display>Allow Direct Screen Access ^TOP^

Indicates whether installed applications are allowed to have direct access to the LCD screen buffer.

Display>Magnification ^TOP^

Sets the scaling size for the simulation session display:

  • 1:1 (This is the default selection.)
  • 2:1
  • 3:1
  • 4:1

Display>Always on Top ^TOP^

Indicates whether the Simulator window should stay on top when you switch to other application windows.

Display>Resolution ^TOP^

Sets the pixel resolution for the simulation session display.

  • 160x160 – Select this setting for a low density display.
  • 160x220 – Select this setting for a low density display with a dynamic input area.
  • 240x240 – Select this setting for a one-and-one-half (1.5X) density screen.
  • 240x320 – Select this setting for a one-and-one-half (1.5X) density screen with a dynamic input area.
  • 320x320 – Select this setting for a double density screen.
  • 320x480 – Select this setting for a double density screen with a dynamic input area.

Memory>RAM Size ^TOP^

Sets the RAM size for this simulation session:

  • 1 MB
  • 2 MB
  • 4 MB
  • 8 MB
  • 16 MB
  • 32 MB
  • 64 MB
  • 128 MB

NOTE: If you change the value of the RAM Size setting, Palm OS Garnet Simulator performs a hard reset.

Memory>Dynamic Heap Size ^TOP^

Sets the dynamic heap size for this simulation session:

  • 512 KB
  • 1024 KB
  • 2048 KB

NOTE: If you change the value of the Dynamic Heap Size setting, Palm OS Garnet Simulator performs a hard reset.

Memory>Storage Is Write-Protected ^TOP^

Indicates whether the storage is write-protected for this simulation session.


NOTE: If you change the setting for Storage Is Write-Protected, Palm OS Garnet Simulator performs a soft reset.

Communication>Communication Ports ^TOP^

Displays the Communication Ports dialog box, shown in Figure 3.9, so that you can change the communication port settings for the current simulation session. For more information on setting communication ports, see "Using Communication Functions."

Figure 3.9  Communication Ports Dialog Box

Communication>Redirect NetLib Calls to Host TCP/IP ^TOP^

Indicates whether NetLib calls should be redirected to the host TCP/IP communication stack. For more information on setting communication ports, see "Using External Debug Tools with Palm OS Garnet Simulator."

PACE ^TOP^

PACE (Palm Application Compatibility Environment) handles the data translation required for a 68K application to run on Palm OS Garnet.

Figure 3.10  PACE Settings Dialog Box

Using the PACE Settings Dialog Box:

  • Select the Trace Trap Calls setting to cause a trace to be emitted each time a trap instruction is processed by PACE. This setting is disabled at reset and works only for databases located in RAM.
  • Select the Call DbgBreak on 68K Program Entry setting to cause an automatic debugger break when the entry point of a 68K module is reached. This setting is disabled at reset and works only for databases located in RAM.
  • Select the Extended Checks on Pointer Calls setting to cause PACE to be somewhat stricter when it reads pointer values from the 68K stack.

    PACE checks pointer values before passing them to API functions, and creates an alert for unexpected NULL pointer values. Select this setting to keep PACE's standard behavior: that is, avoid generating alerts in a few specific cases, where NULL pointers are passed to native calls that should not accept them, but don't actually fail. Clear this setting to relax PACE's checking of NULL pointers.

For more information about PACE, see"Palm Application Compatibility Environment."

Battery ^TOP^

Displays the Battery dialog box, shown in Figure 3.11, so that you can change the simulated battery settings.

Figure 3.11  Battery Dialog Box

Using the Battery Dialog Box

  • Select the Kind of battery you want to simulate from the supported list:
    • Alkaline: a hydrous alkaline (non-rechargeable) battery
    • NiCad: a rechargeable nickel cadmium battery
    • LiIon: a rechargeable lithium ion battery
    • RechAlk: a rechargeable alkaline battery
    • NiMH: a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery
    • LiIon1400: a rechargeable lithium ion battery with a capacity of 1400 mAh (milliamperes hours)
  • The battery State is dependent on the Level selected:

State

Level

Normal

100 to 21

Low

20 to 11

Critical

10 to 6

Shutdown

5 to 0

  • If the battery type is LiIon or LiIon1400 and the Plugged in setting is selected, then the simulated device is in battery charging mode, as shown in Figure 3.12.

Figure 3.12  Battery Charging Mode

Enable Sound ^TOP^

Select Enable Sound to enable sound simulation for this simulation session.


NOTE: If you change the value of the Enable Sound setting, Palm OS Garnet Simulator performs a soft reset.

Storage Menu ^TOP^

Use the Storage menu to load and save a storage snapshot file (SSF file).

Load ^TOP^

Opens the Load Storage Heap Snapshot dialog box, shown in Figure 3.13, so that you can load the storage heap with contents that were previously saved to a storage snapshot file (SSF file).

Figure 3.13  Load Storage Heap Snapshot Dialog Box

Save ^TOP^

Opens the Save Storage Heap Snapshot dialog box, shown in Figure 3.14, so that you can save the current contents of the storage heap to a storage snapshot file (SSF file).

Figure 3.14  Save Storage Heap Snapshot Dialog Box

About Menu ^TOP^

Use the About menu to get release information about Palm OS Garnet Simulator.

Exit Menu ^TOP^

Use the Exit menu to exit Palm OS Garnet Simulator.

When you exit Simulator, the current option values are written to the file palmsim.ini for the next time you start Simulator. For more information on using palmsim.ini, see Chapter 2, "Using the Initialization File."

Keyboard Equivalents Reference ^TOP^

Because it is more difficult to use the mouse in place of a handheld stylus, Palm OS Garnet Simulator provides keyboard equivalents for many functions.

Hardware Buttons ^TOP^

The keyboard equivalents for handheld hardware buttons is similar to the key mapping recognized by Palm OS Emulator.

Table 3.1  Keyboard Equivalents for Hardware Buttons  

Hardware Button

Keyboard Equivalent

Power (on/off)

Esc

Hardware button 1
(Date Book application)

F1

Hardware button 2
(Address Book application)

F2

Hardware button 3
(To Do List application)

F3

Hardware button 4
(Memo Pad application)

F4

Toggles on or off a mode where the cursor (x, y) coordinates replace the window title

F5

Invokes the HotSync® application

F6

Scroll up

PgUp

Scroll down

PgDn

Additional Keyboard Functions ^TOP^

In addition to hardware button equivalents, Palm OS Garnet Simulator provides the following functions that can be invoked from the keyboard.

Table 3.2  Palm OS Garnet Simulator Keyboard Functions  

Function

Keyboard Equivalent

Enter a shortcut character and a period.

Pause | Attn

Display the pop-up menu.

Ctrl + A

Enter the menu command stroke.

Ctrl + C

Enter a confirmation character.

Ctrl + D

Tap the Applications icon.

Ctrl + E

Display the onscreen keyboard (tap the "abc" in the input area).

Ctrl + F

Tap the Find icon.

Ctrl + I

Tap the Calculator icon.

Ctrl + K

Enter a linefeed character.

Ctrl + M

Tab to the next field.

Ctrl + N

Tab to the previous field.

Ctrl + P

Perform a soft reset.

Ctrl + R

Perform a hard reset.

Ctrl + Shift + R

Power (on/off).

Ctrl + S

Enter the 68K debugger.

Ctrl + Pause