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Manpage of pilot-xfer

pilot-xfer

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: Palm Computing Device Tools
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NAME

pilot-xfer - backup, sync, and restore databases from a Palm handheld device, such as those made from Palm, Handspring, Handera, TRGPro, Sony or other Palm Compatible Handheld PDA device

SYNOPSIS

pilot-xfer -p <port> [ --exclude file] --backup | --update | --sync directory ]

(Note that some options are not shown above and short option aliases are excluded for brevity. Please use pilot-xfer --help to get the full list of available options)

DESCRIPTION

pilot-xfer allows the user to install databases contained in the standard .prc, .pdb, and .pqa formats onto a Palm, retrieve databases from the Palm, list the databases contained in a Palm, and backup or restore all of the databases at once.

TARGET DEVICE

The default serial device used to communicate with a Palm is /dev/pilot. If the environment variable $PILOTPORT is set, its value will override the default. A serial device specified on the command-line will be used regardless of any $PILOTPORT setting.

OPTIONS

Many options exist, including...

-a dir,

Archives files which have been removed from the Palm to dir instead of just deleting (unlinking) them

-b dir, --backup dir

Backs up the Palm into the specified directory (which will be created if it does not already exist). This operation must be specified after any exclude option.

-c, --count

Counts the files as they go by, but shunts the displaying of the "Skipping file..." messages

-d dbname [...], --delete dbname [...]

Delete the specified database(s) by name (without extension). Obviously, be very careful with this one.

-e file, --exclude file

Reads a list of databases from file. Prevents --backup, --sync, or --update from operating on the listed database(s). This option must be specified before the --backup, --sync, or --update operation whose action it modifies.

-f dbname [...], --fetch dbname [...]

Fetch each specified database out of the Palm into the current directory.

-F

Modifies the behavior of --backup, --sync, and --update to back up non-OS databases which have been stored in FlashROM

-h, --help

Displays a summary list of pilot-xfer's usage and exits.

-i file [...], --install file [...]

Install each specified file into the Palm. Wildcards are valid with this syntax.

-l, --list

List the databases in the Palm, excluding OS-specific databases.

-L, --Listall

List all of the databases on the Palm, including OS-specific native databases.

-m file [...], --merge file [...]

Adds the records in each specified file into the corresponding Palm database.

-O

Modifies the behavior of --backup, --sync, and --update to back up OS databases which are stored in FlashROM

-P, --Purge

Purge any deleted data that hasn't been cleaned up by a sync (this is a safe operation, and will prevent your Palm from accumulating crud if you delete records but aren't syncing with a PIM.) The only information you can lose is archived but un-synced records.

-q, --quiet

Causes pilot-xfer to be quiet and not display the "Skipping file..." messages

-r dir, --restore dir

Installs all files contained in a directory into the Palm. (Use this to restore your Palm after a hard reset has cleared its memory, using your backup directory as a baseline.)

-s dir, --sync dir

Backs up the Palm into the specified directory (which will be created if it does not already exist). Any Palm databases which have not been modified or created since the versions stored in the specified directory will not be backed up.

NOTE: Any Palm databases which have been deleted will have their corresponding backup file removed. This operation must be specified after any exclude option.

-u dir, --update dir

-U

This will back up the UnsavedPreferences.pdb file from the Palm. Normally this file is not backed up by normal means (Palm Computing recommends that you do not restore this file upon restoration of your device using --restore

This also modifies the behavior of --backup --sync and --update

-v, --version

Displays the version of pilot-link from which this program was installed and exits.

USAGE

The program will connect to a target Palm handheld device and port, prompt the user to hit HotSync, and perform the requested options specified by the user on the commandline.

EXAMPLES

To backup a Palm:

# long options

pilot-xfer --port /dev/pilot --backup /home/pilot/Backup

# over IrDA, using short options

pilot-xfer -p /dev/irnine -b /home/pilot/Backup

To restore that backup to a non-standard serial port (for example, to a xcopilot or POSE session, assuming you have xcopilot or POSE configured properly for this operation, see the appropriate man pages for details on configuring your emulator):

pilot-xfer -p /dev/ttyqe --restore /home/pilot/Backup

KNOWN BUGS

Unable detect when the Palm handheld is full when installing files. It will proceed as if successful though may not actually install the files. Unable to detect if the local files/directory are writable when fetching or backing up from the Palm device, or if the target drive/partition is full.

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs at http://bugs.pilot-link.org/

AUTHOR

pilot-xfer written by Kenneth Albanowski. This manual page was originally written by Kenneth Albanowski and David H. Silber. Completely rewritten by David A. Desrosiers for pilot-link 0.10 and later revisions.

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 20:46:10 GMT, April 25, 2024