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[2] Word Processing on the Palm Hand held Computer

Halifax, Nova Scotia

One of the initial shortcomings of handheld computers was the inability to manage large text documents with only the built-in Memo application. However, there are now a number of much more sophisticated word processing programs for handheld computers using the Palm® operating system (Palm OS), including AportisDoc^TM (www.aportis.com), Quickword^TM (formerly SmartDoc; www.tapworks.com), and TealDoc^TM (www.tealpoint.com), that produce files in the "doc" format. The Palm OS doc format is not the same as that used in a Microsoft Word ".doc" file, but it does provide a way to create and edit long documents on the handheld, with some minor formatting. These documents can be uploaded as text files to your desktop computer, where they open easily in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect (there is an initial line or two of gibberish that has to be deleted). Newer versions of some of these programs have increasing degrees of compatibility with Microsoft Word, and they are all also compatible with the various full-sized keyboards available for the Palm, including GoType!^TM (www.landware.com) and the Palm keyboard itself.

To reverse the process, a plain text file on your desktop can be converted to "doc" format with MakeDocDD for the Macintosh, or MakeDocW for Windows, and uploaded to your handheld, but complex formatting is lost. Both of these free programs can be found at www.aportis.com/resources/AportisDoc/makedocutilities.html. You can even convert whole novels or e-texts to doc format and take them with you wherever you go.

Documents-To-Go by DataViz (www.dataviz.com) fulfils a different purpose. In its initial presentation, it allowed you to take any Microsoft Word or Excel document and transfer it to your Palm Os handheld with most of the formatting intact. Any changes made in the source file on the desktop are automatically transferred to the handheld version at the next Hotsync, allowing you to carry current versions of reference lists, manuals, checklists and guidelines, drug conversion tables, and so on. However, it was not possible to edit the document on the handheld. With the latest release of Documents To Go, editing can be done on the handheld, with synchronization in both directions. Changes made in the handheld version of the document are transferred to the desktop version. Documents To Go will manage Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Word Pro, Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro Pro, and text documents on Windows machines, and Word, Appleworks, Excel, and text documents on Macintosh computers.

A useful addition to the new version is an add-on called PDF To Go^TM, which will convert an Adobe Acrobat document (a "pdf" file) to a format that can be viewed on the handheld. Images are not transferred, but all the text and tables can be seen. PDF files cannot be edited on the handheld. Many participants at the 2001 CAS Annual Meeting were surprised to receive the abstracts and refresher course manuscripts on a CD-ROM disk. However, I found it relatively simple to select the abstracts and refresher courses I was interested in and transfer them to my Palm handheld computer with PDF To Go, which made them easily accessible during the meeting. Aportis also has a PDF reader, but it is currently limited to Windows-based desktop computers.

Handheld computers have become increasingly sophisticated and valuable, while retaining in most cases the elegant simplicity of design and programming necessary for quick and easy function.

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