Size: 85K
Version examined: 0.90 beta
Cost: $19.95
Current version (10 May 2001): Action Pad is no longer available. It has been replaced by The Poplettm Kit
Cost: free
Development on this seems to have stalled.
I've had a quick look through the documentation. CASL
seems to be strongly oriented to IS vertical applications
(surveys, forms, data collection, inventory). CASL
provideds an IDE which runs on the PC and includes a drag
'n drop GUI builder. Functionality is specified using a
scripting language.
Size: 41K
Version examined: 2.5
Cost: $64.95
Current version (24 sept 2000): 3.0
CASL and Satellite Forms are quite similar. The differences between them that are apparent include:
- Satellite Forms only runs on Palm, CASL also does WinCE
- CASL allows testing to take place on the PC
- I felt that Satellite Forms was easier to use - part of this was the syntax, but also the help system.
- Satellite supports adding functionality by linking
in C libraries. I couldn't see anything in the
CASL documentation that mentioned this.
Update: CASL now does offer this facility.
Frank O'Brien has an independant CASL page with examples of source code, tips, programs, tools and other stuff. Frank's CASL page also has a comparison between CASL, NSBasic and AppForge.
Update email from Mark, a CASL user:
I just have a few updates about CASL (since I've been using it for about 2 years).There is a "Pro" version (+$40) that compiles directly to C which improves the speed. You can link in C code libraries. Current version is now 3.0
The PC development environment is great since it includes an emulator and debugger (breakpoints, monitor variables, etc) that has saved me from myself many times.
Size: 47K
Version examined: 0.92b
Current version: (24 sept 2000) 0.97b4
Cost: free
This product is currently in beta and should be shipping in June.
Versions exists for all three major platforms (PalmOS (PalmPilot),
Windows CE, and EPOC (Psion)).
Note name change from Everywhere to Everyplace.
According to John Kovar DB2 now comes with Personal Application Builder - a GUI form design interface which compiles using the GNU compiler.
For rapid application development, DB2 Everywhere will be available
with rapid application development tools. Available with DB2 Everywhere
is the DB2 Application Developer, a visual construction tool for Palm Computing
Platform applications. Soon to be available with DB2 Everywhere support
is Satellite Forms Enterprise Edition from Puma Technology. Satellite Forms
is the leading visual development tool for devices based on the Palm Computing
Platform including 3Com connected organizers, Symbol(R) Technologies' SPT
family of devices, the IBM WorkPad PC Companion, and the IBM WorkPad c3.
With Satellite Forms and DB2 Everywhere, developers can quickly create
sophisticated handheld applications that seamlessly integrate with enterprise
data from the DB2 family of databases and Lotus Notes.
Application developers who choose not to use Satellite Forms or the
DB2 Everywhere Personal Application Builder will find it easy to develop
applications for DB2 Everywhere. DB2 Everywhere's programming interface
supports three industry-standard interfaces. DB2 Everywhere supports a
subset of the DB2 Call Level Interface (CLI), a subset of the Open Database
Connectivity (ODBC) interface, and a subset of the Java Database Connectivity(JDBC)
interface(for EPOC only).""DB2 Everywhere works in concert with IBM Mobile Connect,
a pervasive computing technology that provides direct access to corporate
networks from handheld devices. IBM Mobile Connect manages the automatic
exchange of data between mobile devices and corporate networks. In addition
to synchronizing DB2 applications and data, IBM Mobile Connect synchronizes
email with Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, and personal information management
applications such as calendars and address books. IBM Mobile Connect also
synchronizes applications and software to the mobile device, providing
a complete, integrated solution for the mobile worker.
... It is fast 32bit FORTH system having the following features:This system is ready for 100% palm development process, you can write your programs anywhere only with help of your palm device.Now you can think only about your task, we are making all the rest.
- Full ANS 94 compatibility
- Fast 32bit and 64bit arithmetic
- Multitasking kernel (!)
- Supporting PalmOS from 2.0 to 4.0
- Fast creating of prc and fast cloning the forth system
- Supporting all of 1052 api functions of PalmOS 3.5 with color support
- Automatic and efficient type cast for api calls (!)
- Built in IEEE-754 Float package
- Native interface to well-known library MathLib
- Built in 500 PalmOS error messages
- Clear using of callback functions
- Compatibility with SP-FORTH 3.x/4.x, DS-FORTH 2.x
- Ability to develop and compile your programs on PC
This project is officially inactive.
High Speed Pascal costs US$75 or 75 euros
(except for EEC companies outside of Denmark that have an EEC VAT
number; they pay $60)
Update (24 November 2005): HSPascal is now non-commercial (by
donation).
High speed Pascal shares its name (but not much code!) with an earlier commercial product which was available for Amiga and Atari machines in the 90s.
Cost: $20
Current version (24 sept 2000): 1.2.0
Current version (12 March 2002): 1.3.2
Cost: free or $99 for a collaborative version.
Cost: free.
Current version (24 sept 2000): 1.0 beta 4
// KarelExample
include "karel"
main() {
turnOn(); setPause(370);
loadWorld("karel1world");
while (!blocked()) {
move();
if (beeper()) pickup();
}
turnLeft(); move();
while (wallLeft()) move();
turnLeft(); move();
while (holdingBeeper()) {
drop(); move();
}
turnRight();
move(); move();
waitp();
}
Size: 118K
Cost: Free
Version Examined: EA 0.2
The online documentation gives a good feel for using Lyme and the list of functions gives a feel for its capabilities.
Lyme is free and requires PalmOS 3.1 (or better?) and at least a megabyte of free memory.
Size: 43K
Versions examined: 1.52, 2.7
Current version (7 March 2002): 3.1
Cost: free
Cost: $99.95
Current version (24 sept 2000): 1.06
Update (28 October 2004): OnboardC now includes an integrated document editor
called SrcEdit.
Update (22 August 02):
OnboardC is now available for free from a Yahoo group.
Also, development of it is continuing (as open-source) on
SourceForge.
Update (8 February 2005):
There is a framework called Rapid
Palm GUI by Juergen Bermann which assists with developing GUIs with
OnboardC.
Current version (24 sept 2000): 1.004
Cost: free (used to be $15)
Version 1.0 was released 25 April 2002, followed by 1.0.1 on the 8th of May (2002). OrbForms is shareware with the restriction that applications built with the non-registered version will only run on the Palm emulator. OrbForms costs $95.
27 September: version 1.2.0 released. New features (from the email from Jeremy) include:
- Redesigned project wizard system
- About box can now check for upgrades
- Several minor IDE features
- Serial I/O and raw IR support
- Advanced native add-in features - system event handlers and type string
- processing
- Several new APIs (see What's new in the docs)
- Lots of bug fixes
NEW Version 2.0.1 released 12th December. New features include code-completion and calltip (displays information on functions and their arguments as you type). Also, the price has been reduced to $85 and there is a personal license for $55 (for non-commercial use and freeware).
Palm Tcl is a open source programming language and development environment for
creating applications for handheld devices running the Palm OS operating
system. Its primary goal is to simplify and accelerate the process of
application development for Palm OS. Palm Tcl allows programmers to write
applications without requiring them to know the intricacies of the Palm OS
runtime environment. Programs written in Palm Tcl are generally an order of
magnitude shorter than their C equivalents and can be written in a fraction of
the time.
(From http://palm-tcl.sourceforge.net/introduction.html)
Jared Norton runs www.pdatnutsandbolts.com: the support site for PDA Toolbox.
This implementation by Willow Fung is written in Java and can be run on Palm
Pilots as well as on certain models of Mobile Phones!
Download
nano.zip
Important: The web site provides a file MemoDB.pdb which contains examples. My understanding is that installing this file will overwrite all of your existing memos. Don't do it.
Important: The web site provides a file MemoDB.pdb which contains examples. My understanding is that installing this file will overwrite all of your existing memos. Don't do it.
New version out (August 2002)
The language is fairly weak - it doesn't have facilities for dynamic memory allocation (actually it does now - see below); but it has quite a rich set of functions for accessing Palm system functionality (graphics, text I/O, timers, pen input and events, memo pad and database access). Although it doesn't have GUI elements, there is a toolkit available which implements them. PocketC allows recursion.
PocketC seems fairly reliable although it does crash sometimes. The developers are aware of this and I'd expect this problem to be fixed soon.
- PocketC resources at Orbworks
- PocketC tricks and tips by Alfons Grabher.
A new version of PocketC (for Palm) has been released.
New goodies include a pointer data type,
memory allocation routines, and the
ability to capture the hardware buttons and the menu
button. Execution speed hasn't changed significantly as
far as I can tell.
Size: 47K (this is the full development environment, runtime only is smaller)
Versions examined: 2.1, 3.7
Current version (17 December 2001): 4.1.1
Cost: $18.50
"PP is a freeware standard Pascal compiler for PalmOS. PP generates true native 68000 executable code (.PRC) from standard Pascal source code. You can use your favorite Palm DOC editor to write your code, and either run PP from the VFSdos console or PP Shell to compile and run your program."
Update (2/2/2005): New website, and there is a resource editor called Bird
The new version (2.0) is based on Squeak and
runs on a number of platforms.
It also targets a number of platforms.
Size: 44K (pocket smalltalk generates a single PRC, the size is 44K plus
the user's code)
Version examined: 1.5 beta
Current version (24 sept 2000): 2.0 alpha
Cost: free
Cost: free
REXX is a programming language designed by Michael Cowlishaw of IBM UK Laboratories. Rexx is an acronym which stands for "Restructured Extended Executor Language". In Mike's own words: "REXX is a procedural language that allows programs and algorithms to be written in a clear and structured way."
...
What makes REXX different from most other languages is that it is also designed to be used as a macro language by arbitrary application programs. The idea is that application developers don't have to design their own macro languages and interpreters. Instead they use REXX as the macro language and support the REXX programming interface.
What is Rexx? from the Rexx FAQ.
Size: 75K
Version examined: 0.7.4 beta
Current version (24 sept 2000): 1.2.1e
Current version (2 Feb 2005): 1.5.3
Current version (16th May 2005): 2.0.0
Cost: free / $99.95
- IndiVideo
have an on-board resource editor called OnBoard
RsrcEdit.
Update (2/2/2005): this has been taken over by Quartus.
Cost: $795 (standard edition) or $995 (enterprise edition)
Current version (24 sept 2000): Standard and Enterprise editions (version 3.5)
Size: 78K
update: (1 September 2005) it appears that Satellite forms has moved to http://www.satelliteforms.net/ and that Puma are no longer involved?
This page discusses scripting on embedded devices.
Current version (17 December 2001): 0.7.1
Spotless differs from waba in that it supports
the full Java language including threads (!) and exceptions.
On the other hand waba provides a richer and more comprehensive
library for user interface development and for accessing palm pilot
functionality such as databases, graphics, serial IO etc. Spotlet
only provides basic graphics and events (keys and pen up/down/move).
Finally, waba is significantly faster.
Size: 43K
Cost: free
Size: 29K
Current version (24 sept 2000): 1.1
Cost: free
"TinyLogo is a programming language and program execution environment
for the Palm handheld computer. It is especially friendly to beginning programmers
or people who just want to get a simple idea of what programming is all about.
Once TinyLogo is installed, programs can be written and run entirely on the
Palm computer. Also, since TinyLogo programs can be saved and loaded from memos,
they can be exchanged with anyone else running TinyLogo. TinyLogo has over 75
built-in procedures and most importantly, allows you to extend the
language by writing your own procedures.
Within a very short time, new programmers can write their own
procedures to create computer graphics, play music, manipulate words and sentences,
and calculate numbers."
Unfortunately, the standard library which Waba
provides is fairly limited - it has graphics, but no text
output (as in a scrolling console;
however, see my tty library for waba), there are no GUI
elements (although code implementing buttons is given in
the example programs), and there is no way to access
memos.
Version originally examined: 1.0 beta 3
Size: 39K
Current version (24 sept 2000): 1.0
Cost: free (open source)
- WabaJump is
a compiler for Waba which generates native code.
"WabaJump is a Java API to allow programs written for the Waba or SuperWaba VMs to be compiled to PalmOS PRC files, removing the need for a VM to be installed. This also allows people who currently write Jump programs to use an easy API, while keeping the power and speed of Jump."
- SuperWaba, is a richer version of Waba that includes more Java features (e.g. richer libraries, support for double and long numbers, extension with Java or C plugins, and faster than Waba). (Thanks to Alan Stein for prompting me to update this description)
- UIGen by Andreas Bade is a user interface generator.
- Robert Nielsen has written Waba AWT - a basic user interface framework for Waba.
- Waba Newsgroup
- WabaWorkbench
- DMIC have announced a Waba Visual Development tool. You can find screenshots and some discussion of the tool's capabilities at http://www.dmic.fr/palm/prg2.htm. The tool is anticipated to be available in the second half of 2000, requires Waba 1.0, and is estimated to cost $US136.
- MobileCreator
What more can be said ... except that the announcement was posted on the 1st of April.
