HP Jornada 540 programming

I’ve had the 540 for approximately 15 years, maybe more. I let it sit for around 6 years and just recently started playing with it again. I wasn’t sure if the battery would be OK after all that time, but I charged it for a long time and the battery seems fine. Holds a charge for several hours of constant use before wanting to be plugged in.

I have PocketC and writing code for it is addicting. There’s a few things that’s giving me trouble. When I write code and have the keyboard showing, I can’t find a way to close the keyboard when I compile and run the code. I have to manually close the keyboard when the program starts. That’s not a problem when the code is run from the PocketC runtime because the keyboard isn’t used.

The other problem is the drawbitmap command. I can’t find the file layout for the older command. The documentation I find is for the later command.

Any help is appreciated.

Dave.

PS. I tried to add the 540 to the hardware list, but there isn’t a line for it. I guess I’m the only one with a 540.




Edited by dave13259 2023-06-03 5:54 PM

Moved to Off Topic

I have a 548, but they're not Handheld PCs - they're Pocket PCs, a different class of Windows CE-based device. Which is why you can't add them to our Devices & Specifications pages.

Thanks for correcting my error. I wasn’t sure how it was classified or where it should have gone.

I cannot find any code, syntax or API ref for PocketC, and have no idea of its functionality.

I imagine you need to import coredll.dll and call SipShowIM(SIPF_OFF).
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/ms838341(v=msdn.10)?redirectedfrom=MSDN

PocketC is a C type language for the Jornada and a lot of info can be found at orbworks.com. It hasn’t been updated for many, many years, so it’s really outdated. I have the command reference and other files which I think is for a later version then what I’m running. There isn’t anything to close the keyboard when the program starts from the editor/compiler, so I don’t know if it takes a combination of commands to do it. Also, the bitmap command format is a later one then the vrrsion I have. PocketC lets you write windows type code (GUI) or just regular C code programs.

We don't have any docs for it in the download section and I can't find them on orbworks, perhaps you might consider sharing them with the community?

I found some basic introduction bits here for anyone in the future:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030401151914/http://www.sundialsoft.freeserve.co.uk/sddocs.htm
Plus some rudimentary API info:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060916092508/http://pocketc.net/doc/

Thanks for the info. I’ve searched the internet on and off for years and never came across this. The PocketC command info is built into the editor/compiler and one of the links you show

http://web.archive.org/web/20060916092508/http://pocketc.net/doc/

is a list of the commands. Doing a quick look thru what you posted might have info I’ve not seen before, so I’ll look thru it more. One of the examples shows the use of drawbitmap. It might take a straight .bmp file as input so I’ll have to look at the file format of .bmp files and create a small file and see if it draws a bitmap. You’ve given me a lot to look over and try, so thanks.

C:Amie, Thanks for the last post. While looking thru the info, I came across a drawbitmap command in one of the examples. There was a comment there that said it uses a .bmp file. So I created a small bmp file to be read by the drawbitmap command and I was able to draw a bitmap. So you solved one of the questions that I posted here, what kind of file does drawbitmap use. I’ll have to create a better program to create .bmp files based on the bitmap, but for now my simple .bmp file works.

Glad to have made a partial impact.
So there is no way to call a function import from a native DLL then?

It does seem poorly documented and quite limiting; at least from what I can see on the old websites. You would expect that they would be the bastions of the code samples, documentation and API community.

Their support forum never really seemed to take off either:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060218041734/http://pocketc.net/forum/

I was always aware of them in the background, but we never had any dealings with them. I guess they had the tech, but not the marketing. Shame really as it could have been an intermediate training language for driving people towards VC++

C:Amie; My540 doesn’t connect to anything. I have a cable for it, but my laptop doesn’t have the connector or the software needed. It also has internet access, but I would need an internet card. I only have the one port for the card but I’m using it with a memory card for extra storage and backups. I’m totally fine with it the way it is because all I really want to do on it is write code with the PocketC editor/compiler. If really needed, I could always write to the memory card on my laptop and read it on the 540, but I haven’t found a reason to do that.

Also, I do a lot of coding on the iPad using Lua and the Codea app. I’m also one of the moderators on the Codea forum. Been doing that since 2012.

If you want to connect it, a USB to UART cable is not an expensive investment .
If you want to try coding in VC++, we have the tooling for it.

C:Amie, Thanks for the offer, but I’m OK with the 540 just the way it is. It’s mostly just something I get out every now and then to play with. I do all of my major coding on the iPad. It’s fast and very convenient for programming.