Using McFile with a Palm m500 or Palm m505

Using Palm m50X Expansion Card > Using McFile

McFile is a freeware file management utility without which an expansion card is barely worthwhile. McFile allows you to move (or copy) files to and from the card, create "folders" on the card, move files among folders, etc. To do this, it provides views of both the card's "Virtual File System" as well as the Palm's RAM. If you have used File Manager or Windows Explorer in Windows, you will have no trouble with McFile.

[Download]Download and install McFile (the English version). McFile will then appear in your Palm launcher.

Example Tasks
Three example tasks will be shown (after a review of the basic UI elements):
  • Create a new folder on the card.
  • Move files from one folder to another.
  • Move files from Palm RAM to a folder on the card.
   
Explanation of User Interface Elements
McFile utilizes a few non-standard interface elements, and the image below details most of the functionality on a single screen. A few things to note:
 
 
  • McFile uses the abbreviation "MS" to refer to the expansion media (with MS referring to the Memory Stick of the Sony Clie devices).
  • Tap the icons at the bottom left to change between Palm RAM and expansion card. 
  • Folders are not available for Palm RAM.
  • Folders may hold files and/or other folders. Create a hierarchy of folders to organize data.
  • The Copy, Move and Del (for "Delete") buttons act on items you have selected (by tapping the checkbox next to an item). First select the item that you want to act on and then tap the button. You can select multiple items and then perform the same action on all of them
  • The Mark button does not work like the other buttons. It allows you "mark" or "select" files. For example, you can use the button to "Mark All" files in the folder or to "Invert" your selection (i.e., all items that were unmarked are marked and all items that were marked are unmarked). Think of this as a "Select" button, but you probably will barely touch it.
  • The folder at the top of the list (followed by "..") represents the "parent" folder. So, you if you are in the "/Palm/Launcher" directory, tapping that folder would change the display to the "/Palm" folder (this is actually a left-over from DOS!).
  • The dashed box represents the current folder (in the screenshot, the current folder is "/PALM"). If you tap on that box, you will be presented with a dialog box that allows you to create or rename folders.

The screenshot below shows the "pop up" that appears when you tap the title of a Folder or File. This, for the most part, is a "shortcut menu" that lets you take action on that single item. The second screenshot shows the "Attribute" screen.
 
               

 

  • "Copy (Palm)" copies the file to the Palm RAM.
  • "Copy (MS)" copies the file to a to-be-specified location on the card.
  • "Move (Palm)" moves the file to the Palm RAM.
  • "Move (MS)" moves the file to a to-be-specified location on the card.
  • "Rename" lets you rename the selected file or folder.
  • "Delete" lets you delete the file from the card or RAM.
  • "MailAttach" apparently lets you attach the file to an e-mail, but I have not used this.
  • "Beam" will beam the file to another Palm user.
  • "Attribute" will show the attributes for the file 
  • "Mark" acts the same as tapping the checkbox (that is, it selects the item).
  • "MS <-> Palm" changes the view between the Palm RAM and the card.
  • "Cancel" dismisses the dialog box.
 
Example Task #1: Creating a folder.
This task involves creating a folder, titled "NewFolder" within the Palm folder. 
 
  Step 1. Open McFile
   
 

   
Figure 1. "/PALM" folder.

The starting folders is /PALM, and there are 6 folders within it (folders which I have previously created).
   
  Step 2. Tap the "dashed" box.
   
 

   
Figure 2. "New" dialog box..

 

The functionality to create a folder is somewhat hidden in that you need to tap the name of the current directory.

Figure 2 shows the dialog box that appears when the "dashed" box is tapped.

To create a new folder, tap the "New" button at the bottom of the screen.

 
Step 3. Name the new folder.
 
  
 
Figure 3. Name folder.
In Figure 3 you can see the dialog box that results from tapping the "New" button on the previous screen. I have written the name of the just-created folder, "NewFolder."
 
Step 4. Task completed
 
  
 
Figure 4. New /PALM screen.
Figure 4 shows the resulting screen: "NewFolder" now appears as a folder within /PALM.
   
Example Task #2: Move Files on the card.
This task involves moving two files (romidar01.pdb and romidar02.pdb) from one folder on the card to another folder on the card.
   
  Step 1: Select the files.
 

For this example, the two files reside in the /PALM/DoNotMount folder. (Navigate there by tapping on the DoNotMount folder.)

 
Figure 5. Files "marked."

After navigating to the appropriate folder, type the "checkboxes" that appear to the left of the files. 

Figure 5 shows the two files selected.

    
  Step 2. Tap the "Move" button.
   
 

 
Figure 6. Move Dialog.

At this point, the task is completed. Open an application that reads the files placed into the directory, and you should see them listed.

Figure 6 shows the dialog box that appears after tapping the "Move" button.

Tap the "MS" button if, as for this example, you want to move the selected file(s) to another location on the expansion card.

(Tap the Palm button if you want to move the file to RAM.)

 
Step 3. Select the destination folder.
 
 
Figure 7. Directory list.
After tapping the "MS" button on the previous screen, a dialog box appears that shows the directory structure. The folder you were in when you tapped the "Move" button is "open" (in this case, the "DoNotMount" folder is open).


 
Figure 8. Select folder.
For this task, we want to move the files to the "NewFolder" folder, so tap that item. The folder icon changes to indicate that it is the currently selected folder.

Tap "OK" and the files will be moved.

   
Step 4. Task completed.

 
Figure 9. Files are moved.
Figure 9 shows the "NewFolder" folder after the files have been moved into it. (You will need to manually navigate to the folder to see the files; to do this, tap on the "parent" folder icon from within the "DoNotMount" folder, then tap on the "NewFolder" icon.)
Example Task #3: Move files from RAM to the card.
For this task, we will move a file (the screenplay to the movie, "The Princess Bride") from the Palm RAM to the MSMount folder on the card.
     
  Step 1. View the Palm RAM. 
 
 
Figure 10. Palm RAM
Tap the Palm "icon" at the bottom left of the screen (or use the "twistie" at the top right of the screen) to switch to viewing the Palm RAM.

Figure 10 shows McFile's view of the Palm RAM (note that the triangular indicator at the bottom left of the screen now points to the Palm icon).

The list has been scrolled to where the "Princess Bride" screenplay appears.

     
  Step 2. Select the file.
 
 
Figure 11. File selected.
Tap the checkbox beside the "Princess Bride" to select it.
     
  Step 3. Tap the "Move" button.
   
 
Figure 12. Select destination.
Since you cannot "move" a file from RAM to RAM, you do not see the dialog box which asks whether you want to move to the Palm or MS (as seen in the second example).

Select the folder to which you want to move the file (in this case, MSMount).

Tap the "OK" button and the file is moved.

 

Using Palm m50X Expansion Card > Using McFile

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