flashCard Transfer Utility

Release Notes

To import and export decks for flashCard, you need FCX, the flashCard transfer utility. With FCX you can author text-only decks on your desktop computer and download them to Newton. You can even upload text-only flashCard decks already on Newton to archive them or share them with friends. Any graphics in the question field of a card will be lost, but all text in the question can be transfered. FCX supports cross-platform communications to any computer that can make a simple serial connection. This includes Macintosh, MS DOS, Windows, OS/2, and many others.

To use FCX,

You need the following:

1.	A copy of flachCard 1.0 or later installed on a MessagePad 100, 110, or 120 running Newton 1.x or 2.0 operating system.
2.	A terminal emulation program that runs on your desktop computer. Sample terminal emulation programs for Macintosh include: FreeTerm, ZTerm, and ClarisWorks. Comparable programs are available for MSDOS, Windows, OS/2 computers, and others.
3.	A serial cable to connect your desktop computer to your Newton.

To initialize FCX,

1.	Launch FCX on Newton and tap "Connect".
2.	Launch the terminal emulation program on your desktop computer.
3.	Configure the terminal emulation program for
-	9600 Baud
-	8 Data bits
-	1 Stop bit
-	No parity

All commands are typed into the terminal emulation program running on the desktop computer. FCX responds to these commands and performs the appropriate actions on Newton, returning information as needed. Commands may be typed in either upper or lower case letters; FCX is not case-sensitive.

To change the font, size and style of the answer that appears on each card:

1.  Tap the "Styles" button (the paint palette symbol)
2.  Choose the desired font, size, style from the Styles slip.

To find out what flashCard decks are installed on Newton,

1.	Initialize FCX and a desktop terminal emulation program as described above.
2.	Choose "Text capture" (or something similar) in the terminal emulation program to save FCX's output to a file.
3.	Type "QUERY:" in the terminal emulation program.
FCX will respond with the number of flashCard decks on the Newton, and for each of these, the name of the deck, the number of cards, the date the deck was last modified, and its author. Here is an example query and FCX's response:

QUERY:
DECKS: 2
DECK NAME: Helicopters
CARDS: 10
DATE: 1995 12 3
AUTHOR: Jeffrey C. Schlimmer
DECK NAME: History
CARDS: 50
DATE: 1996 2 13
AUTHOR: T. Brower
END:

To retrieve flashCard decks from Newton,

1.	Initialize FCX and a desktop terminal emulation program as described above.
2.	Choose "Text capture" (or something similar) in the terminal emulation program to save FCX's output to a file.
3.	Type "GET:" followed by the name of the appropriate flashCard deck in the terminal emulation program.

FCX will respond with the deck name, author, and cards in the deck, with the question and answer of each. The format returned is precisely the format required to install the deck. Here is an example retrieval and FCX's response:

GET: History
DECK NAME: History
AUTHOR: T. Brower
Q: Columbus discovers America
A: 1492
Q: Saxons invade England
A: 1666
Q: America declares independence
A: 1776
END:

To retrieve ALL the flashCard decks from Newton, simply type "GET ALL:" 

To install flashCard decks on Newton,

1.	Initialize FCX and a desktop terminal emulation program as described above.
2.	Prepare a deck file in the format shown above in the section "To retrieve flashCard decks from Newton".
3:  Type "SEND:" followed by return.
4.	Choose "Text send" (or something similar) in the terminal emulation program to send the deck file.

Or

2.	Type "SEND:" followed by return.
3.	Type "DECK NAME:" followed by the name of the deck. If this deck already exists, FCX will append cards to it.
4.	Type "AUTHOR:" followed by the author of the deck.
5.	Type "Q:" followed by a question, then press return.
6.  Type "A:" followed by the answer, then press return.  Repeat these steps for each card in the deck.
6.	Type "END:" followed by return to finish the installation.

FCX will respond with the total number of cards in the deck. Here is an example installation and FCX's responses:

SEND:
DECK NAME: History
AUTHOR: T. Brower
Q: Columbus discovers America
A: 1492
Q: Saxons invade England
A: 1666
Q: America declares independence
A: 1776
END:
OK: History, 3 card total.
OK: Added 2 blank cards to History

Notice that because the new deck only contains three cards, FCX added 2 blank cards to bring the deck total to 5, as all flashCard decks must have five cards.

To delete flashCard decks from Newton,

1.	Initialize FCX and a desktop terminal emulation program as described above.
2.	Type "DELETE:" followed by the name of the appropriate flashCard deck in the terminal emulation program.

FCX will delete the deck and all of its cards. Deleting decks cannot be undone, so choose this action with caution. Here is an example deletion and FCX's response:

DELETE: History
OK: 5 cards deleted

To rename a flashCard deck on Newton,

1.  Initialize FCX and a desktop terminal emulation program as described above.
2.  Type "RENAME:" followed by the name of the appropriate flashCard deck in the terminal emulation program.
3.  Type "NEW NAME:" followed by the name the deck should be renamed to.

Here is an example renaming and FCX's responses:

RENAME: History
OK: History
NEW NAME: Historical
OK: Historical 

To find out whodunnit, try typing "ABOUT:"

To report problems with FCX,
send e-mail to powerPen@eecs.wsu.edu . Please include as much of the following as possible:
-	Model and operating system version of Newton.
-	Amount of memory free on internal and on PC RAM card (if applicable).
-	Version of flashCard. (The latest version as of this writing is 1.1.)
-	Number of decks.
-	Result of "QUERY:".
-	Whether the problem persists after resetting Newton.

http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/~schlimme/newton/index.shtml