On Sunday 21 September 2003 12:08 pm, David W. Talmage wrote:
> >1.  I've been playing with the window application (see 'man window').  Can
> > a program control multiple windows.  In other words, could a developer
> > write a PIM in Python that would use multiple windows for data display
> > and entry?
>
> You might be able to use window(1) for that but that's not it's primary
> purpose.  window(1) is just for partitioning your console or xterm into
> windows in which you can run other programs.  If you had a suite of
> programs that communicated among themselves, perhaps one of them could
> direct the others to do things like you suggest in your example.  That
> would be a UNIXy thing to do.
>
> >For example:
> >
> >     Window #1:  Display module list (Calendar, Address Book, etc)
> >                       Select Calendar to start Calendar module in Window
> > #2. Window #2:  Display module functions (view, new, edit)
> >                       Select v-[date] to see Calendar entries for [date]
> > in Window #3.
> >                       Select new to enter new event in Window #3.
> >
> >2.  Should I scrap idea #1 and learn Python with Curses?
>
> This is the more conventional approach.  May I suggest that you try
> making versions of pilot-link and pilotmgr for your NEC Mobilepro 780?
> That would probably be easier than writing the whole suite from scratch.
>
> You can find them in pkgsrc/comms/{pilot-link,pilot-link-libs,pilotmgr}.
>
> David Talmage

But why use something hardware-dependent at all?  That's the main issue of 
frustration.  pilot-link is device-centric.  If jpilot could sync to another 
jpilot installation over a wireless network connection, all we would need is 
a compatible application for WinCE/PocketPC for syncing freedom on any 
hardware with an X Server.  The criteria for choosing a PDA would change 
significantly.

In my case, it would also allow me to sync the jpilot on a Mobilepro with 
jpilot on my FreeBSD desktop.  If we accomplished the same thing with a CLI 
application, or at least data format compatibility under the UI, someone with 
NetBSD on a Jornada would also be able to sync freely.

I don't want to reinvent any wheels for the sake of having a project.  Given 
the networking options for PDA's, however, I can't think of a good reason for 
hardware related barriers.  

Andrew Gould