MacConnector 1.0

A tool fixing several MacConnect bugs

(C) 1999 Jan Borchers <jan@tk.uni-linz.ac.at>

The MacConnector home page:
<http://borchers.informatik.uni-ulm.de/macconnector/>


10 SECONDS QUICK START

Run MacConnector and select Option (1) before each
backup. After each restore, run it again and
select Option (2). This corrects file name
capitalization, and warns you of file names that
would break MacConnect. Please register at
www.kagi.com.


SHAREWARE, REGISTRATION, AND LIABILITY

This program is shareware. You may try it out for
30 days. Afterwards, if you continue to use it,
you must register it at <http://www.kagi.com/>.

The price for registration is US$ 8.

Registering will not only make you feel better, it
will also remove the shareware reminder from the
program, and will expand its functionality to also
fix file and folder names on the 'D' drive (flash
card). Updates will be free to registered users.

Use this software at your own risk. I do not take
any liability for data loss, machine damage, warp
core breaches, or any other problems in connection
with using this software. (It works for me,
though!)


INTRODUCTION

This program works around two bugs in Atelier's 
current version (1.1.4) of its MacConnect backup 
software for Psion's Series 5, 5mx, and other EPOC 
PDAs. These bugs got on my nerves quite a lot, and 
since apparently neither Atelier nor Psion can be 
bothered to fix them, I wrote this software. I 
hope you find it as useful as I do.

MacConnector is mainly aimed at Macintosh-based
Psion users, but others may also find this tool
useful, as it creates a textual listing of all
files and directories of an entire drive on an
EPOC machine (see below).

The Capitalization Bug

First, MacConnect generally loses correct
capitalization of file and folder names when
restoring from a backup. Restored files and
folders (in fact, any file copied from the Mac to
the Psion using MacConnect) will always have the
first letter of their name in capitals, and the
rest in lower case, no matter what the
capitalization was before.

So, for example, "LetterToDad" becomes
"Lettertodad".

Mostly, this is only a cosmetic problem. Some
software, though, actually depends on exact
capitalization of file and folder names. One such
example is the Java compiler for the 5mx.

MacConnector fixes this bug by creating a "names
database" of the correct file names when you run
it right before your backup. When you run it again
after restoring from your backup, it uses this
names database to rename the wrongly capitalized
file names back to their correct form.

This is especially useful if you have to
completely erase and later restore your machine
(for example, because it has to go back to Psion
for repair). But you should run MacConnector
before every backup you do, so you always have an
up-to-date names database.


The Funny Chars Bug

Second, and more seriously, MacConnect will abort
any backup, restore, or copying of files/folders
to or from the Psion if any of the file or folder
names contains special characters such as a German
"Umlaut", or even just the British Pound currency
sign! This has been confirmed for German 5mx Pro
machines, but may also affect other models.

I have hunted down file and folder names with
funny characters on my Psion by hand myself
several times, and I can tell you it's not a lot
of fun.

MacConnector helps you with this bug by warning
you about any file or folder names containing such
special characters (above ASCII code 127) when you
run its Option (1) to create the names database
before your backup.


INSTRUCTIONS


Installation

Unzip MacConnector10.zip, and put the resulting 
files anywhere you like. I recommend putting them 
into \System\Apps\MacConnector\, although the 
program will not appear on the Extras bar. You 
start MacConnector simply by double-tapping the 
program file, "MacConnector.opo".


Before Each Backup

Run MacConnector immediately before your backup.
Select Option (1) to save the entire directory of
file names on drive C (and D if you registered
MacConnector). It will create the name database
"C:\Dirtree". To show you what is going on, the
directories are listed on-screen as they are
scanned, with a dot for each file in that
directory. When it finishes with "(Done)", press
any key to exit MacConnector.

If any file or folder names contain characters
that might break MacConnect's backup, you will be
warned about them. Make a note of them, and
continue MacConnector until it finishes. Then
rename the offending files or folders to remove
the special characters, and run MacConnector again
with Option (1). This time, no more warnings
should appear.


After A Restore

Immediately after restoring your backup, close all
applications. Run MacConnector again and select
Option (2) to automagically correct the
capitalization of all files and folders. Files
that could not be renamed because they are open
are reported. Close them and run Option (2) again.
(The only obvious exception will be
MacConnector.opo itself. You can fix its
capitalization manually after ending the program).

If you only restored an individual file, your
machine's directory contents will probably have
changed a little since your last backup. In this
case, you can still run MacConnector's Option (2),
and it will correct capitalization of all files
and folders that are still in the same place as at
the last backup. Nothing bad happens if a file has
been moved; it is simply left as it is.

As a bonus, however, Option (1) also creates a
readable text file "C:\Dirtree.txt" with the
complete directory structure of your drive(s). You
can open this with Web, import it into Word, or
open it on your Mac to see the correct
capitalization of all file and folder names, for
example to fix the name of an individual file that
has been moved to a different directory.

You can remove the files "C:\Dirtree" and
"C:\Dirtree.txt" after running Option (2), or
leave them where they are. They will be replaced
by fresh versions the next time you run Option
(1).


A TRIAL RUN

To see how MacConnector works, create a Word file
somewhere on the C drive with a mixed-caps file
name such as "LetterToDad". Run MacConnector with
Option (1), then change the capitalization of the
file to "Lettertodad". This is what a MacConnect
restore would do to the file name. Now, run
MacConnector again with Option (2). The correct
capitalization will be restored.

Now, change the file name to contain a special
character, e.g., a Pound sign or an 'a umlaut'
(you can use the special characters table, invoked
on english machines via Ctrl-Shift-C). Run
MacConnector's Option (1) again, and it will warn
you about this file name.

'C:\Dirtree.txt' contains a complete text listing
of your directories and files.


WARNING:

Selecting Option (1) deletes any existing file
"C:\Dirtree" and "C:\Dirtree.txt"! So make sure
you do not have any important own files under
these names at this location.


QUESTIONS? IDEAS?

Check the MacConnector home page (see URL above)
for new versions and up-to-date information. If
you have further questions or comments, just send
me an email (address see above).

Think Different! :-)


VERSION HISTORY

Version 1.0 (22 Oct 99):

First public release, after several months of personal 
use.
