Hi - not sure if this will be thought of a a new feature request ... or a request for information on something that somebody has already sorted out??!!
I have recently purchased DVDPedia ... and have built up a nice database of all of my DVD's. However I'd like to be able to review the database on my Palm/Treo (I have a 1b memory card and so have plenty of room for it). Do you have any ideas or thoughts on how this could be achieved? I'm sure I'm not the only Mac user with lots of DVD's and a Treo/Palm device.
Help?! (and thanks for a great app - tried all the rest and this is by far the BEST!)
Diggedydog
We would like to include a direct Palm export feature at some point. It's already on our 'to do' list.
For now, you could use the regular export to put a list on your Palm. Both the tab and comma delimited format will work or you could even use one of the simpler HTML templates and view it with the Palm's browser function. (I don't own a Palm but have heard from other users that this works.)
Actually, I just heard from another customer who uses a program called iSilo as a 'translator' between DVDpedia and his Palm and apparently it works like a charm.
OK - I'm going to try iSilo. Sounds like just the job. I did manage to get html templated output in full colour onto my palm/treo and was able to browse it (albeit slowly) but the app that I was using (plucker) seems to be lethal and crashes my treo more times than I feel comfortable with. Thanks for the response. DVDpedia is amazing .. exactly what I have been looking for - IMDB access and batch additions are what make it so amazing. Thanks for a great app.
There are other options that work well--in fact, I do this often. For the Mac, you'll need to get Documents to Go (DTG), unless it came with your PDA. DTG can convert text and rich text files to a format that can be read and edited on the PDA. It can also handle AppleWorks and MS Office word processing and spreadsheet files. DTG watches each file that you transfer. If you make any changes to the file on your Mac, DTG will save that version onto the PDA. If you change the file on the PDA, DTG will transfer that changed file to your Mac. (It will not have all of the custom formatting you did on the Mac.)
The simplest way is to export the collection (or some subset of your collection) as a tab-delimited text file, without using any of the templates. That will export whatever shows in the list window you have showing, so choose the data categories you want. I want a list of DVDs to avoid buying a duplicate (I have nearly 1400 DVDs), so I made up a smart list that has all the DVDs, but only shows the titles.
You can edit the text file with TextEdit or TextWrangler. TextEdit can convert the file to Rich Text, but remember that the fonts on the PDA are not the same as on your Mac. You can also print to PDF, but I wouldn't recommend that, as it will look like printed pages, rather than a list.
If the file is plain text (extension .txt), you can open Hot Sync Manager, go to Install files (command-I), and drag the file to the window for the destination you want. (I have a 256 MB SD card in my Tungsten C.) The next time you sync, the file will be transferred and you can read it in Documents to Go on the PDA.
It's better to use DTG to install the file. (You must do it this way if the file is Rich Text or PDF.) Open DTG and drag the file to the window for the desired destination. This allows you to sync the file.
You can also use the rich text template in DVDpedia, but it becomes bloated very fast and may have way too much information. For example, a collection of 280 DVDs required 108 KB with the "Small List.rtf" template, but only 14 KB as plain text with three columns (title, genre, date added).
The results may not look quite as good as you want. One way to improve the formatting is to insert the tab-delimited text into a spreadsheet. That will line up the columns and you can set column widths, colors, bold/italics, etc. I often use the text and/or cell background color as a key. For example, after the last title beginning with "A," I can insert two blank rows. I select the second row, just above the first title beginning with "B," change the background color and type in a boldface "B" in the first cell. That makes it easier to scroll through the list.
You can use Excel, or any of the spreadsheet programs (ThinkFree Office, Papyrus, NeoOffice, Mariner Calc, etc) that can save in Excel format. Usually, you can open the tab-delimited text file in TextEdit or TextWrangler, select all, and copy, then go to the spreadsheet and paste into the cell you want to be at the top left of the list.
You can also use AppleWorks, as I do. If you copy and paste from the tab-delimited text file, you should have no problem. However, AppleWorks has an "Insert ..." command,which lets you insert the contents of the text file without opening it--or, it might. AppleWorks 6 is a "carbon" program that works in OS X and OS 9. It requires Macintosh "line endings." Unfortunately, most Cocoa (native OS X) programs (including the 'pedia applications) use Unix line endings. If you want to use the Insert command, you can use TextWrangler to convert the line endings. Open the text file in TextWrangler and choose "Save as ..." Click on "Options" in the Save dialog box, choose Macintosh line endings, then save. Insert the tab-delimited text file in an AppleWorks spreadsheet and save, then drag that file to the DTG destination window.
I can go into more of this and send screenshots, if anyone needs it.
Excellent how to. So much talk about text files, I thought I mention you could take over one of the ipod files for export. Duplicate it and change the ending to .txt The iPod note format has some extra text that is HTML that you could delete or take advantage of for splitting large collections, by exporting several files for your palm. One for each letter in the alphabet or one for each genre making it easier to look up entries on the go. For example this one will separate genres. ("SortLetter" is the other option for splitting pages. If your doing a single page there is no need for the entire <meta tag in the first line.)
<meta name="PageSplit" content="SortName">
<!--SortedBy-->:<!--SortedEntry--> (<!--EntriesInPage-->)
Title (Year of Theatrical Release)
<!--BeginRepeat-->
<!--Title--> (<!--Theatrical-->)
<!--EndRepeat-->
Remember that the sorting works on whatever is sorted in your collection at the moment of export, so be sure to click the genre column header to sort by genre or any other column that makes sense for you. release year, studio, or even a custom field.
This is just an example that I would find useful. I am not a palm or any other type of mobile device owner so I don't know what is best. As gslusher made clear the possibilities are many, I just wanted to add one more to make the choice of suggestion to follow harder.
I comtomized a template for the info I wanted and selected the amount of records per page just over my collection... so it will all be on 1 html page. Then throw it on iSilo and everything translates perfectly onto my palm. You can include the covers if you like. Once on your Palm you can search for titles within iSilo. You may have to play with the export settings and templates to fit your needs, but once you do ... you are set.
