pilot-xfer(1)						      General Commands Manual						     pilot-xfer(1)

NAME

       pilot-xfer  -  backup,  sync, and restore databases from a Palm handheld device, such as those made from Palm, Handspring, Handera, TRGPro,
       Sony or other Palm Compatible Handheld PDA device

SYNOPSIS

       pilot-xfer -p <port> [ --exclude file] --backup | --update | --sync directory ]

       or

       pilot-xfer -p <port> [ --restore directory | --list | --Listall | --Purge | --fetch dbname ...  | --delete dbname ...  | --install file ...
       | --merge file ...  ] ...

       (Note that some options are not shown above and short option aliases are excluded for brevity. Please use pilot-xfer --help to get the full
       list of available options)

DESCRIPTION

       pilot-xfer allows the user to install databases contained in the standard .prc, .pdb, and .pqa formats onto a Palm, retrieve databases from
       the Palm, list the databases contained in a Palm, and backup or restore all of the databases at once.

TARGET DEVICE

       The  default  serial  device  used to communicate with a Palm is /dev/pilot.  If the environment variable $PILOTPORT is set, its value will
       override the default.  A serial device specified on the command-line will be used regardless of any $PILOTPORT setting.

OPTIONS

       Many options exist, including...

       -a dir,
	      Archives files which have been removed from the Palm to dir instead of just deleting (unlinking) them

       -b dir, --backup dir
	      Backs up the Palm into the specified directory (which will be created if it does not already exist). This operation must	be  speci-
	      fied after any exclude option.

       -c --count
	      Counts the files as they go by, but shunts the displaying of the "Skipping file..." messages

       -d dbname [...], --delete dbname [...]
	      Delete the specified database(s) by name (without extension).  Obviously, be very careful with this one.

       -e file, --exclude file
	      Reads  a list of databases from file.  Prevents --backup, --sync, or --update from operating on the listed database(s).  This option
	      must be specified before the --backup, --sync, or --update operation whose action it modifies.

       -f dbname [...], --fetch dbname [...]
	      Fetch each specified database out of the Palm into the current directory.

       -F     Modifies the behavior of --backup, --sync, and --update to back up non-OS databases which have been stored in FlashROM

       -h, --help
	      Displays a summary list of pilot-xfer's usage and exits.

       -i file [...], --install file [...]
	      Install each specified file into the Palm. Wildcards are valid with this syntax.

       -l, --list
	      List the databases in the Palm, excluding OS-specific databases.

       -L, --Listall
	      List all of the databases on the Palm, including OS-specific native databases.

       -m file [...], --merge file [...]
	      Adds the records in each specified file into the corresponding Palm database.

       -O     Modifies the behavior of --backup, --sync, and --update to back up OS databases which are stored in FlashROM

       -P, --Purge
	      Purge any deleted data that hasn't been cleaned up by a sync (this is a safe operation, and will prevent your Palm from accumulating
	      crud if you delete records but aren't syncing with a PIM.) The only information you can lose is archived but un-synced records.

       -q, --quiet
	      Causes pilot-xfer to be quiet and not display the "Skipping file..." messages

       -r dir, --restore dir
	      Installs	all  files contained in a directory into the Palm.  (Use this to restore your Palm after a hard reset has cleared its mem-
	      ory, using your backup directory as a baseline.)

       -s dir, --sync dir
	      Backs up the Palm into the specified directory (which will be created if it does not already exist). Any Palm databases  which  have
	      not been modified or created since the versions stored in the specified directory will not be backed up.

	      NOTE:  Any  Palm databases which have been deleted will have their corresponding backup file removed.  This operation must be speci-
	      fied after any exclude option.

       -u dir, --update dir
	      Backs up the Palm into the specified directory (which will be created if it does not already exist). Any Palm databases  which  have
	      not  been  modified  or  created since the versions stored in the specified directory will not be backed up.  This operation must be
	      specified after any exclude option.

       -U     This will back up the UnsavedPreferences.pdb file from the Palm. Normally this file is not backed up by normal means (Palm Computing
	      recommends that you do not restore this file upon restoration of your device using --restore

	      This also modifies the behavior of --backup --sync and --update

       -v, --version
	      Displays the version of pilot-link from which this program was installed and exits.

USAGE

       The program will connect to a target Palm handheld device and port, prompt the user to hit HotSync, and perform the requested options spec-
       ified by the user on the commandline.

EXAMPLES

       To backup a Palm:

       # long options

       pilot-xfer --port /dev/pilot --backup /home/pilot/Backup

       or

       # over IrDA, using short options

       pilot-xfer -p /dev/irnine -b /home/pilot/Backup

       To restore that backup to a non-standard serial port (for example, to a xcopilot or POSE session, assuming you have xcopilot or	POSE  con-
       figured properly for this operation, see the appropriate man pages for details on configuring your emulator):

       pilot-xfer -p /dev/ttyqe --restore /home/pilot/Backup

SEE ALSO

       pilot-link(7) .

KNOWN BUGS

       Unable  detect  when  the Palm handheld is full when installing files. It will proceed as if successful though may not actually install the
       files.

       Unable to detect if the local files/directory are writable when fetching or backing up from the Palm device, or if the target  drive/parti-
       tion is full.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs at http://bugs.pilot-link.org/

AUTHOR

       pilot-xfer  written  by	Kenneth  Albanowski. This manual page was originally written by Kenneth Albanowski and David H. Silber. Completely
       rewritten by David A.  Desrosiers for pilot-link 0.10 and later revisions.

Free Software Foundation				    Palm Computing Device Tools 					     pilot-xfer(1)