Online - VT100 Emulator for PalmOS
Version 1.6 Now Shipping
(Log to DOC File, Log to VFS Expansion Memory, Serial IR mode, Improved Panning, More Baud Rates)

Version 2.0 in Development

Online Animated Demo

[Overview] [Features] [Screen Shots] [Reviews] [Cables] [Mailing List] [Survey]
[Getting Online for PalmOS] [Updates/Future Plans] [Frequently Asked Questions]
Overview
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Online is a VT100 terminal emulator for PalmOS organizers.

Users of Online can connect to other computer systems and access real computer power and network resources wherever they are. Online has been used to connect to Unix systems and then surf the web using Lynx, edit files with vi and emacs - and even to read and write email using elm!

Online is also often used to configure hubs, routers, and other devices that can be controlled via a serial, IR or CF port.

Online can be connected to either a modem or the serial or IR port of another computer or device (such as a hub or router). If connecting to a modem use the a DataCord available from Mark/Space, or a HotSync cable (or cradle) combined with a null modem adaptor.

Online currently connects to the Internet via dial-up shell accounts, not PPP. A 'telnet' version of Online is currently under development. Watch this web page or join the mailing list for the latest news.

To help us in developing this product, please take the time to join the online-talk mailing list, complete the survey at the bottom of this page, and download the latest version.


Online recently received a 5 star rating from ZDNet!

And a 4 Cow rating from Tucows.


Features Top

Features of Online for PalmOS:

  • VT-100, TTY and Hex Emulation over serial, IR, or modem
  • Supports new serial manager and multiple virtual serial ports, CF cards, IR, etc.
  • Up to 80*24 display using a custom fixed-width font and virtual screen
  • Hex Terminal mode for serial debugging. See data in hex/ascii format.
  • Direct entry of text via Grafitti, type-ahead buffer, or user-defined macros
  • Custom key/macro mapping of 4 tool bar buttons and 4 hardware buttons
  • Keys menu with PF1-PF4, DEL and BREAK
  • Log incoming text (as text or hexadecimal) to:
    • Memo Pad Entries (4K per record)
    • 'Doc' File (to main memory)
    • VFS File (DOS text file on expansion memory)
  • Send text from memo pad entries
  • Online Help/Tips

E-Mail via Elm E-Mail via Elm Hex Terminal Mode

Web via Lynx News via Tin Terminal Settings

Reviews/What Customers Are Saying Top

5-May-01 Richard Mason, Order Comments:
Online Software with the Cisco Datacord have rendered laptops obsolete at the Network Operations Center of the South Central Veterans Healthcare Network. Thanks for producing a great product.

10-May-01 by Osborn from Yonkers, NY
Excellent Switch/Router Software!
I have successfully connected and modified configurations on both Cisco and Xylan equipment. Very easy to configure the software and very easy to use. I used a combination of cables (Palm serial/null/Cisco Cisco) to connect and did so with no problems. I did this as an academic ecercise so far but will probably shortly order the serial and Cisco specific cables manufactured by Mark/Space. Sure it could save the day in a pinch. Definate 5 Stars!!

4-Aug-00 by Bodo Woehner
Simply Great!!! I«m a network engineer and tired about these heavy notebooks. With a serial cable for my visor it works really fine with our Cisco equipment. It«s worth every cent you pay.

29-Feb-00 by Jason Fenech
I'm a Systems Engineer at Nortel Networks, and this program works awesome with our routers!!!!! I used the Palm HotSync Cable, and a null modem adapter, and it works absolutely beautiful!! Anytime I can avoid lugging out the laptop is wonderful. This program rocks! I'm definitely going to register it! Thanks!

24-Jan-00 by Matthew Sikowski
Excellent program and support. The best terminal program for a Pilot that is on the Web. Should be 6 stars ******. Brian Hall of Markspace was extremely helpful. I found an error in the logging feature and contacted Brian. He answered my email within an hour and I had new code before I logged off.

24-Apr-99 by Jack Chomley
I tried this program before purchase, had a few problems (all mine!) Brian Hall of Markspace answered my -mails quickly and problems solved! Purchased the product and am very happy with it, used for accessing serial ports on Radio Telemetry Modules for field diagnostics and configuration work, also used for sending/receiving serial data with my PIC micro projects. In short a top software solution to help solve my hardware problems!

Cables Top

Need a cable to connect to your modem, router or other device?

If so, visit this related product page:



Online Talk Mailing List Top

The Online Talk mailing list contains discussions related to the PalmOS version of Online. This is the best place to learn about product developments and public beta versions.

To sign up and receive individual messages: click here.
To sign up and receive a daily digest: click here.

Online Survey Top

Take the Online Survey and:

  • Help us decide on the feature list for upcoming versions
  • Receive notification of the next public beta
  • Receive notification when new versions ship.

Getting Online for PalmOS Top

Online is distributed as a demo version which can be unlocked after purchase.

A full manual in PDF format is included with the demo.

You can download the latest Public Beta here:
Online 1.6 (zip file, about 130K)

You can download the latest shipping version here:
Online 1.6 (PC: zip file, about 130K)
Online 1.6 (MAC: binhexed/stuffed, about 200K)

Updates / Future Plans Top

Future versions of Online are planned to have the following features:

  • Support for 80 columns on one screen (HandEra 330, Sony CLIE)
  • File Transfer Protocols
  • Connection via the Telnet protocol over a TCP connection
  • Send DOC file
  • Auto-Login facility
  • Scripting facility
  • Session Directory
Frequently Asked Questions Top

What versions of the PalmOS are supported?

Online works on any Palm OS device from any manufacturer running Palm OS 2.0 or later.

Is the Palm clip-on modem supported?
Of course! As well as all clip-on modems that have a serial interface (such as the "snap-on" GSM modem from Option International).

Can I connect to an external modem?
Yes, just use a DataCord modem cable available from Mark/Space. It has a Palm connector (III, V or Visor style) on one end and a DB-25 modem/serial connector on the other end.

Can I connect to the serial port of a router?
Yes, just use the "modem cable" available from Mark/Space. (See above).

Can I use the wireless modem of the Kyocera 6035?
Yes, pick "wireless" as the port and use "19200" as the baud rate (it will fail to respond at other rates) and "8N1" for the data settings (those are the only supported settings for that modem).

Note that because of this you will be unable to connect via the internal wireless modem to systems that require a different speed (such as 300) or data settings (such as 7E1).

Can I use the serial cradle/port of the Kyocera 6035?
Yes, select the port named "" (this is not a typo - the port has no name) to select the HotSync serial cradle/cable port.

Do you know of a device I can connect to serial devices that will let me talk to them via IR? For example, plug an IR adapter into the console port of a router and then configure the router with 'Online' over IR.
Yes, while we have not personally used it, customers have reported success with the Actisys' IR 220L/220L+: IrDA Com-Port Serial Adapter.

I connected to my router with a HotSync cable and gender changer, but it doesn't work. Why?
For most routers you need to use the "modem cable". (See above). You can also use a "null modem adaptor" with the HotSync cable, effectively turning it into a "modem cable".

This is important because the HotSync and Modem cables are each wired differently and are not interchangeable.

The new "IRDA" connection method in Online 1.6 doesn't seem to work for me. Why?
IRComm should work (pick "Serial" for method and "IRComm" or "Infrared" as the port), but the new "IRDA" mode (serial IR, aka RAW IR, or plain IRDA) does not work on devices with OS 3.3 thru 4.0 due to a bug in the OS related to the new serial manager introduced with Palm OS 3.3. Palm is aware of this bug, and has fixed it (supposedly) but it won't appear until whatever the next release of Palm OS after 4.0. If you want to use IRDA mode in Online, you'll need a Palm OS device with OS 3.1 or earlier (such as Visor Deluxe, Palm V with OS 3.1, etc).

What sort of cables can I use?
For most applications, you need a modem cable or a null modem adaptor combined with a cradle or HotSync cable. Mark/Space makes a full line of cables - check out our DataCord line.

There are some excellent graphics that show the pinouts for HotSync and modem cables at the Palm DevZone

It contains pinouts and various info on serial cables. Includes modem, null-modem, pilot-modem cable pinouts, signals and pinouts table. (TealInfo required)

I have a Palm V - what kind of serial/null modem cable do I need
For a simple one piece solution, try the DataCord. However you can always use the cable from the travel kit, or the cradle itself, in combination with a null modem adaptor. This gets you the same thing as a modem cable.

I have a Handspring Visor - what kind of cable do I need?
The Visor HotSync port is not a full serial port - it does not support hardware handshake, nor does it provide the proper signal levels for many RS232 devices and is not buffered, so you should not attempt to make your own serial cable unless you understand the issues involved - some older devices with higher signal levels could potentially damage the Visor if directly connected. (for the technical: the voltage levels are TTL, not RS232).

However, the Visor serial cradle (about $20 from Handspring) contains the circuitry needed to present a proper RS232 connection and can be used alone or in conjunction with a null modem cable to connect to some RS232 devices.

There is also a Visor version of the Mark/Space DataCord which handles voltage conversion and also is powered from the Visor side, so works with many devices that do not work with the handspring serial cradle.

I am using the Handpring Serial Cradle and get error 774, Timeouts, etc. Why?
Most likely the device you are connecting to does not provide power via the DTR line. The Handspring serial cradle will not work unless it can draw power from the DTR line. This problem is most common with mobile devices (GPS, mobile phones) as well as devices that only provide a '3 wire' interface (transmit, receive, ground) and omit the DTR line.

Our DataCord does not have this issue.

How can I use an IR modem or phone and my Handspring Visor?
If using a newer Visor with OS 3.5 or later, just select "IRComm" from the port menu.

Older Visors run OS 3.1, which does not (directly) support IRComm. However you CAN use IRlink 1.5 software from from IS/Complete. This software adds what is needed to your Visor (or other pre OS 3.3 PalmOS devices) so that it can work with IR enhanced modems such as the Ericsson Di27 and phones such as the Ericsson 888.

I get an error 775 connecting when I try to use Online with the Visor Serial Cradle. Why?
Error 775 is "serial port already open". This happens because the Visor assumes that if it is connected to a serial device (such as the cradle), that it must be hooked up to a keyboard, and thus fires up the keyboar daemon which opens up the serial port to talk to it.

Online 1.4.1 has a change made to work around this problem. If using an older version simply take your Visor out of the cradle, run online, tap the "On" button (which should work now that the Visor is not in the cradle) and then drop it back in the cradle and talk to the device. Since the port is already open (by Online) when you drop it in the cradle, the keyboard daemon doesn't get a chance to open the port and all is well.

How do I access the "Options" menu? Is it disabled in the demo?
All program features are available in the demo - You gain access to the menu bar by tapping the "menu" button in the silk-screen area of the device. This is the silk-screened button to the direct left of the "abc" button of the grafitti input area.

(For further details on using menus and PalmOS in general, please consult the user guide that accompanied your PalmOS device.)

Is it possible to prevent the PalmOS device from going to sleep?
Online resets the "auto-off" timer every time a character is sent or received. This should only be a problem if you want the connection to stay open, yet no data is exchanged for several minutes. If this is a problem, increase the auto-off time in the system preferences. If an extremely long time is needed, there is a utility available on PalmGear that can set your auto-off time to any value up to 999 minutes!

You may also want to consider a Palm OS device that has the ability to "stay awake in cradle" while it is charging. Examples of such devices are the Palm V series, Palm m50x series, Visor Prism, Sony CLIE, etc.

Can I use a Palm VII and "Online" to connect using the radio modem of the Palm VII?
The short answer is no, palm.net does not give you a TCP connection in the sense that a modem dial-up, cradle connection, minstrel or ricochet does. You can only send specially formatted requests back and forth.

The long answer is that perhaps something could be done over palm.net that would talk to a server that would in turn do telnet. In theory I think this could be done, but it would be slow (telnet is character oriented and palm.net really wants to be sending large packets so they can be compressed) and expensive (for those not on flat rate plan), so I'm not sure it is worth pursuing.

It seems the best deal for folks that want Palm VII functionality AND TCP is to get the OmniSky. That attaches to a Palm V (whose form factor and styling I prefer anyway) and gives you both full TCP (flat rate) ***AND*** it can run Palm VII software (pqa's, etc). Modem runs about $300 and service is flat rate $50/mo.

What characters can I send?
You can send any character that you can generate via graffiti, graffiti shortcut, or pop-up keyboard. Additionally, you can create macros that do the same, as well as contain shortcuts for sending control characters, escape, tab, etc. You can also send any desired hex value via as a special sequence entered via the input buffer, a macro or a memo pad record.

Can I send VT320/VT420/PF or other special keys?
Yes. We have the VT100 special keys in the keys menu, however you can define a macro or button to send any sequence of characters in the full ASCII range (0-255). For example, the VT420 code for F9 is escape, and then '[20~'. As a macro, that would look like '\e[20~'.

An excellent source of codes for the entire VT series can be found at vt100.net.

Can I send a 'break' signal?
Yes. Just select Break from the Keys menu.

My system recognizes a break when sent via a direct connection or via an external modem, but not via my Palm V modem. Why?
The Palm V modem seems to send a 'pulsed break'. That is, rather than sending a continous break signal for the whole 500ms, it sends 2 shorter signals. This may or may not work with all systems. Try adjusting the remote system if possible, or use a different (external) modem.

Can I use online with an external keyboard?
That depends. All current external keyboards use the serial port. So you have to do your communications using something else. The only combination that we know to work at the moment, is a TRG Pro using a Landware external keyboard and a Compact Flash modem or serial card. We suspect that a Visor using a modem Springboard and external keyboard should also work, but we have been unable to test that combination.

I am having a hard time connecting to a system that I can connect to from my laptop. Any ideas?
We often find that the problem here is using the "dial" command of Online. "Dial" uses the PalmOS to initialize and send commands to dial to the modem, and sometimes the desired results are not acheived. Instead just talk directly to the modem with AT commands. ie, instead of picking "dial" and then entering "555-1212", try tapping the "On" button to open a connection to the modem, and then enter "ATDT 5551212" followed by a return to dial the modem yourself. This often works in cases where the "dial" menu option does not.

When I send a return via grafitti, my Unix system interprets that as a control-C. What could be going wrong?
Assuming that your 'return' setting is correct (see 'Communications' under the 'Options' menu), a common mistake is to be sending the grafitti stroke for 'delete' (which unix interprets as an 'interrupt' character by default), when you meant to send 'return'. Return is a stroke from the top-right to the bottom-left. Delete is a stroke from left to right. It can be easy to confuse them.

Does Online support file transfer?
Online can send text files from the built-in memo pad, as well as receive and log incoming text to memo pad records. If you would like to see support for a particular protocol, be sure to let us know!

How much data can I save using the 'Log to Memo Pad' feature?
Memo Pad records are limited to 4K, however Online will automatically create new records as needed, so you save a great deal of information via multiple Memo Pad records.

How can I increase the rate at which Online handles incoming data?
Data handling has been increased significantly in version 1.1, and again in 1.4. Regardless of what version you are using, the two largest factors in speed are: 1) Is logging on and 2) Is emulation on. For the fastest display, turn both of these features off. If you wish to log data and know that you won't be receiving VT100 commands, go ahead and set emulation to TTY and 'display follows cursor' to off. This can help quite a bit.

The device I am sending to can't keep up. How can I slow down the rate at which Online sends data?
Try either using a lower baud rate, or select a delay value (the number of system ticks to pause between sending each character) in the Terminal Options dialog.

How do I get to the keyboard to pop up? I have tried from the menu command and also by touching the "abc" on the palm graffiti area with no luck.
In version 1.4 or later, simply tap the silk-screen ABC or 123 buttons to access the PalmOS popup keyboard. You can also tap the "abc", "123" or "intl" buttons in the tool bar area.

For versions prior to 1.4, the keyboard only pops up (ie, by tapping ABC, etc) when the input buffer line is selected (the checkbox is on next to it). Otherwise grafitti entered goes straight out the serial port to the device/modem. You can also send text by using macros. See the guide for full details.

I am accessing CompuServe and the characters seem odd. I am getting what looks like the wrong font set. Some of the letters are right, many are wrong, as if viewing a foreign language.
CompuServe is normally accessed (via terminal emulation software) at 7E1 (7 data bits, even parity, 1 stop bit). The default for Online is 8N1. Just visit "Communications" under the Options menu and change to 7E1.

I can't seem to connect to any systems (such as Compuserve) at 7E1 using the Card Access Thincom Springboard modem. Why?

You need to update the firmware on your modem. Click here to visit the Card Access web site and download the latest software.

I can't seem to connect at 300 baud using my IIIc/Vx, etc. Why?
There appears to be a bug in PalmOS related to using 300 baud on devices with a 20Mhz processor. The bug has been discussed in developer mailing lists and reported to Palm. In the meantime, end users have reported being able to work around this problem by using a utility such as "AfterBurner" to reduce CPU speed to 16MHz.

Can I use Online with a modem in TTY mode to communicate with a deaf person using a TDD?
In short, no. "TTY", short for "Teletype" is not the same as "TDD" (telecom device for the deaf).

Neither PalmOS nor Online have any *special* support for talking to a TDD using TDD standards. A TDD does not use the same standards as RS232 communications. It is at a different rate, different settings (5 data bits!) and uses BAUDOT instead of ASCII for the text encoding. That being said, some TDD devices can talk to a standard modem using ASCII at 300 baud, and we have been told (though never seen one!) that there exist modems that can do the conversion the other way (so that you talk to the modem in ASCII, and it talks to the TDD in BAUDOT).