[BitPim-devel] Susteen Cable Information

[Michael C.]

Joe,

Please find attached the photo of the Susteen Universal Cable, along
with the two adapters I used, the LG1 for the VX4400 and the LG3 for the
VX4650. More information about the cables can be found on Susteen's
website:
http://www.datapilot.com/shop_universalcables.htm

The drivers can be found at:
http://www.datapilot.com/drivers.htm

FAQ:

Q1: Why use BitPim if I'm already using DataPilot.
A1: It is a complementary tool. Although DataPilot is a great program
for backing up the phonebook (possibly better than BitPim), as one can
save the phonebooks in separate files, DataPilot cannot upload MP3 or
other non-MIDI files to the supported phones. And yes, this author uses
both programs. :-)

[Joe Pham]

Post by Michael C.
Please find attached the photo of the Susteen Universal Cable

Thanks for the picture. I'll include it in the help file.

Post by Michael C.
DataPilot is a great program for backing up the phonebook (possibly
better than BitPim)

What do you consider the strong points of DataPilot phonebook features over BitPim?

-Joe Pham




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[Michael C.]

Joe,

Don't take it the wrong way, PLEASE! What I like is the ability to save
the phonebook into a separate file; this way, I can archive each backup
independently of another. This way, if I need to restore a number that
I had deleted, say a year from now, I could.

Also, if I have several phones, each with their own phonebook, I can
keep them separate; I have not found that to be true between my VX4400
and VX4650. BitPim seemed to keep the same phonebook data open during
both "import" operations. I did not see any way to save or open a new
phonebook within BitPim. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I use DataPilot strictly for its phonebook capabilities; I use BitPim
for almost everything else, especially the wallpaper/image and ringtone
capabilities, which are far superior to that supported by DataPilot.

Mike

Post by Joe Pham

Post by Michael C.
Please find attached the photo of the Susteen Universal Cable

Thanks for the picture. I'll include it in the help file.

Post by Michael C.
DataPilot is a great program for backing up the phonebook (possibly
better than BitPim)

What do you consider the strong points of DataPilot phonebook features over BitPim?
-Joe Pham
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[Simon C]

Post by Michael C.
Don't take it the wrong way, PLEASE! What I like is the
ability to save
the phonebook into a separate file; this way, I can archive
each backup
independently of another. This way, if I need to restore a
number that
I had deleted, say a year from now, I could.
Also, if I have several phones, each with their own phonebook, I can
keep them separate; I have not found that to be true between
my VX4400
and VX4650. BitPim seemed to keep the same phonebook data
open during
both "import" operations. I did not see any way to save or
open a new
phonebook within BitPim. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You are correct, not "within" bitpim, but you can do this with bitpim, it
just requires a little know-how.
On windows bitpim creates a directory called "bitpim" under "my documents"
If you rename this to something like "bitpim_phone_XYZ_on_23rd_October_2006"
(while bitpim is not running) you have effectively created a backup not just
of your phonebook but of everything on the phone. To restore, just rename it
back to bitpim.


Simon

[Joe Pham]

Post by Michael C.
Don't take it the wrong way, PLEASE

I am neither taking it the wrong way nor offended. I was just curious about the good features of other programs, which, if they make sense, could be added to BitPim.

Post by Michael C.
What I like is the ability to save the phonebook into a separate
file; this way, I can archive each backup independently of another.

Not sure how DP does it, but in BitPim, you can export your phonebook into CSV files (and subsequently import them back in).

Post by Michael C.
This way, if I need to restore a number that I had deleted, say a
year from now, I could.

In BitPim, you can readily do that by using the Historical Data feature. Roger designed & built that capability into the database schema when he ported the BitPim DB to SQLite. The Historical Data GUI is currently available only to Phonebook/contacts, but can be easily implemented to other areas such as calendar events, SMS, etc.

Post by Michael C.
I did not see any way to save or open a new phonebook within BitPim

Not directly. One work-around is to delete all existing contacts and import them from a CSV file previously exported.

I understand your need to possibly maintain one phonebook that can support multiple phones. It might be something worth looking into.

-Joe Pham




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[Michael C.]

Post by Joe Pham
In BitPim, you can readily do that by using the Historical Data feature. Roger designed & built that capability into the database schema when he ported the BitPim DB to SQLite. The Historical Data GUI is currently available only to Phonebook/contacts, but can be easily implemented to other areas such as calendar events, SMS, etc.

I will have to look into this; I did not see it when I was looking, but
then again, I wasn't looking for it specifically.

Post by Joe Pham
I understand your need to possibly maintain one phonebook that can support multiple phones. It might be something worth looking into.

Actually, I was saying that I like the idea of having multiple
phonebooks for the various phones, each independent of the other. For
example, one household may have three phones: Mom, Dad, and Junior.
Mom and Dad have the same type of phone (say Model A), whereas Junior
has a different one (Model B). In this case, Mom and Dad need different
phone books (maybe with the possibility of cutting and pasting from the
other's phonebook). However, based upon what I see within BitPim, since
they share the same model of phone, BitPim will merge the two
phonebooks, not to mention, the wallpaper and ringtones. Junior comes
along with his phone, and again, all the numbers merge (again, based
upon my experience with the VX4400 and VX4650).

Having one phonebook which can handle multiple phones may be very
difficult at best (how do you differentiate between phones of the same
model), whereas, keeping separate files completely may be the easier option.

BTW, I'm not saying this needs immediate attention. I think we need to
get BitPim stable given its current functions, and then release it as a
stable release. We can work on this afterwards.

Mike

[Roger Binns]

Post by Michael C.
Actually, I was saying that I like the idea of having multiple
phonebooks for the various phones, each independent of the other. For
example, one household may have three phones: Mom, Dad, and Junior.
Mom and Dad have the same type of phone (say Model A), whereas Junior
has a different one (Model B).

BitPim was explicitly designed to support this kind of operation.
There isn't any model specific data storage. The code for each
model is supposed to make the best effort possible against
the data and especially ensure that data survives round trips.
Data entries have serials information associated with them
tied to the unique id of each phone. That way the same entries
can be located on each phone, but the data can also be shared.
There is a list of serials so that multiple phones can be
associated with the entry.

There are two expected modes of use based on your scenario
above. If no data should be shared at all, then the multi-user
capabilities of the operating system should be used.

http://bitpim.org/testhelp/howto-multipleusers.htm

The normal expectation is that some data will be shared. For
example they may want contact information for family members
on all phones, but his and her business contacts restricted to
their own phones. This should be achieved using categories
with various categories automatically added to contacts coming
off phones and selected ones chosen to go back on.

The categories "filtering" hasn't been implemented at all yet.
However the foundation is there for phonebook and calendar. For
ringtones and images things are a lot more difficult. It is
theoretically possible to identify similar images, keep them
together and then pick the best sized/format for the phone
currently being synced.

Roger