The Palm OS Emulator (POSE) is a software program that runs on your PC, and acts in almost every way just like your Palm OS hardware device.  It consists of two components:

1. The emulator program simulates the hardware.

2. A ROM image file contains the Palm Operating System that you will need to use the emulator. 

The emulator software program and installation instructions are available from the PalmSource Web site at http://www.palmos.com/dev/tools/emulator/.  

PalmSource does not distribute the ROM file from its Web site without a written agreement unless you sign up as a developer, though it does provide a tool for copying the ROM file from your physical Palm handheld into your PC via the serial port.  For more information on transferring the ROM file, see the documentation accompanying the emulator files.

In the past, PalmSource has made several ROM image files available to users signed up in the Palm Solution Provider program, including image files for new or soon-to-be-released devices. 

The Palm OS 5 Simulator

If you will need high resolution screens (320x320 pixels) or need to test Palm OS 5 devices, the Palm OS 5 Simulator is also available from Palm Source at  http://www.palmos.com/dev/tools/simulator/.  Although these are two very different programs, using them with Pendragon Forms is quite similar.

To use the Emulator with Pendragon Forms, add the emulator HotSync user name to your Pendragon Forms Manager, select the Active checkbox, and assign the new user to a UserGroup.

It may be helpful to use the Default UserGroup for testing and to create a second UserGroup for forms in production.

The emulator  is an excellent tool for doing presentations that demonstrate Pendragon Forms data collection.  Just setup the emulator on your laptop computer and connect your laptop to a projection device or VGA->TV converter.  On of the options on the POSE Properties dialog allows you to increase the screen size, making the Palm screen easier to see on projection displays.

You can also use the emulator to capture screen shots, even with grayscale images such as those found in Pendragon Browser Web sites.  To capture a screen as a bitmap file, right-click on the emulator and choose Save Screen.

POSE can synchronize via the serial port just like a normal Palm handheld, but synchronizing via Network HotSync is much faster and more reliable.

Network HotSync works just like your normal cradle HotSync, but instead of wires and serial ports, Network HotSync uses a network connection to transfer Palm data during synchronization.  When you synchronize POSE via Network HotSync, it establishes a TCP/IP network connection between the HotSync Manager and POSE on the same machine, even if you don't have a modem or network card.  Since no ethernet or modem connection is actually needed, the synchronization can be extremely fast.

To synchronize with Network HotSync, you will need to download either the latest Palm Desktop software or the Network HotSync update from the Palm Computing Support home page at http://www.palmone.com/us/support/hotsync.html.  

To see if you already have the required software, click on the HotSync icon in your Task Tray at the bottom right of your PC screen.  If the popup menu has a Network option, you already have the required software.

You will also need to have TCP/IP networking installed on your PC.  In general, if you have Internet access on your PC, you already have TCP/IP installed. The first step is to setup your HotSync Manager for network synchronization.  To do this, click on the HotSync icon in your Task Tray at the bottom right of your PC screen.  A popup menu will appear.   Choose Setup.  Go to the Network tab and click on the TCP/IP Settings... button. Make a note of your PC's machine name and IP address.   After closing the Setup dialog, click on the HotSync icon in the Task Tray again, and choose Network to enable network synchronization.