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REX 6000 Help Page News Archive
May 1 - 15, 2001
May 15, 2001
Mr. Morotomi has another add-in for us! (Thanks, Dan.)
"Check out Hideo Morotomi's site. There is a new add-in called soft10e.exe. Must be a readable version of the soft10j.exe program."
This add-in appears to be a game where you try to produce a soft landing for an object by manipulating fuel/speed.
Other REX programming going on out there.
"...I'm currently working on a SuperRexTools program that will be able to read/write/erase any Rex content and do a full image backup of the Rex. RexTools annoyingly only lets you save things one file at a time. Peter"
eText sources for SF fans and others. (From Tubalips.)
"...There are all sorts of sites from which you can download free ebooks. . . If you like SF (science fiction), try this link: http://www.baen.com/library/default.htm This site is easy to use and has lots of content: http://www.digital.library.upenn.edu/
It also seems faster to copy books into MS Word and then "save as" "text with line-feeds". You wind up with a single file with a .txt extension. You can then point REXtools to that file and it will download to the REX as several memos as you mentioned. This seems faster than downloading directly from a remote site to the REX and also gives you a local copy (backup) you may need."
May 14, 2001
More eText options from project Gutenberg. (Thanks, Sean.)"If you're tired of waiting for a ebook site for your rex 6000 go to this link, select a book, download and open in wordpad. then select all, copy, then open your rex tools select notes. then paste..... Have fun. I put entire book -Edgar Rice Burrows "Warlord of Mars" in this way and it used 11 notes. and hardly any of my 2 mb. I still show 73% free.
http://www.es.embnet.org/Doc/Gutenberg/"
For other "literature on a REX" options see here in the REX FAQ.
A new English add-in from Froggy, the author of the Pyramid and Couple card game add-ins. (Thanks, Dan.)
"I was doing some exploring today and found some new addins! On Froggy's site there is a new game called SAMEGAME."
From Froggy: "Today I have news. I developed the new game add-in for REX. The game's name is "SAMEGAME". It is a very popular game in Japan. You can download it from my homepage. The English description is included with it."
"On Hideo Morotomi's site there are a couple new addins that aren't very useful without a DS2 and a Japanese font (or being able to read the font): 1) a Biorhythm program: bio01.exe 2) an unknown program: soft10j.exe."
Samegame has an English readme, and is easy to play - you remove groups of like objects (fruits) that are adjacent to each other (vertically or horizontally) from the screen. The goal is to remove the fruits w/out leaving any behind. As you remove fruit any stacked above them fall down, changing the arrangement with each move. See the English-Language Add-ins section of our Add-in page for links and download instructions.
Some more updates to Chris H.'s development files. (From Chris H!)
"Haven't had much time for Rex coding lately - still haven't finished my "CMemo" browser addin. I am adding the ability to save user memo-browsing preferences (font size, bookmarks, etc.) in an "INI"-like file in the Rex database. At Jory's request this weekend, I finally got around to documenting a couple more useful Rex system calls, in the file "more.asm" in the hello world zip on my site: http://www.io.com/~harris8."
A new add-in, and some tweaks to Chris H.'s development files. (Thanks, Myles.)
"Chris, Thank you for making available your hello world code. I can only begin to guess at the effort that it has taken to get this far. I've not done any assember coding since using 6502 in the mid 80's, but I've enjoyed going back to basics and trying z80. I thought that I would share the benefits (!) of the time I've spent on this. Clearly the application is entirely derivative of hello world.
I tweaked your make file to take a file name as a parameter (eg MAKE MP3) to compile & copy as per your helloworld. I've also included an Excel 97 spreadsheet that made designing an icon a little easier, though I recognise this is hardly the most important of areas to work on!"
You can find Myles' new add-in and his other files here on our SDK page. Note that the add-in is more fun than functional - these files will primarily be of interest to programmers.
Some positive REX press. (From Anson.)
"A decent writeup of the Rex 6K in todays Investor's Business Daily.
"But with many Palm PDA's becoming more complex--and more expensive--some consumers are looking at new kinds of devices. An emergin breed of 'micro' PDAs offers many of the same functions as Palms and Pocket PCs, but are smaller and generally more affordable. The most popular is the Rex. Ownership of this device changed hands several times. . .The original Rex was a rather limited PDA. . . But that's changed. The newest Rex 6000 model, which started shipping this year, has many of the features that made the original Rex so popular. It also lets you enter data without linking to a PC first . . ." The writer goes on to generally praise the Rex 6k and to point out that it is cheaper "but not by much," than the least expensive Palm. He also mentions the Vista from Royal Consumer Business Products (royal.com), pointing out the negatives, including no interactive screen. The entire article is at page A7 of IBD.
I would be happy to scan and send a copy to anyone who wants it."
May 12-13, 2001
Some new add-in programming tips from Chris H.
Ask a simple question . . . Jory was working on an add-in, and started a discussion about naming conventions. The result should be pretty interesting to any budding REX programmers. Look here on the SDK page for the exchange. If you have any comments, please share them!
May 11, 2001
REX available for $99, both Serial cradle and USB. (Thanks, Feashman.)
"RCSeshop.com shows the serial and USB versions also for $99.99 and in stock according to their web site."
Some more thoughts on REX communication type libraries. (From Kevin.)
There is a direct way to import type libraries. This allows for code completion and better compiler error generation.
- In Delphi: Menu -> Project -> Import Type Library
- In VB: Menu -> Project -> References
I'm sure VC++ is similar... I'd be willing to bet there is a one to one translation between these calls and Di's CMDTool.
May 10, 2001
REX 6000 for $99! (From TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken.)
"Ben : A quick check of Pricewatch.com shows the REX 6000 for $99 at MYPC21 and Alan Computech Intl ( http://www.alancomputech.com/ ) . I didn't see these two listed on Dana's site the last time I checked..."
Communication types libraries for the REX 6K. (From Kevin.)
"These are the communications type libraries (as published on a W2K machine) for the REX 6K. They are text files that describe how to communicate communicate (through COM) with the REX. These are published interfaces inside of windows. Also, you might want to glance at all the references to DS2 in the comments, an interesting read. I think they would be helpful to anyone trying to create third party sync software. Kevin."
Here are the libraries for now. We'll try to get them located on Di's technical REX page soon.
For those wondering about the new "XP" versions of MS Office and Windows.
It seems to have been confirmed that Outlook XP and the REX 6000 play fine together under Windows 2000.
It also appears that Outlook XP with Windows XP works fine, as long as you are using the serial cradle or PCMCIA slot for syncing. The USB cradle does not work w/Windows XP. From Marco:
"The incompatibility issue has been identified in the Whistler Beta 2 Release Notes: Xircom REX 6000 MicroPDA Installing the drivers for the Xircom REX 6000 MicroPDA with a USB docking station on a computer running Whistler Personal or Whistler Professional causes the computer to function incorrectly. There is no workaround for this. Applies to scenarios: improving user experience."
Ever wondered about the REX 6000 Serial Protocol? Peter did.
"From observations using a serial tap and examining Rex.dll in the Windows\System, a complete set of available commands were compiled. Directly testing these commands and using information obtained from syncronization using both Intellisync and Rextools, some of the details of the protocols and parameter values were obtained and are presented in this document."
If you are interested in more of this (and I know a lot of you are!) look here. Thanks, Peter!
More technical goodies - this time from Chris H. of RexDump fame.
"I've received a number of requests from folks interested in writing code in Z80 assembler for the Rex 6000. As I said earlier, I did not want to release the RexDump source code as it is about as far from useable sample code as you could ask for. Furthermore, I still have no confidence that I have accurately named the SYSCALLxx functions to match what is in the DS2 SDK - for now, I've assigned my own SYSCALLx names.
So, instead of releasing RexDump source, I finally got around to writing a "Hello, World" sample app (all you programmers out there know what I'm talking about), which I've posted to my website, with source code: http://www.io.com/~harris8. BTW, I have been using the TASM Z80 assembler; I've included a link to it in the mkhworld.bat file (in the zip).
...the URL I give in mkhworld.bat for the TASM download doesn't work - ... Navigating to the download seems to work okay: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/3938/z80_home.htm then "Software Development Tools" then "Assemblers...for PC-DOS" then "TASM V3.01"
And we're not done yet. (From TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken - and I'm not making that up!)
"...about the COM API's for the REX. Using MS Dev studio you can pull up the Type libraries ("REX6000 Connector 1.0", "REX6000Api 1.0") in the OLE/COM object viewer. After glancing through them, they look to be self documenting... (or if your really in for abuse, you can use regedit ;-) example : [helpstring("method SetRecordType selects data record type with which you wish to work")] HRESULT _stdcall SetRecordType( [in] int nRecordType, [in] unsigned char* pszSection, [in] int FolderID, [in] char bUpdate); If there is demand I could foward the IDL's to Danna for publishing. Anyone with Dev Studio should be able to pull them out..."
Let us know if there is demand for this information!
Xircom is still unsure as to future of the REX. (From Richard.)
Richard asked Xircom about updates. "Can I expect an upgrade of the firmware to include a search tool in a near future... and the answer is:
"Richard, At this time there is no 'find' feature. It is a limitation of the current product features. You do raise an excellent point and please rest assured I will forward your comments and request for a 'find' feature to the appropriate party. I cannot speculate as to the time frame for future product enhancements for the Rex 6000. Here's the official statement regarding the future of Rex: 'As part of Xircom's acquisition by Intel Corporation, discussions are underway regarding the strategic fit and organizational alignment of Xircom businesses into the Intel Organization. At this time, no determination has been made as to how and where several non-core businesses will be integrated into the organization; such businesses include the Rex."
REX for cheap recently - may be worth checking back later. . . (From Leandro.)
"REX 6000 w/ USB 99 dollars, on www.ecost.com is on the "Countdown" section , they have 47 reamainging !"
Sadly (or happily, depending on your perspective) they appeared to sell the units rather quickly.
May 4, 2001
Screen protectors for your REX just got cheaper. (Thanks, Steve.)
"Hadn't posted in awhile due to work. I came across another source for screen protectors for a more reasonable price. Go to: www.cyberguys.com and order item no. 2150125 or 2150120. You get 12 protectors plus a cleaning cloth for $8.49. Or order item no. 2150130 or 2150135 and get 5 protectors plus cleaning cloth, and wet/dry wipes for just $4.99. The different item numbers reflect the protectors' size for different models of Palm. The lower-priced package will probably yield about 10 protectors if they are cut in half. Even with shipping, you will come out way ahead of the $20+ prices paid by others who've seen posted on this board."
Xircom is keeping a close eye on $$ expenditures - no surprise. (From EB.)
"Some interesting feedback from Xircom. In response to a question about rex.net weather for missing cities they responded:
'We have talked to our conent provider (ISyndicate) about improving the weather content. It is not up to the our satisfaction level. Only thing that they could do was to give us better feed that would involve additional costs. The additional costs has become a show stopper to us for anything. In effect we do not provide weather content for Israel among others such as some of the major Canadian cities. We are totally dependent on the content provider on this.'
Xircom seems to be awknowledging the cost-control pressures that many companies are under these days, likely exacerbated by direction from Intel executives not to make any expensive changes until they make a decision on the REX. That may also be behind the loss of the movie listings - when the original vendor wasn't meeting needs they probably couldn't get approval to from management to go out and sign-up a new vendor.
RexDump 1.2 is released. (From Chris H.)
"Hi all, RexDump version 1.2 is now available on my website: http://www.io.com/~harris8. There is now a readme file included in the zipfile. Any problems or suggestions, contact me either via this site or my email. "
See our Add-in Programs page and the news story just below on this page for more background on RexDump.
May 3, 2001
Very interesting technical developments . . . (From Chris H.)
"My RexDump browsing utility is available on the REX 6000 Help Page [see our Add-ins page] and now also on my site: http://www.io.com/~harris8. I recently updated it so it will do what you asked about: dump the contents of the Rex firmware to a "memo" database file, which you can then upload to a PC via Rex Tools, and run your disassembler of choice. . . .
Also, my first "user" Addin is almost ready: CMemo, a memo browser. It provides for easier viewing of long memos, and has a search function. Will post it soon. . . I'm coding in Z80 assembler, using what I've gleaned from the existing add-in binaries. Recently, I noticed that T. Idogawa has all his C source code posted too, which makes for much easier disassembly of the binaries. "
Chris will make version 1.2 of RexDump available on his web site shortly. For those of you with a hanker and the technical know-how, this could open up some interesting possibilities.
New version of Rexmail with useful new features.
Chris F. has updated Rexmail, a tool that allows you to move emails from Outlook to your REX for reading later, and (love this feature!) move memos written on the REX to Outlook to send them as emails! One new feature in 1.02 allows you to choose whether you want to sync emails from Outlook to the REX, from the REX to Outlook, or both. Rexmail is worth looking into - there's a 30-day trial period and a $10 payment to register and use after that time. You can find the progam and information at the Rexmail web site.
REX 6000 battery options may be "bigger" than we thought. (From Amiram.)
"Has anyone tried to use CR2025 batteries on the Rex 6000? They're a bit hard to squeeze in, they're somewhat tricky to get out, they bend the back cover just a tiny bit, they probably aren't what Xircom had in mind, but they surely last longer. What do you think? I tried to re-install CR2016 batteries after removing the CR2025 - no problem.
I've been using them for a couple of days now. As I said, I was able to remove them and use CR2016s again, but they do apply some pressure from the inside, so I don't know what will happen in the long term. Also, I haven't tried to use the (slightly thicker) unit in a notebook PCMCIA slot."
The lure of the CR2025 (the REX 5000 battery) is it's greater capacity, of course. (The CR2016 used in the REX 6000 tends to last from two to three months for the average user, a much shorter life than the CR2025 provides in the 5000.) Any other battery pioneers out there with experiences to share? If you decide to follow Amiram's example, let us know how it works out. Are there other battery options aside from the CR2025 that might offer more capacity?
Don't forget that there's a lot of information on batteries for the REX 6000 in the REX FAQ.
May 2, 2001
Who are we?
Our truly world-wide community, listed by number of visitors to this site.
US NETHERLANDS (.NL) Educational (.EDU) CANADA (.CA) GERMANY (.DE) United Kingdom (.UK) BELGIUM (.BE) SINGAPORE (.SG) FRANCE (.FR) JAPAN (.JP) SWITZERLAND (.CH) ITALY (.IT) GREECE (.GR) AUSTRALIA (.AU) DENMARK (.DK) Organizations (.ORG) US Government (.GOV) PORTUGAL (.PT) US Dept of Defense (.MIL) IRELAND (.IE) SWEDEN (.SE) CROATIA (.HR) ISRAEL (.IL) POLAND (.PL) HUNGARY (.HU) AUSTRIA (.AT) INDONESIA (.ID) NORWAY (.NO) SAUDI ARABIA (.SA) CZECH REPUBLIC (.CZ) MEXICO (.MX) SOUTH AFRICA (.ZA) BRAZIL (.BR) LUXEMBOURG (.LU) ARGENTINA (.AR) RUSSIAN FEDERATION (.RU) FINLAND (.FI) Int. Organizations (.INT) NEW ZEALAND (.NZ) SPAIN (.ES) THAILAND (.TH) HONG KONG (.HK) MALAYSIA (.MY) UKRAINE (.UA) SLOVAKIA (Slovak Republic) (.SK) URUGUAY (.UY) COSTA RICA (.CR) SLOVENIA (.SI) CHILE (.CL) TAIWAN (.TW) VENEZUELA (.VE) BRUNEI DARUSSALAM (.BN) LATVIA (.LV) CHINA (.CN) TONGA (.TO) ESTONIA (.EE) MAURITIUS (.MU) ROMANIA (.RO) INDIA (.IN) CAYMAN ISLANDS (.KY) Shopping for a REX in Belgium? (From Bernard & Peter.)
"Greetings, You can buy the REX 6000 in Belgium, in central Brussels (Woluwe Shopping Center, above the restaurant area); Rex 6000 USB for about 10.000 bef." (Bernard)
Finding the REX 6000 in a retail store is fairly unusual - the vast majority of the units have been sold via the Internet and phone sales.
"I got myself a REX6000 last week here in Belgiun from "Het Computerwinkeltje" http://www.hcw.be for 7.990 Bef. There is even a new action in "De Macro" where you can buy it now for 6.990 Bef (Peter)
Some changes to REX NET. (From Sonus.)
"Hey everyone there's some new news on rex.net. Here's the gist of it. You can check rex.net yourself for elaboration:
- More content delivered to REX ('News articles downloaded to the REX 6000 MicroPDA from www.rex.net will increase to a maximum of ten, up from the current article maximum of six.')
- Weather channel selection limit raised to 10 ('Responding to popular demand, the Weather channel selection limit will increase. The Weather channel selection will increase to ten weather listings maximum, up from the current maximum of three.')
- Movie channel is no longer available
- Non-Flash version now available"
Unfortunately, you can't "opt out" of the Flash-version manually - if you have Flash 4.0 or greater installed, you get the Flash version of REX.NET. It would be nice to be able to choose what you wanted and not waste all that time w/the silly animations. . .
And, Movie Listings are still gone, of course! Please let Xircom know if you want movie listings back! Go to REX.NET and enter an "Online Technical Support Request" (click on "Support" and then "Technical" at the top of the REX.NET page) for Xircom to bring movie listings back. Or call tech support at: (805) 376-9200. Or send an email to tech support at: [email protected]. Xircom says the updates above were completed due to customer requests. If they really are listening to us, let's get our movie listings back!
Using Groupwise w/the REX is a challenge! (From Marten.)
"At my work we use Novell GroupWise; a rather nasty thing with exporting and synchronisation! My workaround for this -and maybe interesting for other REX-users-: within GroupWise I made a rule for every Task and Appointment which is made and/or send to me, in that rule I forward the Task and/or Appointment to my private mailbox. When I read my mail by Outlook I copy the -as mail attachments received- Task and/or Appointment documents to the appropriate Outlookfolder; manually I have to fill-in the start- and endtimes, alarms etc. However this procedure seems rather complex, in practice it is well done. In a few minutes I'm up and running! Further on it's a matter of keeping up your Outlook versus GroupWise. As soon as there would be a export facility available from GroupWise to Outlook things would be easy. But the products are competitive, so... if it ever happens? Maybe a challenge for somebody within the REX-community? "
May 1, 2001
Some links for Dutch REX users from Marten.
"Recently I downloaded the Beta Tools to use the Web option which is in it. Altough at your website you show a few web-addresses about newsinfo, I prefer Dutch ones! Down here I give you the URL's (with less remaining HTML-code, which I hate in "plain" text); maybe usefull for other Dutch users:
- http://www.leidschdagblad.nl/multimedia/multimedia_00.shtml
- http://www.leidschdagblad.nl/anp/BIN/index.shtml
- http://www.leidschdagblad.nl/anp/BUI/index.shtml
- http://www.compuserve.nl/portal/nieuws/
And for (F1) racingnews (not as HTML-clean as I like it, but..):
I wonder if there would be utility available which automaticly cleans the HTML-code out of pages like this? Again a challenge for someone? I'm no programmer, so... "
See our Internet Resources page for more links.