QNX iPAQ User's Guide

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iPAQ User's Guide

This is a basic user's guide. It explains the applications and user interface on the QNX iPAQ Software Reference Platform. This also explains the ideas behind the service bar, the application control buttons and the input system for defining data.

The iPAQ Hardware

With this release of the Reference Platform many of the buttons and lights are unused. The support will expand as updates and supplementary applications are released.

You may need to use the physical power switch found on the underside of the device: with the stylus, slide open the small panel protecting the switch and gently push the switch right-to-left to turn it off. Be careful not to force the switch; it is not a durable component and has been known to break when it is carelessly forced in the wrong direction. The primary power button should work in this release, but does not support full power management. This mean you may lose any data which hasn't been saved. The device will be essentially turned off.

The bottom buttons, eight through twelve, act as the arrow keys on a standard keyboard. By pressing the center of the directional pad, you may emit a selection event, used by some applications. Please note that these controls may be interpreted differently by each application.

The application buttons are unused at this time. In the future these will likely be programmable launch buttons, used to start your preferred application. This release does not attempt to include Personal Information Management (PIM) applications, so the Calendar and Task buttons don't have anything to launch.

Finally, the record button on the side of the iPAQ is unused. We have voice recording for internal demonstrations, but regrettably, we haven't yet released this aspect of our media architecture.

Starting The iPAQ

The iPAQ Software Reference Platform is a working example of the QNX operating system in a small semi modal form factor. It is generally intended for our development community: customers and freelance engineers who want to learn how to become embedded systems or applications developers.

On startup, the iPAQ will wait until the user presses a button other than the calendar button. This gives developers a chance to plug in their serial cables and talk to the device before it begins booting. Most users will want to immediately a button and let the iPAQ boot the QNX image.

The iPAQ touch screen display must be recalibrated when you first start your device. We have found that the hardware often requires recalibration after the device warms up or is used for a period of time. We have tried our best to offer you high quality touch screen interactivity - feel free to recalibrate if your stylus does not feel accurate.

Once you have recalibrated your display, the iPAQ should show you a launcher with the installed applications. In the top right hand corner, a small grid represents the view - small or large icon. The top left hand corner is a drop down list to filter your applications. Launch an application by clicking on the icon or the text.

Anatomy of a Basic Application

iPAQ Applications are general modal: you run one application at a time. When you switch between one application and another, all of your state should be preserved. This means that whatever you are working on is automatically saved, and the program should resume where you last left it.

Note: The demonstration applications don't preserve state at this time. Future releases will provide source example which are implemented correctly. (Do as we say, not as we do.)

Each application has a similar title area in the top-left corner. The upper-right corner is reservred for buttons used to control the visible application. When you launch your program, you may see a virtual keyboard on the bottom of the screen, or you may see a status bar. The input area appears whenever you have selected an editable area. If has disappeared and you need to call it up again, click on the status bar and click on the are you want to edit.

The application buttons change to reflect the features supported by the active application. For example, rotating an application requires that the application was designed with two different layouts. Similarly, not all applications have help or about dialogs.

You may not see every one of these buttons on the version of the iPAQ Reference Platform you have installed, but in case of upgrade, here is an overview of what each button would do, if it is available:

Send Application: This causes a copy of the display of this application to be sent to a nearby iPAQ or QNX device. The remote device does not need this program installed to use it. The remote program will share your data base and can interact with the program as if it is local. As long as the two devices are on the same physical network, the application may remain tethered. Once the connection is broken, the link is lost.
Sync Data: This signals that you would like to send the data you are viewing to the corresponding application on the remote iPAQ. Although a global synchronization application may be available, this icon appears to simply the process of synching a single application.
Application Help: This displays either a brief dialog with the author's name and contact information or it activates a help dialog which is custom to the application.
Rotate Display: This will rotate the application so that it may be used in portrait or landscape mode.
Maximize Application: This causes the title area and the majority of the application buttons to hide, allowing the maximum screen real estate. A small tab appears at the top of the screen to return to the normal view.
Go Home: This closes the application, returning home. Almost all applications will have this icon. The home button should only disappear if you are in the Launcher application or if the application is doing an absolutely critical task and you cannot safely exit during this operation.

The QNX Handheld Input System

The input system allows you to give relevant information to an active application. It appears when you click on an control which needs input. It is divided into two main areas, the input method and the input region.

Think of the input area as a collection of tabbed cards. Each card will allow you to input particular types of data in a particular way. You may not see all of the types of input cards at any given moment. Each type represents a data type. For example, if you select a numeric input area, the number input card will become visible. If you select a color patch, a color input card would appear.

At this time only most of the demo applications only support the text input cards. There are several cards which help you input text. This includes a virtual keyboard, number pad and possibly handwriting recognition area. QNX support handwriting from a number of third part vendors. As our partners allow the public release of the Intel Strong ARM handwriting recognition for QNX, we will update our iPAQ image.

A sample of some of the possible input cards.

The Service Bar

The bottom of the iPAQ screen is shared by both the input area and small blue service bar. This area is reserved for system messages and the status of background applications. In the initial release, the status bar will be mostly inactive.

The icons on the left side of the bar reflect the state of the iPAQ or the status of background services. For example, when the iPAQ is plugged in, the connection is detected;, a plug appears; the battery icon reflects the strength of the battery's charge.

Summary

This document has presented the fundamental ideas behind the iPAQ environment. We encourage you experiment and meet with the QNX development community. Hopefully you will be inspired to use the freely available QNX Realtime Platform to experiment with your own applications and custom iPAQ operating system.

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