iSilo™
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information: features
iSilo features
This page provides information on
iSilo's features.
miscellaneous
document size
iSilo's native file format utilizes compression
for reduced document sizes.
- compression:
Text is stored in a highly compressed format. The reduction
in the space occupied by the text usually ranges from 50%
to 60%.
- comparison:
Compression of text is about 20% better than the Palm Doc format.
The iSilo 3.x/4.x document format even provides
slightly better compression than the already efficient
iSilo 2.x document format. See the
comparisons page for details.
security
- permissions:
An iSilo 3.x/4.x document can be marked at conversion time
to disallow a specified set of actions on the document:
- copy/beam:
iSilo examines copy and beam prevention attributes
and will not copy or beam documents marked to prevent those
operations (iSilo™ for Palm OS®).
- copy to clipboard:
Disallow this permission to prevent a user from selecting text
and copying it to the clipboard for pasting to other applications.
- modification:
Disallow this permission to prevent modification operations
such as adding or removing bookmarks.
- conversion:
Disallow this permission to prevent the ability to convert the
document to other formats.
- printing:
Disallow this permission to prevent users from printing the
document content.
- document passwords:
Protect an iSilo 3.x/4.x document at conversion time
with a password so that the document can only be opened
if the password is correctly entered.
- document registration codes:
iSilo 3.x/4.x documents can be protected by registration
codes at conversion time so that the first time a user opens
such a document, the user must enter a correct registration
code for the document. Registration codes can also be keyed
to specific user IDs and expiration dates for additional security.
- document expiration dates:
An iSilo 3.x/4.x document can be protected by an expiration
date at conversion time so that the document can no longer be opened
at the given expiration date. This capability can be used to prevent
outdated documents from circulating after their useful lifetimes.
document list view
iSilo's document list view is the control center
for accessing and managing documents on your handheld and VFS
accessible memory cards (iSilo™ for Palm OS®).
document list
iSilo's document list shows you what documents
you have installed.
- document listing:
iSilo automatically searches for and adds entries
to the document list for all documents you have installed in your
handheld's internal main memory and in standard locations on VFS
accessible memory cards.
- background new document search:
iSilo searches for new documents on both the handheld
and on VFS accessible memory cards in the background
so that you do not have to wait for the search to complete
before starting to use iSilo each time you start it.
This makes a huge difference when you have dozens, to hundreds,
to possibly thousands of documents installed.
- categories:
By categorizing documents, you can narrow the scope of documents
that you work with, such as performing a global search only through
documents in a given category.
- /Palm/Programs/iSilo:
iSilo automatically searches the
"/Palm/Programs/iSilo" folder on VFS accessible memory cards
for new documents to add to the document list. This is in
addition to its search of the "/Palm/Launcher" and
"/Palm/Programs/MSFiles" locations and so that you do not
overburden those particular Launcher specific locations with
too many files.
operations
From the document list view, you have easy access to operations you
want to perform on documents. All operations can be performed
on documents that are located either in the handheld's internal
main memory or on VFS accessible memory cards.
- open a listed document:
Open a document with an entry in the document list for reading.
- categorize:
Move a document to a new category.
- delete:
Delete a document or delete all documents in a category.
- rename:
Give a document a new title.
- beam:
Use infrared to beam a document to another infrared equipped
Palm OS® handheld.
- information:
Easily view information about a document, including its creation
date, document type, size, and location.
- copy or move:
Copy or move a document from the handheld's internal main memory
to VFS accessible memory cards and vice versa.
- open an arbitrary file:
Open any file on a VFS accessible memory card and view its
content as plain text.
configurability
You can configure iSilo's document list in several ways.
- alphabetical and manual sorting:
Have entries in the document list automatically alphabetically sorted
or manually sort them yourself.
- selective document listing:
Have iSilo store entries of only specified document
types in the document list.
- selectable font:
Select a more viewable font for displaying the document list.
- selectable scrollbar position:
Select left or right positioning of the scrollbar and use it
to easily scroll through the document list.
utility
Utility makes iSilo much more than just a plain ol' reader.
document types
iSilo has direct support for reading the
essential document types.
- iSilo 4.x:
The iSilo 4.x document format builds on the
iSilo 3.x document format with extended capabilities
supported by and to be supported by iSilo™ 4.x.
Documents in the iSilo 4.x document
format can also be opened and read by iSilo™ 3.x.
- iSilo 3.x:
The iSilo 3.x document format was designed from
the ground up for efficiency with the needs and limitations
of handheld devices in mind. Its new architecture provides
the a flexible and powerful foundation for growth in features
and functionality into the foreseeable future.
- iSilo 2.x:
The iSilo 2.x document format was at the forefront
of providing second generation document display for Palm OS®
handhelds and still does remain a viable platform for doing so.
Its small document sizes and hyperlinking capabilities combined
with the efficiency, ease of use, and robustness of the
iSilo 2.x reader made it a winner.
- Palm Doc:
Essentially a plain text format with basic compression applied,
the Palm Doc format remains popular as the lowest common denominator
due to its early roots and widespread acceptance.
- plain text files (.txt):
You can use iSilo to open plain text files.
- open any file:
You can use iSilo to open any file stored on a VFS
accessible memory card and view the content as plain text.
find
The find functionality gives you the ability to search for text
with a document or set of documents.
- match case or not:
Specify a search word or phrase and specify
whether to search for a match using case sensitivity or not.
- search range:
Specify whether the search should proceed forward from the
current location, backward from the current location, or
starting from the top of either the current page
or the entire document.
- find again:
Quickly search for the next occurrence of a found word or
phrase with a single tap.
- global search (iSilo™ for Palm OS®):
Perform a global search through all listed documents or all
documents listed in a given category.
copy & paste
You can copy text from a document to the clipboard for pasting
to another application.
- copy selection:
Select as much text as you like and copy it to the clipboard.
Clipboard and memory limitations may limit the amount of text you
can actually copy at once.
- copy an entire screen:
Easily copy the entire screen with a single command.
- copy an entire page:
Easily copy the entire page to the clipboard with a single command.
- copy an entire document:
Easily copy the entire text of the document to the clipboard
with a single command.
VFS
On Palm OS®, iSilo supports VFS, the standard interface
for accessing file systems on external media. This enables you to view
documents stored on memory expansion cards, significantly increasing
the number of documents you can immediately access.
- VFS support:
iSilo supports reading of documents stored on external
media accessible through VFS. Example of external media include
Memory Stick®, SD (secure digital), and CF (compact flash).
- copy and move documents:
iSilo can copy and move documents from the handheld
device memory to VFS accessible external media and vice versa.
- beam documents:
iSilo can beam documents stored on external media
accessible through VFS.
navigation
Navigation concerns how you move through a document.
scrolling
iSilo provides a plethora of scroll methods,
all configurable to suit virtually any preference.
- scrollbar:
A scrollbar makes it easy to scroll to any part of the page
or simply to scroll up or down a line or a screen at a time.
- hardware up/down buttons:
Use the hardware up and down buttons to scroll up or down
either a screen or a line at a time.
- drag scrolling:
Drag on the screen using the stylus or your finger to
scroll the document up or down.
- screen tap scrolling:
Tap on the screen to scroll through the document up or down
a line or a screen at a time. The regions are configurable
in both size and action.
- Jog Dial/wheel:
If your device has a Jog Dial or jog wheel, you can also
use it to scroll through the document up or down
a line or a screen at a time.
- autoscroll:
Twenty incremental autoscroll speeds and a choice of either smooth
or line-at-a-time autoscrolling allow you to read at your own pace
without the need for manual scrolling.
jumping
- jump to the top or bottom:
With a single command, jump to the top or bottom of the page.
- jump to any page:
Quickly jump to the previous or next page, to the first or last page,
or to any page by page number.
- hyperlinks:
Hyperlinks embedded in a document make it quick and easy
to traverse to relevant parts of a document. Both text and images
can serve as hyperlinks.
- jump history:
Easily jump back to recent jump starting points and easily
jump forward to recent jump targets.
- back button:
If your device has a back or auxiliary button, you can use
it to jump back through the jump history.
marks
Marks, both name and unnamed, make it easy to remember and jump
back to interesting points in a document.
- unnamed marks:
Quickly mark a location in a document and jump back
to the mark at any time. Each document can have its own mark.
- named bookmarks:
Add named bookmarks to interesting locations in a
document. Navigate back to any named bookmark by selecting
from a pop-up list of the bookmarks.
- local bookmarks:
Local bookmarks are private to the device on which they were
created and are not stored in a document when it is transferred.
- document bookmarks:
Document bookmarks are stored with the document and so also
get copied along with a document when it is transferred.
- bookmark sorting:
Sort bookmarks either alphabetically or manually.
- rename bookmarks:
Give a bookmark a new, more appropriate name.
usability
iSilo provides a number of configurable options
you can set to make reading most comfortable for you.
first time user
Improvements in the user interface make it easier for the
first time user to get started using iSilo
immediately.
- scrolling:
The scrollbar and drag scrolling defaults make it immediately
apparent how to scroll while reading your first document.
- title bar:
The default presence of the title bar eliminates the question
of "Where is the Marks menu?" asked often by post-Palm OS® 3.5
beginning users.
- tool bar:
The graphical tool bar makes it more intuitive for first time users
to understand and access commonly used functionality.
display
On small screens, it can be helpful to be able to maximize
the content display area.
- hideable scrollbar:
Hide the scrollbar for a wider display area.
- hideable titlebar:
Hide the tidebar for more vertical display space above.
- hideable toolbar:
Hide the toolbar for more vertical display space below.
- font selection:
Select a base display font for improved readability.
Palm OS® 5 and Palm OS® 4 devices with high-density
screens, Sony CLIÉ devices with high resolution screens,
and the HandEra 330 provide even more selection,
with the ability to choose the tiny font for maximum
use of screen real estate.
- table display mode:
Use the default layout mode to to view tables in their intended
format or set the layout mode to display table layout
to reduce the need for scrolling.
- Font Silo™ (iSilo™ for Palm OS®):
An optionally installed component, Font Silo™ allows custom
installation of fonts and custom selection of which fonts to use on an
individual document basis. In addition to supporting Font Silo™
fonts that can be generated with "iSiloX for Windows", Font Silo™
also supports FontBucket™ and FontHack fonts.
configurability
Each person prefers his or her own way of scrolling.
- left-hand support (iSilo™ for Palm OS®):
The scrollbar can be positioned on the left side of the screen.
- configurable screen scroll regions:
The screen is divided into four regions, each configurable in size
and in the scroll action that occurs when the region is tapped.
- screen up/down behavior:
Configure screen up and down scroll behavior to full screen,
90% of screen, or half screen, whichever you like best.
- configurable up/down button behavior:
Configure the hardware up and down buttons for any combination
of up and down, line and screen scrolling.
- configurable jog behavior:
Configure the Jog Dial/wheel for any combination
of up and down, line and screen scrolling.
- smooth scrolling:
Smooth scrolling provides a transition effect when scrolling.
You can turn off smooth scrolling for faster scrolling.
- hardware button assignments:
Assign individual actions to any or all of the hardware buttons.
settings
iSilo maintains a settings database with an
entry for each document.
- last view location:
For each document, iSilo remembers the last
viewed location so that regardless of how many other documents
you open in the meantime, when you go back to a document, you
return to where you last left off.
- history:
Similarly, iSilo maintains your jump history,
very useful for backtracking when you return to your document.
- local bookmarks:
The settings database also stores your local bookmarks.
document display
iSilo has support for essential formatted text
display attributes as well as more advanced capabilities
for the display of more complexly formatted documents.
text formatting
Text formatting makes text easier to read by allowing variability
in font size, styling, and color. iSilo supports
the following text formatting characteristics and any combination
of them.
- plain:
Example: plain
- italic:
Example: italic
- bold:
Example: bold
- underline:
Example: underline
- strikethrough:
Example:
strikethough
- monospace:
Example:
monospace
- font size:
Palm OS® 5 and Palm OS® 4 devices with high-density
screens, Sony CLIÉ devices with high resolution screens,
and the HandEra 330 provide four font sizes.
Example: tiny,
small,
standard,
large.
Other devices provide two font sizes: standard and large.
- subscript:
Example: subscript
- superscript:
Example: superscript
- colored text:
Example: green
- colored background:
Example: green
color
iSilo supports display across the entire available
set of color depths: 1-bit, 2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit, and 16-bit.
Text, backgrounds, borders, and images can appear in a mix of colors.
- 1-bit black and white:
Black and white works across all devices. With dithering,
real-life images even look decent.
- 2-bit and 4-bit greyscale:
Greyscale documents provide the broadest compatibility and best
memory usage while still allowing for shaded backgrounds and
text and providing enough range to display picture quality images.
- 8-bit color:
On color devices, 8-bit color is the lowest common denominator,
but still adds a new dimension to documents compared
with greyscale.
- 16-bit color:
On supported devices, 16-bit color dramatically improves a document's
presentation, especially with images.
images
You can use images in documents to illustrate concepts or
to break a monotony of text.
- inline and block level:
Images may appear inline in between text on the same line
or at block level outside of text blocks.
- large images:
Images can be many multiples the size of the screen in either
dimension, with a theoretical size limit of about 32,000 by
32,000 pixels.
- greyscale:
In addition to black and white, iSilo can display
2-bit (4-level greyscale) and 4-bit (16-level greyscale) images
on supported devices.
- color:
iSilo can display 8-bit (256 colors) and 16-bit
(65,000+ colors) color images.
- multiple bit depths:
Documents can include images in multiple bit depths for the
broadest support and image quality control.
- compression:
Images can occupy a large amount of storage space. Compression
reduces the stored size.
tables
Tables provide the ability to present data in tabular form
so that the reader can more quickly comprehend and use the
information. Tables can also be used for content layout,
though this latter use is discouraged.
- table display:
iSilo takes the size of the screen into consideration
in formatting a table for display.
- wide and long tables:
Top-level tables can theoretically be thousands of columns wide
and millions of rows long, though practical limits such as
memory available will limit the actual maximum on a given
device.
- single column/multi-column mode:
For wide tables or tables that have been laid out for display on
a desktop monitor, iSilo provides the ability to
toggle table display between single column and multi-column
mode for optimal viewing.
- row and column spanning cells:
Individual cells can span rows and/or columns.
- embedded tables:
Tables can be embedded within one another (e.g., a table within a table)
to an arbitrary depth.
block formatting
Block formatting provides visual block differentiation
for improved document presentation.
- margins:
Blocks can have individually specified top, bottom, left, and
right margins to offset blocks from one another and from
display edges.
blocks.
- borders:
Blocks can have individually specified top, bottom, left, and
right borders with a choice of colors and widths.
- padding:
Blocks can have individually specified top, bottom, left, and
right padding to offset the content from surrounding margins
and borders.
- background colors:
Individual blocks can have their own background color, effective
for visual highlighting of content such as table headings.
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