Getting Started With Palm Query Application Development

Introduction

A Palm Query Application, or PQA as they are commonly called, is a special type of application for Palm VII devices that allows a user to interact wirelessly with Web content. A PQA takes the concept of interactive Web browsing a step farther by consolidating related, static content into an application that can be installed on a Palm VII device. Links within a PQA document can either refer to other pages within the application or they can refer to documents or scripts residing on a publicly available Web server. The pages retrieved from within that application result in no wireless data transmission. Pages not in the PQA, naturally, result in a wireless HTTP request. Before diving into the specifics of Palm Query Application development (it's painless...honest!), let's first spend a moment explaining what the Palm VII is and what its capabilities are.

The Palm VII Organizer

The Palm VII Connected Organizer is the first mass-marketed and mass-produced electronic organizer with wireless capabilities. The engineering design behind the product is worthy of a separate article in itself, but we won't bore you with the details here. Suffice it to say that Palm was able to design a handheld device that is nearly the same size and weight of a Palm III with the same memory, display, and operating system plus a wireless modem and antenna...all with no noticeable performance or power degradation! Just as impressive is the way that the device operates using the Palm.net service (based on the BellSouth Wireless Data network). The process to setup an account on the network and begin retrieving PQA data (known as Web Clippings) is very streamlined. Simply lift the antenna for the first time, enter in user information and a credit card, select the service you want (designed to accomodate light users all the way up to "power" users), and you're ready to roll! The Palm VII comes pre-installed with a number of useful PQA's including those from Amazon.com, Yahoo!, MapQuest, and The Weather Channel. All are impressive in their own right and provide real-world examples of the power of wireless information access. For instance, the Amazon.com PQA ties your wireless access to your "One-Click" account information set up on their standard Web site. Doing this eliminates the need to reenter address and credit card information and allows the user to simply click and buy wirelessly. Very cool (and dangerous for the impulse buyer!).