The Palm OS Simulator is the Palm OS compiled native for Intel x86. It is the real Palm OS running on top of the Device Abstraction Layer in a Windows environment, and does not emulate hardware.

When you open the Palm OS Simulator folder on a computer, you will find the various system DLLs that make up the core of the Palm OS. In addition, there are .rom files that contain resources needed by the Palm OS. These .rom files are not the same as the ROM images used by the Palm OS Emulator.

The Palm OS Garnet Simulator contains the Palm Application Compatibility Environment (PACE), which emulates 68K PRCs and the various default PRCs, such as Date Book and Memo Pad. The 68K environment provided in PACE is effectively identical to the functionality supported by Palm OS 4.1.

Device-specific versions of PalmSim are available from device manufacturers, such as Palm Inc., through their PluggedIn Developer program.

Q: How does it differ from the Palm OS Emulator?

A: The Palm OS Simulator does not emulate hardware like the Palm OS Emulator. Further, the Palm OS Simulator does not do nearly as much checking and validating of an application. The Palm OS Emulator (especially when used with a debug ROM) goes out of its way to find possible errors that the normal device would let go by, and some of this checking is specifically for future compatibility.

The Palm OS Simulator, in contrast, is the Palm OS. It does not go out of its way to catch errors. If you break the rules for future compatibility, it simply will not work. In a debug build, it may give an informative error message.

We recommend using both the Palm OS Emulator and the Palm OS Simulator to debug and test your applications.

Q: What platforms does the Palm OS Simulator run on?

A: Palm OS Simulator has been tested on Windows 98, NT, 2000, ME, and XP. Because the Palm OS Simulator relies on the endianess of Intel x86 chips being little endian, like that of ARM chips, the Palm OS Simulators for Palm OS Garnet and Palm OS Cobalt only run on the Windows platform.

Q: How is the Palm OS Simulator used?

A: Much like the Palm OS Emulator. You can drag and drop PRCs onto Palm OS Simulator to install them, but make sure the Launcher is not running when you do so. There currently is no dialog to show the file being installed like there is on the Palm OS Emulator. Palm OS Simulator (like the Palm OS Emulator) supports the AutoLoad directory. If you add a directory called AutoLoad in the same directory as PalmSim.exe, any PRCs or PDBs put into that directory will automatically load when you start the Palm OS Simulator.

Helpful tip: Install the HostFS PalmSim utility in order to simulate memory cards in the PalmSim session.

DocID: 10158  DocDate: 2005-09-09