# Configuring &kpilot;

Once &kpilot; is installed it needs to be configured to match your hardware. The conduits need to be configured as well. After that you can use &kpilot; to synchronize your &PalmPilot; with your &kde; desktop.

When you run &kpilot; from either the panel menu or from the command prompt for the first time it will prompt you with a dialog box to configure it. This configuration dialog can be requested later from the main application Settings Configure &kpilot; menu, from the &kpilot; daemon popup menu Configure KPilot... menu item or by starting &kpilot; from the shell as follows:

    $  kpilot--setup

In addition, if you upgrade &kpilot; and some new configuration options require your attention, this setup dialog will reappear.

Configuration Dialog
The configuration dialog

The configuration dialog

&kpilot;'s configuration dialog is a large one. This is because it contains not only the configuration of the device for communicating with the &PalmPilot;, but also the configuration of all the installed conduits. Each group of configuration options (general and conduits) will be discussed separately.

## General Setup

The settings available in the &kpilot; configuration dialog under the heading General Setup give you detailed control over the operation of &kpilot;: you can select a non-standard hardware device, set special encodings for foreign-language &handheld;s, and control how &kpilot; displays your data. There are four items under the General Setup heading. You may need to expand the General Setup heading to see them.

Items under General Setup
The items under General Setup

The items under General Setup

### Device Setup

This is a setup page that contains options describing the &PalmPilot; hardware, you, the user and how you want the various parts of &kpilot; to be started.

Device Page
The Device Page

The Device Page

Pilot device

  The port that the cradle is connected to. By default it is set to `/dev/pilot` which should be a symbolic link to the real port. The port might be a serial port, in which case `/dev/pilot` should point to something like `/dev/cuaa0` (in &FreeBSD;) or `/dev/ttyS0` (in &Linux;). For &USB; devices, it can be more difficult to determine where `/dev/pilot` should point. It may be possible to configure your &USB; daemon to set up the link automatically, so that `/dev/pilot` points to the right port no matter where you plug in your &PalmOS; device.

  Make sure the port has the correct permissions. It must be read/write by all if &kpilot; is intended to be used by a normal user! &kpilot; will complain if the permissions are wrong, but you will need to fix the permissions by hand. This could be done by doing a ``chmod` `666` device` as root where device is the correct port.

  To resolve this issue, please refer to &kpilot; says Can't connect to pilot &FAQ; entry, or contact your system administrator.

  You can also use network sync (with pilot-link 0.11.5 and later) by entering `net:any` as the device name.

Speed

  Indicate the speed of the serial connection to the &PalmPilot;. It has no meaning for &USB; devices. For an older model &PalmPilot;, choose 9600. Newer models may be able to handle speeds up to the maximum listed, 115200. You can experiment with the connection speed: the &PalmPilot; manual suggests starting at a speed of 19200 and trying faster speeds to see if they work.

Encoding

  &PalmOS; devices are available in many different languages. If your device uses a different encoding than ISO-latin1, you will need to select the correct encoding from the list in order to display special characters correctly. If you can enter Russian in your &PalmPilot;, select CP1251, for instance.

Pilot user

  The user name of the &PalmPilot;. By default this name is the same as your log on name. When you sync with the &PalmPilot; &kpilot; will check to see if this name matches the one on the &PalmPilot;. If they do not, you are asked to pick which you will use. If you pick the local name, the &PalmPilot; will be changed to match. The Pilot User entry is also used to name the folder that stores the information from the &PalmPilot;. This folder is created in the `$KDEHOME/share/apps/kpilot/DBBackup/` folder, where the `$KDEHOME` environment variable (typically `/home/Login Name/.kde/`) points to the folder that contains your configuration and data for the &kde; applications.

### HotSync Setup

This page contains settings with which you can instruct &kpilot; to perform special kinds of &HotSync;, as well as direct how conflicts during a &HotSync; should be resolved. A conflict happens when both the desktop application and the &handheld; application change the same data.

&kpilot; interfaces with your &handheld; in two ways: using the conduits and the internal viewers. Conduits are plug-in programs which extend the synchronization capabilities of &kpilot;. &kpilot; stores separate copies of the databases and records for conduits, while the internal viewers and backup operation share the same copy. This distinction is important to choose your update method depending on your usage. If you use mainly the conduits to sync your &handheld; with external programs, you may choose as default synchronization method any option that runs the conduits. However, if you use mainly the internal viewers, you need to update copy of the databases as well in order to view and edit the information from your &handheld;, so running the conduits only is not sufficient.

The &HotSync; setup page
The &HotSync; Page

The &HotSync; setup page

Default Sync

  Select the type of synchronization that will be performed by default.

  - HotSync: run all selected conduits, sync the databases with a modified flag set, updating the modified records only. Performs a fast backup, backing up only the databases that were modified. This option offers a nice balance between speed and data safety.

  - FullSync: run all selected conduits, and sync all databases, reading all records, and performing a full backup. It is the safest option, but takes the longest time to complete, as it will merge all the records from the &handheld; and your desktop. It is the &kpilot; equivalent of the Palm SlowSync.

  - Copy PC to handheld: run all conduits and sync all databases, but instead of merging the information from both sources, copy the PC data to the handheld. Use with care, as this option erases the changes you made in your handheld since the last sync.

  - Copy handheld to PC: run all conduits and sync all databases, but instead of merging the information from both sources, copy the handheld data to the PC. Use with care, as this option erases the changes you made in your PC since the last sync.

Do full sync when changing PCs

  If you &HotSync; your &handheld; with multiple PCs, the flag on the &handheld; that stores which records have changed since the last &HotSync; may be inaccurate. It is recommended to do a full sync when changing PCs. You can disable the full sync by unchecking this box.

Do not sync when screensaver is active

  This is a security feature that prevents the &handheld; from synchronization while the PC screen saver is active. This prevents other people from stealing your data through the &handheld; cradle while your PC is unattended. The feature only works with the &kde; screen savers, though, and you will need to disable it to use &kpilot; in non-&kde; environments.

Conflict Resolution

  Data records can be changed both on the &handheld; and on the PC. If one record has incompatible changes in both the &handheld; and the PC, (such as changing a phone number in different ways on both sides), the conflicting change needs to be resolved so that the &handheld; and the PC data are consistent again. Choices for conflict resolution are:

  - Ask User: pop up a dialog for the user to choose how the conflict is to be resolved for every conflict.

  - Do Nothing: leave the entries in an inconsistent state. Future syncs may not notice the discrepancy.

  - Handheld Overrides: copy the values from the &handheld; to the PC, discarding the changes on the PC.

  - PC Overrides: copy the values from the PC to the &handheld;, discarding changes on the &handheld;.

  - Values From Last Sync (Not Supported): &kpilot; stores a backup copy of the information on your &handheld; depending on the synchronization method you selected. If this information is available, use neither the values from the &handheld; nor the PC, but the values from the last sync.

  - Use Both Entries (Not Supported): Create duplicate entries of the conflicting records on both the PC and &handheld;, one with the value from the PC, the other with the value from the &handheld;.

### Backup Setup

This page contains settings specific to the backup operation, which saves a copy of the &handheld; databases, allowing the user to restore this information later.

In short, databases are all files stored in your &handheld;. A database can be either a record database, which stores dynamic information created by the user (for instance, the addresses or the To-Do information), or a resource database, which tend to be static (for instance the applications).

Backup Page
The Backup Page

The Backup Page

Databases

  List databases that should not be synced or backed up.

  The values can be either database creator values, which are 4-letter strings surrounded by square brackets (so for Handbase databases you fill in `[PmDB]`), or database names, which are strings without square brackets that may contain shell-style wildcards. See the FAQ for a list of databases that should be listed here (the default should be OK though). Newer &PalmPilot; devices contain emulation code for the older 68k processor; this means that they have a large number of databases with names ending in `_a68k`. These do not need to be backed up nor synced, so you could add `*_a68k` to the list of databases to skip.

  - No backup List here databases that should be excluded from the backup operation. Some databases do not follow the standard database layout, and trying to backup and restore them will result in information loss. You may include here databases with volatile information, such as news or web pages, that often do not require to be backed up.

  - Not restored List here databases that should be excluded from the restore operation, even if they were previously backed up. Databases included here can be installed manually later, using the File Installer. You may include here databases with volatile information, such as news or web pages, that often do not require to be restored.

  Changing the contents of the No backup or Not restored fields, in particular removing the databases already listed there, can damage those databases when you perform a &HotSync;.

Run conduits during a backup

  The backup typically updates the copy of the &handheld; databases. Conduits are programs that extend the &kpilot; functionality. Running them usually means synchronization the &handheld; to other PC databases, like the address book or the calender. Check this box to perform both operations on every backup.

### Startup and Exit Behavior Setup

This page presents options related to the startup and exit of &kpilot; and &kpilot; daemon.

While &kpilot; is the front-end for the internal viewers, configuration options and logs, the sync operation is handled by the &kpilot; daemon. Even if &kpilot; is not running you can &HotSync; if the daemon is. Therefore, if you want to be able to sync your &handheld; at anytime, it is important to start the daemon at login, or the opposite, if you want to be able to sync only when &kpilot; is running, you have to stop the daemon on exit. The last option is especially useful if you have other applications that use the same port as &kpilot;.

Startup and Exit Page
The Startup and Exit Page

The Startup and Exit Page

Startup Options

  - Start KPilot at login: By checking this, a link to the daemon is placed in your autostart folder and will be started automatically. Note that this is not normally needed if the daemon is docked in the panel.

  - Show KPilot in system tray: Check this box to instruct the daemon to place a &kpilot; icon in the system tray. This icon has a menu that can be brought up with the right mouse button. Without this option, the daemon is not visible to the user at all.

Exit Options

  - Quit after HotSync: When this option is enabled, both &kpilot; and the &kpilot; daemon will exit after the &HotSync; operation has completed, leaving the device port free for other tools. This may be needed on systems where the &USB; daemon starts &kpilot; automatically.

  - Stop KPilot's system tray application on exit: Setting this option will cause the daemon to exit when you quit &kpilot;.

## Conduits Setup

Conduits are programs that interface your &handheld; data with PC applications or sync your &handheld; data with files that can be used by PC applications. They can be written by third parties, to interface your &PalmPilot; to any application imaginable.

&kpilot;'s configuration dialog allows you to select which conduits to run during a &HotSync; and to configure those conduits. A window similar to the following will be displayed:

The Conduit Setup Dialog
The Conduit Setup Dialog

The Conduit Setup Dialog

Check the box to the left of the conduit name to make it active, uncheck to make it inactive or click on the conduit name to configure it.

Install Files

  Allows &kpilot; to install files and databases onto your &PalmPilot;.

Calendar

  Synchronizes the Datebook application with &korganizer;.

To-Do

  Synchronizes the To-Do list application with &korganizer;.

Contacts

  Synchronizes the Addressbook application with &kaddressbook;.

Time Synchronization

  Sets the &handheld;'s time to that of the desktop machine. Useful for keeping the clock of the &handheld; accurate.

Memo File

  Synchronizes the Memo Pad application with a directory and files on your computer.

### Install Files Conduit Setup

The Install Files Conduit installs any &PalmPilot; database that has been added to &kpilot;'s File Install window onto the &handheld;. No additional configuration is required for this conduit.

### Calendar Conduit Setup

This conduit will synchronize your &PalmPilot; calendar application with &korganizer; and &kontact; by using Akonadi. Before you can use this conduit, you must configure Akonadi to have a resource for the calendar that you wish to synchronize with. Once you've done that, you can select that resource for synchronization use here.

The Calendar Conduit Setup Dialog
Calendar Conduit Setup

Calendar Conduit Setup

### To-Do Conduit Setup

This conduit will synchronize your &PalmPilot; To Do List application with &korganizer; and &kontact;, through Akonadi. Before you can use this conduit, you must configure Akonadi to have a resource for the To-Do file that you wish to synchronize with. Once you've done that, you can select that resource for synchronization use here.

The To-Do Conduit Setup Dialog
To-Do Conduit Setup

To-Do Conduit Setup

### Contacs Conduit Setup

This conduit will synchronize your &PalmPilot; with the &kde; address book through Akonadi. Before you can use this conduit, you must configure Akonadi to have a resource for the address book file that you wish to synchronize with. Once you've done that, you can select that resource for synchronization use here.

The Contacts Conduit Setup Dialog
Contacts Conduit Setup

Contacts Conduit Setup

In the General page, you can set the general address sync options.

In the Conflicts page, you can set the address book conduit options, overriding &kpilot;'s general settings for conflict resolution when you are using this conduit. For a detailed description of the different conflict resolution possibilities available, please refer to the HotSync Setup section of this handbook.

In the Fields page, you can set the conduit options for synchronizing the &handheld; address fields that do not have a direct counterpart in the &kde; address book.

Handheld other phone:

  The Other field in the &handheld; address application can be used for many things (for instance storing a secondary email address). It is not clear how to classify this field in &kde;. Depending on your usage, select in the dropdown the field from the computer that will be synchronized with the Other field from your &handheld;.

Handheld street address:

  While the Address field in the &handheld; address application is the only default option for storing an street address, the &kde; street address field can be a home address or a business address. The preferred address will have precedence over other addresses, and the conduit will try to set this status by default. Either the home or business street address will be used to store the &handheld; street address. Select in the dropdown the option that suits better your needs. For instance, if you use this field mainly for business addresses, select Preferred, then Business Address. If not, select Preferred, then Home Address.

Handheld fax:

  While the Fax field in the &handheld; address application is the only default option for storing a fax number, the &kde; address book can store a home fax or a business fax number. Select in the dropdown the option that suits better your needs. For instance, if you use this field mainly for business faxes, select Business Fax. If not, select Home Fax.

In the Custom Fields page, you can set the conduit options for dealing with the Custom fields from your &handheld; address application. Since there are no natural correspondence between these fields and other &kde; address book fields, you can set them as you like. You can use them to store a URL, a IM Address, the Birthdate of your contact or the obvious: Store as Custom Field.

If you select to store birthdays, remember to use a date format that is consistent with the settings in the Date format dropdown, so that the conduit can correctly identify the date from the record and vice versa. Possible placeholders are: %d for the day, %m for the month, %y for the two-digit year, %Y for the four-digit year. For example, %d.%m.%Y would generate a date like 27.3.1952, while %m/%d/%y would write the same date as 03/27/52.

### Time Synchronization Conduit Setup

The Time Synchronization Conduit syncs the &handheld;'s time to that of the desktop machine. It is useful for keeping the clock of the &handheld; accurate. There are really no configuration options other that enabling and disabling the conduit, as currently only one direction for the synchronization is enabled, you can only Set the handheld time from the time on the PC, and not Set the PC time from the time on the handheld.

&PalmOS; Version 3.25 and 3.3 do not support setting the &handheld; system time. For these systems, the conduit will be simply skipped.

### Memo File Conduit Setup

This conduit will synchronize your &PalmPilot; Memo Pad application with a directory and files on your computer. This conduit will create a directory for each category that your &PalmPilot; Memos uses, and within each of those directories will be the plain text files that contain the contents of your memos. To set the top level folder to which your Memos will be synchronized with, either enter it in the Memos directory edit box or select it clicking the directory picker button.

The Memo File Conduit Setup Dialog
Memo File Conduit Setup

Memo File Conduit Setup