All you need to do is replicate your important desktop files to My Docs Online, an operation that is now as easy as dragging and dropping your My Documents folder to your My Docs Online Web Folder. Then when you're on the go with your modem-equipped Palm you can wirelessly access your files for delivery to anyone.
The email message is sent by the My Docs Online server using your email address in the "From" address, and includes a "Subject" and a short message you can optionally enter on the Palm.
Viewing a File
You can also select a file from your My Docs Online account to actually download to your Palm wirelessly. The file types supported by this feature are limited to those which the Palm's browser can support, such as HTML or Text. My Docs Online will attempt to deliver ANY file you select for viewing, so use caution regarding file types and file size. To assist you in making careful use of file Viewing the size of each file (in kilobytes) is noted beside the filename in each list of files.
The Basics
After login a page displays a list of all your My Docs Online Folders. Each Folder Name is a link. When you tap a Folder Name link a new transmission to the My Docs Online server returns a list of all Files in that folder. A File may then be selected using the radio button next to the file name to "View" or "Send". To Send a File as an attachment enter the recipient's email address, modify the default Subject and message if you need to and tap "Send File". My Docs Online will send the email and attachment on your behalf. When you tap "Send File" or "View" a final transmission is sent to My Docs Online, which will return a short message confirming the results of a "Send", or will download the file itself to your Palm if you selected "View".
Of course, to use My Docs Online for Wireless PDAs you must first have a My Docs Online account, which can be established from your desktop PC by signing up for www.mydocsonline.com. It is also important to know that "Send File" using My Docs Online for Wireless PDAs differs from "Give File" using the regular desktop version of My Docs Online. The desktop My Docs Online provides access to given files via the browser-based interface or Web Folders, in the "Files From Others" section of the product. The Wireless PDA version sends an actual email with the file attached.
Step-by-Step Details
The Login Screen
The Login screen (www.mydocsonline.com/palm.htm) includes two enterable fields, a checkbox, and one button. The enterable fields are for the My Docs Online ID and password. Remember Me, if checked, enables Folder and File Lists to be accessed for sending attachments from your browser's History List, even days later, without first logging in.
Folder List
After login a Web page will display a list of all your My Docs Online Folders. Each Folder containing one or more files is a link. Tap the link to display a list of all Files in that folder. The size of the returned Folder List depends on how many folders you have created. The number of files in each Folder is shown in parentheses to help you predict the approximate size of the transmission which will be required to access and display a particular Folder's list of files.
File List
The File List for each folder displays a list of all files in the Folder and the size in kilobytes of each file. A File is selected by tapping the radio button next to the File Name.
Sending a File
If you select a File to Send to someone, you must also enter the Recipient's email address in the "To" field. The "Subject" field default is "File attached" and you can modify it if you wish. The "Message" field default is "Please see attached file" which you can add to or modify as well, for a total of up to 250 characters to be included as the text body of the email sent with your file.
Viewing a File
To View a file (download it to your Palm) select the File, then tap the "View" button. When you choose to "View" a file, My Docs Online will attempt to download it to your PDA, regardless of file type, so be careful! Check the file type by looking at its extension. Plain Text files receive special treatment, and will usually be broken into pieces of about 600 characters, with a "More..." link at the bottom which can be tapped to download the next segment of the file. Large non-text files may exceed the capacity of your Palm, and any but the smallest files will also incur significantly increased wireless network usage.
The best candidates for Viewing are text files and some small HTML files.
History List
By checking Remember Me at Login you enable My Docs Online to process Folder List and File List screens from your History List, even days after they were received from My Docs Online. This allows you, for instance, to directly select a file to Send to someone, by accessing the File List from the History List and entering a new recipient email address. This allows the action to be performed with a single transmission between the PDA and My Docs Online.
This delayed use of File Lists does require that the files referenced still exist in your My Docs Online account at the time you perform the operation.
File Organizing Strategies
To minimize the number and size of wireless interactions with the My Docs Online server, consider creating a modest number of Folders in your My Docs Online account (using a regular desktop PC and browser). This will allow you to have a reasonable number of files in each folder (usually about a dozen) so that displaying the Folder List and any particular File List will not result in an overly large page being downloaded. You can also place your most important files (ones you might need to send to someone) in a Folder by themselves.
Contacting My Docs Online
Additional information is available on the My Docs Online Web Site at www.mydocsonline.com, via email to support@mydocsonline.com, or by telephone at (941) 495-1181.