transferring flashcards

[meng]

Hello,

I studied Mandarin for a year and a half and was using a Palm Zire72 with the Basic PlecoDict. During that time I made quite a few flashcards -- okay a whole boatload. Now I have a Palm Treo650 with Pleco Dict Deluxe. I would really like to get all of my flashcards from my Zire72 to my Treo650. Anyone know if this is possible and if so how exactly to do it? I appreciate any response. Thank you

孟克德

 

[mikelove]

This is actually very easy in most cases; all you need to do is move the two data files "PlecoDict Flashcards" and "PlecoDict User DB C-E" from your Zire to your Treo. To do this, HotSync your Zire with your desktop, then open up My Computer, C, Program Files, Palm (or palmOne or Palm Desktop), and there should be a folder inside of that with your Zire's HotSync Username. Open that folder, and the "Backup" folder inside of it and those two files should be there. Copy those two files out of that folder and install them to your Treo and that should get your flashcards copied over.

Alternatively, you could use a file manager utility like FileZ to locate those two databases in your Zire's memory and beam them directly to your Treo from there via IR.

 

[meng]

i think the problem is that on my zire72 i had the oxford dictionary. now i have the plecodictionary on my treo. i did what you told me to but the file names were a little different. instead of "plecodict flashcards" there is "oxford_flashcard_database" and instead of "plecodict user db c-e" there is "oxford_database c-e". i put both of these files into my quick install and synced my treo but still do not have the flashcards in my plecodictionary on my treo. is there something i have to do within the plecodictionary software on my treo to enable or import the flashcards? i appreciate any assistance.


孟克德

 

[mikelove]

Oh, sorry, I assumed you were using the current version of PlecoDict with the Basic dictionary bundle, rather than the older Oxford Dict software.

For that, go to http://www.pleco.com/oxforddownload.html and download the "Flashcard Converter" utility. Run it, and use it to dump your flashcards to a PalmDoc file. Copy that file to your Treo, either by beaming it or by using the same HotSync / Backup folder procedure I mentioned before, then use PlecoDict's "Import" command to import the flashcards. (PalmDoc format, GB-2312 encoding settings)

 

[meng]

only simplified?

Hello. Thanks for all your help so far. I successfully transferred my flashcards from my Zire72 (using Oxford Dictionary purchased in '05) to my Treo (using PlecoDict Complete) however many of the flashcards are in short form. I primarily study the long form so if anyone knows a way to convert these flashcards to long form it would be a great help.

孟克德

 

[TaiwanSwedey]

What if all my flashcards are saved on my sd card? Could it be so simple that I just insert my sd card in the new phone, after installing pleco on the new phone?

I am using the pocket pc version. Both my old phone and new phone will be running on the Windows Mobile 5 platform.

 

[mikelove]

Are they already on the card or are you proposing to move them to the card?

If the flashcards are already on the card, it would probably be best if you moved them off of it since Windows Mobile's storage card drivers are so dreadfully unstable; however, you can certainly move them off of it onto the new phone. Just make sure PlecoDict is completely exited on the old phone (choose Quit from the Dict menu, don't just use the X), move the card over to the new one, open Start \ Programs \ File Explorer, navigate to the storage card directory and copy PlecoDict Flashcards and PlecoDict User DB from there to \\My Documents.

If you're planning to move them to the card, keeping them there while PlecoDict is running is a bad idea but you can certainly use a card to move them between Pocket PCs. As above, exit PlecoDict completely and open up File Explorer, then navigate to \\My Documents, move the Flashcards and User DB files from there to the storage card directory, move the card over to your new Pocket PC, open up File Explorer on that and move the files to the \\My Documents folder on the new device.

 

[TaiwanSwedey]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the clear instruction!

 

[donohuel]

I followed your directions to the the letter on transfering my flashcard files to my new IPAQ. After "quitting" Pleco, I copied my flashcards from my desktop to the new phones documents folder. the problem is when i activate Pleco again, it automatically generates a new flashcard.peb file which prvents PLECO from reading my tanfered files. Could you please walk me through how to fix this trick?

 

[mikelove]

Are you sure that's the right file? Normally the main reason Pleco generates a new file is because the old one is corrupted, but if it's still working correctly on your old Pocket PC then perhaps you copied over an older (and now corrupted) file instead of the one the software is currently using; make sure to move *every* .peb file from your old Pocket PC's My Documents folder to your new one.

If that doesn't help, try soft resetting both devices and repeat the process again after the reset and before opening Pleco on either one of them.

 

[donohuel]

I did what you said, and each time I start Pleco on the new device and click on new flashcard session, only the default box shows up. and when I quit the program, in my new device documents folder a new flashcards.peb and a plecodict user db ce.peb file appears next to the files I transfered over. On my old system I have not even had a crash in the year I have had it operating and with over 7500 flashcards I am very concerned I will not be able to transfer them over.

 

[mikelove]

So just to double-check, if you open up PlecoDict on your old system right now, you still have access to your full set of flashcards? In that case, the files are definitely OK, so the only question is why they're getting corrupted when you copy them to a memory card.

Anyway, the next thing I'd suggest is that you do this transfer through a desktop instead. Exit PlecoDict and soft reset your old Pocket PC again (make sure not to skip this step), then connect it to your desktop, open up My Computer and Mobile Device and copy the flashcards/user db files from there to a folder somewhere on your hard drive. Disconnect your old Pocket PC, then exit PlecoDict / soft reset your new Pocket PC, connect that to your desktop, open up My Computer and Mobile Device again, delete any flashcard/user db files in there and copy over the ones from your old Pocket PC.