January 20, 2003
READ ME for textToVCard
written by Tyler Wong
neoncap@sharkfeeder.com
http://www.sharkfeeder.com
http://www.sharkfeeder.com/ipod



VERSION REPORT

1.0.1 - Increased buffer size for reading lines from source file to
10,000 characters.   Made minor improvement to handling end of files.

1.0.2 - Fixed hyphen handling.  Increased "type" string length to 7.

1.0.3 - Improved handling of long text strings containing punctuation,
for example, URLs.  Increased allowable size of contact name.

1.0.4 - A change in the iPod firmware dictated a slight change in the way
contact names are handled.  I also experimented with putting the text in
the org field instead of the e-mail field, but I found that text
formatted as such scrolled much more slowly.


DESCRIPTION

textToVCard is an application written for Macintosh PPC.  It converts
textfiles to VCard format, which can be displayed by the iPod.  Unlike
some scripts I've seen, this program can convert files of any practical
size.  The key is that it uses the e-mail fields, the number of which
iPod imposes no limitations.

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional, or even a good, programmer, so this
program might be bugfilled, inefficient, user-unfriendly, etc.  I will
say that it has worked for me with no problems.  Any and all comments are
welcome, suggestions, bug reports, condescension, offers to help, etc.




HOW TO USE THIS PROGRAM

Open the file called "filelist.txt" with a text editor and, on each line,
type in the name of a file you wish to convert, and the name you wish to
use for the converted file.  The converted file should have a .vcf extension. 

Example:


todolist.txt tasklist.vcf
notesoncatcare.txt catnotes.vcf


Once you run the program, the console will tell you which files have
successfully been converted.  When you quit the program, it will ask if
you want to save the text on the console.  Click "Don't Save".

Copy the files with the .vcf extension over to the contacts folder on
your iPod.  It might be a good idea to open the .vcf files in a text
editor and look it over to see if there is anything about the format you
want to change.

Warning: Non-standard and control characters in textfiles may yield
unpredictable results.  



FEATURES

The program works very nicely as is, so feel free to stop reading and
start using.   However, if you want to customize the appearance of the
contact, you can do so within your source textfile by starting a line
with a command.  (See the sample source textfiles for
examples.)  Available commands are:



.title [name]

This will set the title of the file.  [name] will show up in the contact
list as well as at the top of the document.  The program will only read
the first 20 characters of [name].

The default value of the title is "TextToVCardFile".  Note that it may be
a good idea to start your title with punctuation so it shows up at the
top of your contacts window.



.indent [number]

This will set the number of indented spaces.  For example, if you had the
line:


The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog, and the lazy frog.


If you set the indentation to 2, the program would convert this line so
that it would appear on your ipod like this:


The quick brown fox jumped
  over the lazy dog, and
  the lazy frog.

  
If you set the indentation to 5, it would appear on your ipod like this:


The quick brown fox jumped
     over the lazy dog, 
     and the lazy frog
     
     
Default value is 1.


     
.documentwidth [number]

This will set the pixel width of the document that appears on your
iPod.  The screen width of an iPod is 160 pixels, though only about 147
of them are actually available for use.  In other words, I don't
recommend setting it higher than 147.  

Default value is 144.



.defaultcharwidth [value]

This will set the pixel width of any non-standard character the program
encounters in the source textfile.

Default value is 8.



.smartindent [number]

This will turn on or off "smart indent."  Any value other than 0 will be
treated as "on".

 When smart indent is on, the program identifies and adjusts for
indentations in the textfile.  For example, let's say you had the
following lines in the source textfile:


reasons why i should quit my job and backpack through south america
    1. i just bought a really cool backpack that has many snack pouches
    


With an indentation of 2 spaces, and smart indent turned off, it will
appear on your ipod something like this:


reasons why i should quit my 
  job and backpack through
  south america
    1. i just bought a really
  cool backpack that has many
  snack pouches


With smart indent turned on, it would appear like this:


reasons why i should quit my 
  job and backpack through
  south america
    1. i just bought a really
      cool backpack that has 
      many snack pouches