This is a piece of software I have written for Palm PDAs that allows me to read my Outlook Express email when I am on the move. The main difference from the built-in Mail program in that it is able to copy emails from any of the Outlook Express folders and not just the 'Inbox'. You can also choose exactly how many emails are copied from each of the folders and the maximum number of characters to copy from each email.
If you have any questions, drop me an email
The source code available on SourceForge.
No longer maintained
Having moved away from Windows to Linux as my main desktop OS, I am no longer maintaining this Windows-only software. The source is still available on sourceforge if anyone wants it and thanks to all those who have contacted me over the few years this has been available.
Update (17th Nov 2006)
The source code for Palmlook is available at SourceForge - if anyone would like to take on the implementation of some of the requested features I would be happy for them to do so (I think the code is fairly well written and easy to update).
Update (9th Aug 2006) (v0.30)
Latest verrsion of Palmlook available - minor bug fix for anyone who couldn't get their Hotmail folders to appear.
Update (3rd May 2006) (v0.29)
Added a couple of new features to Palmlook - you can now show the email address when viewing an email and (much more usefully) export emails to Memo Pad (for editing, archiving or integrating with your GTD system).
Update (30th Mar 2006)
After a 2 year wait, whilst I didn't work on the code, there is now another new version that HotSyncs your Hotmail folders. After all that time it only took about 2 (short) evenings to do, so sorry for the delay. As always, see below to download.
By the way, I may someday decide to release this as an open-source project. What would be good to know is if there is anyone out there who would be interested enough to actually have a go at updating it? If you might be - please drop me an email, thanks.
Update (6th Jan 2004)
There is now a new version (v0.26) which has fixed several installer bugs and an incompatiability with PalmOS 5 devices, see below to download.
Features
- Allows you to read all your Outlook Express emails on the move
- Can copy emails from any of your Outlook Express folders
- You can control how many emails to copy from each folder
- You can choose to only copy unread emails
- Sort emails by Name, Subject or Date
- Search your emails with the Palm Find command
Screens
 Folders View - listing number of emails in each folder (and the number of unread emails) |
 Folders View - sub-folders can be shown or hidden using + and - symbols |
 Folder View - this shows the sender, the subject and the date for the emails |
 Sort Order - this can be easily changed to sort by Sender, Subject or Date |
 Email View - from here you can switch to previous and next emails and mark email as read |
Hotsynch Configuration Screen - here you can choose which OE account to copy emails from and how many emails to copy from each folder
Download
You can download a copy Pl030rel.zip. This includes a windows installer which will set up the Hotsync conduit.
To install: unzip the file into a suitable place and then run 'setup.exe'
To uninstall: run 'setup.exe -u'
Charity Donations
I am not charging anything for this software, however I do ask that if you like it, you consider giving a small donation (for example, £4 or $5) to a charity you want to support, and drop me an email to let me know. If you want some suggestions of charities that I like to support, why not try:
FAQ
- Q. Does Palmlook work with Thunderbird / Outlook / [insert favourite email program here]?
- A. No. I use Outlook Express for my email and do not know how to access the mail storage files for any other mail program. Maybe someday I will attempt this, but at the moment I don't have enough spare time.
- Q. Does Palmlook allow 2-way Hotsync?
- A. No. I don't have enough information about the OE email data format to risk altering the original files.
- Q. My Palm Pilot has just exploded. I lost my eyesight in the explosion, can I sue you?
- A. No. You are using this software at your own risk. I have been using it on my Hanspring Visor Edge and then my Tungsten E2 for a total of over 3 years without ever crashing my Palm or losing any data, but I can't guarantee it won't cause any damage.
Special Thanks
Thanks to Arne Schloh who wrote the oe5dbx.dll which is used to extract the emails from the Outlook Express folders. Full source code for this and information about the Outlook Express mail format can be found at http://oedbx.aroh.de/.
Please do not contact him about any problems with Palmlook as he is not involved with its development.
Links
A few sites related to Palm software and development:
- Palm Gear - download and buy Palm software
- Palm Source - lots of resources for Palm developers
- Palm OS Development FAQ