MIDP Download
Note: please bookmark this page! This is your unique download directory for your purchase of PCDecisions. Also please note that some browsers don't recognize these file-types and will attempt to display them rather than prompt you to save the file. If that happens (you see garbled characters on the screen) you should right-click the same link and "save" the target file instead. Be sure to note into which folder you save the downloaded files, so that you can find them again and double-click them to install.
Quick Start
If you're the "I know all this stuff, just gimme the files" type, here you go:- Latest Palm Treo, Tungsten and Zire devices: you need this (T5 owners: there's
a direct link to it [Websphere] from your CDROM) and this.
- All other Palm devices: this and this.
- All other MIDP-2.0 devices: this (must download directly onto the device, that is, OTA [over-the-air] deployment)
- All other MIDP-1.0 devices: this (must download directly onto the device, that is, OTA [over-the-air] deployment)
- All other Palm devices: this and this.
definitions at the bottom of this
document.
PalmOS devices
Step one: obtaining the J9 VM*
For devices that are supported by PalmOne: Treo 600 and Treo 650 smartphones, Tungsten C, Tungsten T5, Tungsten T3, Tungsten E, and Zire 72 handhelds -- PalmOne has its own release of IBM's J9 MIDP virtual machine. If you have a Treo 650, a Tungsten T5, or a Zire 72, you may download and install the J9 MIDP VM* from http://www.palmone.com/us/support/jvm/ (T5 owners: on the Software CDROM that came with your device, choose Websphere). If you have one of the others mentioned in the above list, but not one of the three for which they provide free downloads, they have an unsupported download, with instructions, at http://www.palm.com/us/support/jvm/download.html (also has Macintosh installation instructions). If you'd rather get a supported version, they offer it for sale at their online store. Follow Palm's instructions for extracting and installing J9.
Step two: installing the Rules of Golf
Important: if you have previously installed the 2004-2005 or any beta version of PCDecisions, it is strongly recommended that you remove it prior to installing the new version. Though the update should overwrite the previous installation, many customers have found that either the old version remains after what appeared to be a successful installation, or the old version got deleted and the new version did not install.Then install the Rules from j9rulesui.prc. If your download system is set up correctly, it should automatically be scheduled for hotsync. If not, you will have to set it up manually using the Palm Desktop or Install Tool that came with your Palm. If your Palm device has a browser and wireless internet access, you can download the file directly from this page onto your palm, and bypass the desktop computer altogether.
Running the Rules program
For all cases, once installation is complete you should see a "Rules of Golf" option in your program listing on the Palm. Select it, wait a few seconds depending on processor speed, and you should see the main screen beginning with "INDEX, ETIQUETTE, DEFINITIONS..."; please be patient, especially with large "screens" such as the Index, as they can take some time to load. Pressing the "back" button more than once while these screens are loading can cause you to inadvertently exit the program. The format of the program was made to emulate a web browser as much as possible, with links underlined; any line not underlined does not link to anything.
Known Issues
- People have reported that long "screens" such as the index take a long time to scroll using the stylus on the up-and-down arrows presented on-screen. We recommend instead using the rocker or scrollwheel built into most PalmOS devices and some other smartphones and PDAs that support MIDP.
Other MIDP devices
There is a plethora of smartphones, including Symbian-operated devices, which have the necessary MIDP virtual machine necessary to run our Rules program. To install the Rules on such a device, it needs to be capable of over-the-air installation (known as OTA). The program for a MIDP-2.0 device (all modern smartphones) is j9rulesui.jar, which is automatically installed by the j9rulesui.jad file pointed to by the link. You must click this link from the phone itself, not from your PC, in order for the deployment to work, unless you have software installed on your PC which knows what to do with this file. For older devices, we also have a MIDP-1.0 program, rulesui.jar.Updates
The email address you supplied to us will be used to notify you of bugfixes and program updates only. Downloading this software constitutes your assent to such notification. If you wish to also be notified of other products which may be of interest to you, or you do not wish to receive any notifications whatsoever, please let us know using the contact information available at the "Contact" link to the left.Definitions
- J2ME: Java 2 Micro Edition, a scaled-down Java runtime environment (JRE)
for resource-strapped devices like PDAs and cellphones.
- J9: IBM's line of J2ME Virtual Machines, available for PalmOS and Pocket PC among others.
- JRE: Java Runtime Environment. For purposes of this document, same as Java Virtual Machine, see VM below.
- VM: Virtual Machine. Examples: J2SE, J2ME, MIDP, Personal Java, Ewe, Waba. A virtual machine runs on a "real" machine such as a PDA or desktop computer, and allows programs written in the language of the virtual machine to run. A "techie" will find fault with this description but it's close enough for purposes of this document.
- J9: IBM's line of J2ME Virtual Machines, available for PalmOS and Pocket PC among others.