by Leigh Edwards
Out of print
Programming Psion Computers is now out of print. However, in response to demand from readers, for a limited time EMCC Software offered the complete book as a free download in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format.
Books about Programming
Besides Psion's guide to programming in OPL (available to download in PDF) there are a number of very useful books on programming your Psion or Symbian device.
Programming
Psion Computers
A comprehensive guide to programming the full range of Psion computers in OPL16, OPL32, C & C++, OVAL, Assember and Macros.
My rating now 5/5 since they've made it available on-line!
Professional
Symbian Programming: Mobile Solutions on the EPOC Platform
Now limited availablity
by Martin Tasker, Jonathan Allin, Jonathan Dixon, Mark Shackman, John
Forrest, et al
(Wrox Press, 2000) ISBN: 186100303X
£36.99
This book has had varied reports from brilliant to very confusing. It is written exclusively for the EPOC32 environment, and as such I haven't read it being a good EPOC16 boy!
Code
Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction
by Steve C. McConnell
(Microsoft Press International, 1993) ISBN 1556154844
£22.99
This book is not about programming Psions in particular but on best practices about programming in any language. The second edition is currently being written by Steve McConnell.
"This is the Bible of Software development. It is language-independent and offers guidance on developing software projects, from design, preparation through coding and on to distribution.
It is packed with plenty of tips, for example distinguish global variables from local variables by prefixing them with a "g_", e.g. "g_score%".
If you want to improve your programming practices then this is the book to read. - My rating 5/5."
Psion OPL Programming Manual
by Psion
Electronic formats only
While there was a programming OPL manual available in print for the Psion Series 3a (which I should get my hands on shortly, having won it on eBay UK) the latest, updated version is only available in a number of electronic formats.
It is a very good and easy introduction to programming your Psion.
Download
The Psion OPL Programming Manual is available for free download in a number of formats (all downloads are zipped):
 |
SIBO Data .DBF | (253 KB) |  |
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EPOC R5 Help application | (196 KB) | |
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Windows Help | (198 KB) | |
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MS Word .DOC | (665 KB) | |
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ASCII Text | (182 KB) | |
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HTML | (117 KB) | |
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(1,820 KB) | |
OPL Manual in PDF
This version is dated 1997 and covers programming the Siena, Series 3 and Series 5 machines, though no doubt much will also apply to the Workabout, Revo, Series 7 and NetPad.
The whole manual can be downloaded as one zipped file (see above). I have printed out the whole manual on A4 and have it bound, for reference.
View
You will require Adobe Acrobat (Reader) 4.0+, or the newer Adobe
Reader (which is free) installed in order to view these files
in your browser, and indeed on your computer!
Clicking each link, below, will open the file in your browser if you have an Acrobat plug-in.
Download
To simply download each chapter, right-click a link below
and select "Save Target As..." to download them without opening them
in your browser.
|
Whole manual | (1,820 KB) |
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ch 1: introduction | (47 KB) |
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ch 2: basics | (216 KB) |
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ch 3: database | (114 KB) |
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ch 4: gui | (278 KB) |
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ch 5: disks | (38 KB) |
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ch 6: programs | (77 KB) |
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ch 7: errors | (84 KB) |
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ch 8: advanced | (351 KB) |
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ch 9: glossary | (493 KB) |
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appendices | (203 KB) |
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series 5 opx | (255 KB) |
OPL Manual on-line
The OPL Manual is also available on-line (in HTML format) at
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