HWiki - A Palm-based Wiki that uses TWiki Syntax

I sometimes use my Palm to draft TWiki topics and have had passing interest in Palm-based wikis such as MegaWiki. I was checking out a new one, HWiki, developed by Hexlet LCC and was surprised/pleased to see mention that they use TWiki internally. So I checked out HWiki's syntax and lo and behold if it isn't a direct subset to TWiki's TextFormattingRules. The formatting it offers includes Separators (bars), Heading levels, Lists, Numbered list, Bulleted lists, WikiWord links, Forced links, Named links, URL links, Email links, and excaping WikiWords (nop) - and they all mirror TWiki's syntax perfectly. Pretty sweet.

Now, if we could just sync the Palm memo data (which HWiki uses) with a TWiki installation...

-- LynnwoodBrown - 29 Jan 2004

yes - we can sync with memo data using http://www.pilot-link.org/

I'll look at writing some supporting scripts

(what platforms do you need? (i'm using Linux at home only))

I just downloaded the Trial, and i have a few issues.

1. no support for SEARCH
2. tables break
3. META data causes problems (and so does the smal size of memos)

(I think i might prefer MegaWiki as it is open source, and we could modify it - but i am going to try HWiki out )

-- SvenDowideit - 29 Jan 2004

HWiki does have a number of limitations, particularly in comparison with MegaWiki. However, my experience with MegaWiki is that it has so many options that its overwhelming just to set up. Also, MegaWiki development seems to have stalled for the past year or so and I can't find any explanation why either on the site or listserv.

In the end, I think I'm looking for a fairly low level of integration between TWiki and a Palm wiki. I imagine setting up a web specifically for Palm topics to sync with my handheld. I'd keep both the number and size of topics there small. I see it more like a transfer point. The main virtue of HWiki is simply that its syntax is closer to TWiki's than is MegaWiki's. I have no idea what would be involved with modifying MegaWikis syntax to make it closer to TWiki.

Regarding syncing between either of these Palm-wikis and TWiki, the main issue I see is that Memo entries on the Palm are stored in one db file rather than separate text files so we need a way to separate out the individual records as separate files. I haven't found any program that does that. Do you think pilot-link is up to it? I have found one Palm program, MacNoteTaker, that does store individual memo-like entries in separate files and syncs these into a directory structure on the desktop. This would make syncing with TWiki pretty easy (if we ignore CVS issues for now). As the name suggest, it's Mac-Only and it lacks wikiness.

To answer your other question, I use Mac OSX mostly but also have a windows lap top (which I've been toying with converting to Linux).

One last thought is that since Hexlet uses TWiki, perhaps we could interest them in helping link the two.

-- LynnwoodBrown - 29 Jan 2004

We, at Hexlet LLC will gladly listen for your suggestions. We are very open and would like to make HWiki useful and popular product. Please let us know how we can improve it.

To answer some previous remarks:

1. HWiki does use TWiki syntax, but not TWiki code - it was developed in house from scratch. We tried to follow Wiki syntax closely, but some small differencies are possible. If you will notice some, please let us know. We do not have web HWiki component, and try to provide TWiki compatibility so people could sync with TWiki webs.

2. Tables support is not implemented yet.

3. Search is in plans for future versions

4. Could you please give us example how META breaks HWiki? We will try to fix this ASAP.

Synchronization with PC is still an open issue. Writing HotSync conduits for different platforms is huge task and we are not up to it, yet. We would rather concentrate now on Palm part.

If you are using Unix (MaxOS, Linux) there is perl module which will allow to write memo DB to txt converter easily (it is on CPAN).

We will gladly put links (and even host download) of HWiki related tools on our site.

Unfortunately, we could not give away HWiki for free, we invested money in developing it. However we can provide number of free copies to developers interested in developing conduits and other related tools for HWiki. Email to support@hexletPLEASENOSPAM.com if you plan to develop such module/conduit.

-- VadimZaliva - 25 Feb 2004

This product is now being distributed by another company as AcroWiki. See that topic for notes on further developments.

-- LynnwoodBrown - 09 Oct 2004