PDB(4)

💾 PDB(4) — bestie's guide to the Pilot Database file format

okay so this is the manual page for PDB(4) — yes that's the section-4 one, the file format one, not a command you can just run 💅. It's giving "archaeology of your old Palm Pilot" and honestly? iconic.

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✨ NAME ✨

PDB — the (Pilot Database) file format. that's it, that's the name, no notes 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

here's the whole shape of it, bestie. copy it exactly, don't freestyle:

#define dmDBNameLength    32/* 31 chars + 1 null terminator */

struct pdb_header {       /* 78 bytes total */
     char   name[ dmDBNameLength ];
     Word   attributes;
     Word   version;
     DWord  create_time;
     DWord  modify_time;
     DWord  backup_time;
     DWord  modificationNumber;
     DWord  appInfoID;
     DWord  sortInfoID;
     char   type[4];
     char   creator[4];
     DWord  id_seed;
     DWord  nextRecordList;
     Word   numRecords;
};

struct pdb_rec_header {   /* 8 bytes total */
     DWord  offset;
     struct {
            int delete    : 1;
            int dirty     : 1;
            int busy      : 1;
            int secret    : 1;
            int category  : 4;
     }      attributes;
     char   uniqueID[3];
}

look at all those fields. she's structured. she's organized. she knows exactly what she is. ✨

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So the PDB (Pilot Database) file format is what literally every model of the Palm Pilot and the IBM Workpad uses. no exceptions, bestie, it's the whole vibe.

The format is a little sandwich, and here's the layering:

1. a header
2. a set of record headers
3. the records themselves

in that order. periodt. 💅

🔤 Word Sizes 🔤

In the SYNOPSIS up there, the types `Byte`, `Word`, and `DWord` get used exactly the way they are in the Pilot headers. so let's break it down:

• `Byte` is 8 bits
• `Word` is 16 bits
• `DWord` is 32 bits

and the last two? big-endian format. yes, big-endian. the way that endianness matters here… iykyk 😭

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💀 CAVEATS 💀

not me having to deliver the bad news, but bestie you NEED to know these:

1. The C structures given in the SYNOPSIS above are illustrative and most likely will not work in actual C code, because compilers align data members on word boundaries. so like… they're a vibe, not a compile target. 🙈
2. The PDB file format presented here is not official — it was written back when the PDB file format wasn't public. It is possibly outdated. The official standard is available on the Palm web page. (check SEE ALSO 👇)

fr fr, if you're building something real, go find the official spec. this page is the girlies' best-effort reconstruction, not the law. 🎀

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

go read these, bestie, they're the whole friend group:

• txt2pdbdoc(1)
• html2pdbtxt(1)
• pdbtxt2html(1)
• doc(4)

also, on the reference shelf:

• Palm Computing Inc. Palm File Format Specification, 2000.
• http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/docs/fileformats/front.html

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🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

Paul J. Lucas <pauljlucas@mac.com> Updated by Erik Schanze <eriks@debian.org>

two authors, one legendary file format. we love a collab. 💜

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and that's the page, bestie!! this one came from the txt2pdbdoc crew and it's dated August 20, 2005 — an absolute vintage moment. mwah, go read the official spec, stay big-endian, and slay 💅✨🎀