Diabetes Pilot : Software for Diabetes

A backup of your data can be useful in many situations. For example:

• Your handheld lost its memory contents due to running out of battery power.
• You got a new handheld and want to transfer your data to the new device
• You accidentally erased your data somehow

We recommend backing up your data periodically. There are several different methods for backing up your data:

• Using Diabetes Pilot Desktop to back up your data
• Backup with a third-party backup program
• Exporting your data

Each of these methods is described below.

Using Diabetes Pilot Desktop to back up your data

When you use our Diabetes Pilot Desktop software (sold separately), your data can be synchronized automatically the Palm and Desktop software each time you HotSync. This gives you a copy of your data that you can access directly on your desktop computer. This is particularly useful if your handheld should become lost or damaged. Click here for more information on using Diabetes Pilot Desktop with your handheld.

Backup with a third-party backup program

You may wish to use a third-party backup program to back up all of the data on your handheld. "Backup Buddy" is one such program - it's available at www.backupbuddy.com. We have no relationship with the manufacturer of this program, but have had good experience with it.

Typically, Palm backup programs will copy your data when you do a HotSync. The data is stored on your computer as a Palm database file that can be reinstalled to your handheld, but cannot otherwise be used on your desktop computer.

This backup file for Diabetes Pilot is called "Diabetes_Pilot_Data.pdb". The exact location depends on the particular configuration of your computer and software. Typically, the file will be located in a subfolder of where your Palm desktop data is stored. If you should ever need it, the easiest way to find this file is to use the file search function on your computer (on the PC: from the "start" button select "search", then "files or folders") and search for the file "Diabetes_Pilot_Data.pdb".

The food database is backed up separately. To find the food database file, search for the file "Diabetes_Pilot_Foods.pdb", following the instructions above.

If you wish to maintain periodic backups from further back than just your last HotSync, we suggest that you make a copy of the backup file to another location occasionally. We recommend that you copy the backup file to another location (such as a floppy disk or another folder on your desktop computer) before upgrading to a new version of the program.

Restoring your backup data

Once you have located this file, it can be installed to your handheld. This will restore your Diabetes Pilot data. To install the backup file and restore your data, follow the instructions with your backup software. Or, with some setups, you can follow the steps below:

1. Open the Palm Install tool. (This is usually located on your computer in the Start Menu, under "Programs", then under "Palm Desktop".)
2. In the Palm Install Tool, click on "Add..." You will be prompted for a file. Locate the backup file and select it. Click "Open".

Depending on the circumstances, you may also need to restore the Diabetes Pilot program file and food database in addition to restoring your data. Click here for instructions on downloading and installing the program and original food database.

If you have a backup copy of your personal food database, you can restore it by following the instructions above with the "Diabetes_Pilot_Foods.pdb" file.

Backing up your data by exporting it

Diabetes Pilot also allows you to back up your data by exporting it to the Palm memo pad. This type of backup is useful because it provides you with a copy of most of your data in a format that you can read completely independently of Diabetes Pilot. Exporting your data is also a useful way to get the data into other programs for analysis and sharing with your doctor. However, this method of backup will not allow you to restore your data in Diabetes Pilot.

This feature is intended for experts or those with special circumstances. Transferring your data to your desktop computer is much simpler with our Diabetes Pilot Desktop software. We recommend using our Desktop software to transfer your data, rather than this export function.

Diabetes Pilot allows you to transfer your data from your handheld to other programs on your desktop computer. This feature is useful for showing the data to your doctor, printing it, analyzing it, graphing trends, making a backup or permanent record of the data, and other purposes.

The export functions allows you to get the data out of Diabetes Pilot and into any other program. Here is one way that these feature can be used:

1. Launch Diabetes Pilot and display the records that you want to transfer by using the filter controls at the top of the main screen.
2. Choose "Export Data to MemoPad" or "Export Meals to MemoPad" from the reports menu. Select the details you would like included in the message box that appears. The records will be exported to the Palm MemoPad.
3. HotSync your handheld with your computer. This will transfer the memopad entry to the corresponding location on your computer. The exact location will vary depending on your particular setup. If you're using the standard "Palm Desktop" program (or an equivalent), it will be in the memo portion of the Palm Desktop program. If you've set up your palm to sync memos with Outlook or another program, then you should find the memo in the memo section of that program.
4. Find and open the memo on your computer (see above).
5. Highlight all of the text of the memo. Then, select "copy" from the edit menu. Alternately, (this is generally easier) click on the highlighted text with the right mouse button and select "copy".

Now, you can paste the data into whatever desktop program you would like. Microsoft Word or Excel are good candidates, but there are many other possibilities. We generally prefer Excel for working with data tables, but there's nothing wrong with using Word (or any other program) if you're more familiar with it.

Here are some specific instructions for these programs:

Microsoft Word

1. Start Word. Select "Paste" from the "Edit" menu. The data will be pasted into your document.
2. If you'd like to format the data as a nice table, highlight the text you just pasted (by holding down the mouse button and dragging) and go to the "Table" menu. Select "Convert", then "Text to Table".
3. A window will appear. Choose "Separate text at commas" and click ok. Your data should be formatted into a nice table. You can then edit, print, and save the document however you'd like.

Excel

1. Start Excel. Select "Paste" from the "Edit" menu. The data will be pasted into your document. Excel should paste the data should into individual cells automatically. You can then edit, format, print, and chart the data however you'd like.
2. If for some reason the data is not automatically separated into individual cells when you paste it, highlight the pasted data in Excel. Then, from the "data" menu, select "text to columns". Choose "delimited", then "next", then "comma", then "finish". The data will be separated into cells.