PRC (Palm OS)
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PRC (Palm Resource Code) is a container format for code
database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
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Palm OS Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...
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Garnet OS Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...
and
Access Linux Platform The Access Linux Platform (ALP) is a discontinued open-source software based operating system, once referred to as a "next-generation version of the Palm OS," for mobile devices developed and marketed by Access Co., of Tokyo, Japan. The platform ...
. Its structure is similar to PDB databases.N. Rhodes, J. McKeehan. Palm OS Programming, Second Edition, O'Reilly, 2001, . Usually, a PRC file is a flat representation of a Palm OS application that is stored as forked database on the PDA. PRC files are also used by the
Mobipocket Mobipocket SA was a French company incorporated in March 2000 that created the .mobi e-book file format and produced the Mobipocket Reader software for mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA) and desktop operating systems. The Mobipoc ...
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
-reader (here sometimes referred to as MOBI formatMobileRead Wiki
Reference for the MOBI format
/ref>). The AZW format of Amazon's Kindle reading device is in turn a
DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement militai ...
-restricted form of the Mobipocket format. On Palm OS, PRC files are used for applications, localized resources (overlays) and shared libraries.


Structure of PRC file

In its essence, a PRC file is similar to a
classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The ...
application. It contains a PRC header, PRC resource headers and PRC resources.Theodore Ts'o (2000
The PRC Format.
Accessed on 2009-03-07


PRC Header

The PRC header is located at the beginning of the file and contains meta-information on the file:


PRC Resource Header

For every resource (specified by num_records), there is a resource header containing:


PRC Resources

Every application contains al least a Code #0 resource with size information and jump tables, a Code #1 resource with executable code and data resources containing pre-initialized values of global variables in compressed form. Other resources that may be contained are forms, form objects, alerts and multimedia data, e. g. images and sounds.


References

{{Reflist Computer file formats Palm OS