Quizzler Pictures

Adding Pictures to a Quiz

When creating a quiz that uses pictures, you need to create another Palm database file that contains all the pictures. Your quiz file will reference the picture database file, and both files are required when taking the quiz.

You must own a copy of Quizzler Pro to create a quiz that contains pictures. Once created, any version of Quizzler (free or Pro) can be used to take the quiz.

How to add pictures to your Quizzler quiz

When writing/creating the actual quiz, a special tag is required at the end of the question for which you'd like to add a picture.

For example, here is a sample quiz question with a picture tag added:

------------
According to this picture, which direction is Loganville?##QuizPictures:3000
north;south;east;west
------------

You'll notice on our example that directly after the question, a tag called “##QuizPictures:4” was added. By adding this tag, you are telling your quiz to look for the picture database named "QuizPictures" and display picture number 3000.

Now we need to create the other picture database file...

NEW: Link to JPEG Files

New with version 2.6, you can link to a JPEG image in native file format (i.e. not contained within a .PDB file). As long as the target device has a memory card to store the image, this is by far the easiest method to include pictures and you can read no farther past this section!

Here is an example of linking to a JPEG image file (notice there is no number after the filename; files may only contain one image):

What type of fruit is this?##fruits.jpg
an apple;a peach;a plum

Due to the way the PalmOS works, JPEG images (in native format, not within a .PDB file) may only be stored on a memory card, so that is where Quizzler will look to find the picture. Specifically, you need to place JPEG images inside this directory on the external storage card: /DCIM. If you use the Palm Install tool to place the image file on the card, that is where it will be placed automatically. Perhaps a future version of Quizzler will support JPEG files in main memory; check our web site for the latest info.

The JPEG file must be stored in native format (ending with .JPG or .JPEG) and fit within the Palm screen. Larger files can be loaded but will be clipped to fit the screen. You also need to install "JpegLib.prc" to display the pictures (this file is free and comes with Quizzler 3.6).

Creating the Picture Resource Database

There are two general techniques you can use to create the picture database file:

option 1 - Create a resource database. This method is more simple and supports more types of pictures. You need Quizzler version 3.23 or later. Instructions are below.
option 2 - Create a non-resource database. This is the original method required when pictures were first introduced with Quizzler version 2.5. This is slightly more complicated, requires third party software, and pictures are more limited. Instructions are given on this other page for this technique.

There are a variety of third party tools that will convert pictures from common desktop formats (like GIF, BMP, or JPEG) into a Palm bitmap format that can be read by Quizzler. You can install these tools on your desktop computer, or even do the conversion online which works with any platform. We will mention some of these third party tools here and tell you how to use them.

When you create a resource database, you will add pictures to the file and give each picture a number, or "ID". This is the number you use to refer to a particular image, like the "3000" in the example above. You must begin numbering your pictures with resource ID's of 1000 and higher.

Quizzler will display your picture in a window that is 160 x 160 pixels, so your images should be sized appropiately. Some third party tools will do the scaling for you if your image is too large. Your images can be in full color or black and white, but keep in mind that not all devices can display color and color images take up more space.

Third Party Image Creation Tools

There is a third party utility called "OpenLogoHack" that allows you to display images on your Palm device at certain times. Conveniently, the same tools provided to create Open Logo Hack image databases will work with Quizzler, too. Note: you don't need to install OpenlogoHack, you will just use one of the tools for it.

Online image converter - This tool lets you upload images to a web site, and the image database is created and downloaded to your desktop. Pretty simple! Here are instructions for using this online tool:

Go to this web page: olh.sourceforge.net/convert/index.html
Enter the number of images you want in your image database, then press the "Start" button.
For "Output", choose "Open Logo Hack Database"
Select the appropriate "Screensize", and enter anything you want for "DB Comment".
For each image, or "Slot", you need to select a file and enter some information. The "Display Name" field is not used by Quizzler, so just make something up.
Press the "Convert Images" button, and a file called "logo.pdb" containing your images will be downloaded to your computer. All the pictures you convert using this tool will begin numbering at 3000. For example, the third picture will be number 3002.
Follow instructions below to set the picture database name to something more appropriate.

We will list other third party tools such as PilRC after we have a chance to test and document how to use them

Setting The Picture Database Name

You will need to set the picture database name to something unique for your own use. Keep in mind that the filename that you see on your desktop is not necessarily the same as the image database name as it appears on your Palm device.The Palm name is stored internally. For example, when you use the OpenLogoHack tool described above, the filename is called "logo.pdb" but when you install this on a Palm device, the name is "OlHaLogos".

There is another third party tool called "Filez" that will allow you to examine the details of any file, and change its name. You can download this tool from PalmGear.com or Handango.com and run it on your Palm device. (There are many other similar tools available which run on either your desktop or handheld.) Make sure the real Palm name matched the name that you have in your quiz file, or Quizzler won't be able to display the picture.