The USENIX Program Schedule Loader was first used at LISA in December 1998. It reads events from a text file and loads them in to the datebook application of devices that are or may have been compatible with the OS for devices like those pictured above. (Actual device name and link to manufacturer removed by request of a company that may manufacture or have manufactured such devices).
The Schedule Loader is based on install-datebook, which is part of pilot-link. I used version 0.9.0 but others should work. I modified the application so that it would attach a note to the datebook entry. The old input format wasn't suitable for this so I changed it, and made it use my favorite parser, scanf, which simplified the code.
The tarball contains the following files:
COPYING: GPL
Makefile: For building the install-datebook application. You will want to modify this to reflect wherever you have installed pilot-link.
getdate.[chy]: Steve Bellovin and Rich Salz's date parser.
install-datebook.c: The source code.
libsock.diff: Try this if you have trouble with the serial port not being closed properly.
san-antonio03: Schedule used as input to the application for USENIX 2003.
Old: Schedules from previous conferences.
usenix: A shell script for automating the hotsync process. It simply runs install-datebook in a loop with the schedule file as input.
usenix.html: This blurb.
utf8to8859.c: UTF-8 to Latin-1 converter.
Here is a general outline of what you should do to set up your own USENIX Program Schedule Loader. I assume you are familiar with Unix and know how to run the compiler. If not, find someone who can.
Get and install pilot-link. Modify my Makefile to suit. Build install-datebook. Edit the schedule file and put in your schedule data. Edit the Instructions, print it out and give it to the person who will be setting up and running the equipment. Edit the "usenix" shell script if necessary. Copy all the files to the machine you'll be using. Test it before you ship it. Good luck.
Jim Rees