The Caltrain Schedule for PalmOS®

 Caltrain Logo

last updated Sat Feb 23 13:07:03 PST 2008
Important Notice: New schedule & fares take effect March 3, 2008.  Download Version 3.9.7 now!

Send bug reports, suggestions, and comments to pgj@wrafra.net.  Please include the word "caltrain" in the subject line for faster processing.

Caltrain+

Caltrain+ has the following features:

Application last updated 24-Feb-2008:

Wishlist (suggested, contemplated, or in progress)

  • High-res screen support (currently implemented for maps only)
  • Create a conduit which reads the caltrain.com complete schedule and updates the schedule DB on the device.
  • Change alarm time after setting it
  • More intelligent date roll-over handling
  • Giants/Sharks game schedules
  • Better integration with BART & SJC airport shuttles

Alarm Information Section

Starting with Version 3.4, Caltrain+ has the ability to trigger alarms a specified number of minutes before a train departs or arrives.   This is a complex feature that bears further explanation (though the goal is to make usage as intuitive as possible).  Here are the details:
  • Alarms are recurring (e.g. for commuters who ride the train on a regular basis).  For non-recurring alarms there is already the Datebook, and this should be used.
  • To set an alarm, start by tapping a time in either the departure or arrival column of a particular train.  This brings up the detail popup window, which contains the alarm set/clear button.  The button label toggles depending on whether the alarm is set or cleared.
  • Next select the number of minutes before the train arrives/departs that you wish to be notified, using the popup to the right of the alarm set/clear button.  Currently 5-60 minutes in increments of 5 minutes is supported.  The default number of minutes may be specified in the preferences panel.
  • Once an alarm is set, the popup is locked and displays the number of minutes selected as the advance notification interval.  Clearing the alarm will unlock the popup.
  • An alarm will be triggered the specified number of minutes before every train matching the schedule class.  I.e., if an alarm is set for a M-F train, it will be triggered every weekday until cleared.
  • There is logic for detecting holidays, and an alarm that would otherwise trigger will be skipped on a holiday (e.g. a M-F alarm will not trigger on Labor Day).  The holidays recognized are limited to Xmas, Presidents's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving.
  • A train for which an alarm is set is highlighted in red/bold in the display.
  • A maximum of 4 alarms may be set concurrently.
  • The Alarms Form can be used to 1) see which alarms are set; 2) cancel individual alarms; 3) cancel all alarms.
  • This feature works best with the Attention Manager (PalmOS 4.0 or greater).  Earlier versions of Palm will work but the notification menu is crude and there is no snoozing or nagging.
  • You can only set alarms for a holiday on the day of the holiday, and those alarms will be one-shots (non-repeating).  Otherwise there are no restrictions (e.g. you can set a M-F alarm on a Saturday.

Troubleshooting & Known Problems

  • "Blank display" (Grid shown but no text): this has been reported on the Treo 600 and 650 models.  The cause has not been isolated: it seems to affect only a small number of units, and seems related to firmware (upgrading to a new firmware version has been known to both cause and solve this problem.  No known workaround
  • Resets after installing Caltrain Application.  This is occasionally seen on all models, though again the Treos seem the most susceptible.  Here are several things to try (ordered in increasing order of severity) that have been known to work on occasion:
    1. explicitly delete Caltrain app from your handheld, and try to re-install
    2. extract .prc file from the .zip archive instead of downloading directly (some browsers known to have a hard time handling .prc binaries)
    3. Clean out your Hotsync directories.  This from a user:  "I found the last two versions of the Caltrain application that I was trying to update inside the "Install" folder which was inside my User Folder.  For some reason, that application remained in that folder even after I deleted it from the handheld and from the Quick Install application.  After I deleted the .prc files from the "Install" folder and rebooted the machine, everything worked normally.  I used the Quick Install application and successfully installed the new program that I originally wanted to install"
    4. Search your system and delete all instances of the Caltrain .prc files.  Then delete Caltrain app from your handheld.  Finally download a fresh .zip, extract the .prc, and try to install that.
    5. Try using the free dbScan utility on your handheld.  You can find it here.
    6. Try (soft) resetting your handheld before attempting steps 1-5.

Related Links

Note: I have no affiliation with any of these sites.

Disclaimers & Caveats

  • Copyright info: Copyright (C) 2002-2007 by Paul Jensen (pgj@wrafra.net). This program is free software; you can redistribute it as you wish. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 

  • Corollary: Bug fixes and updates will be on a best-effort, as-time-permits basis.