Increasing the Mail Truncate Value

Problem

Palm's mail application allows you to set mail truncation to a maximum value of 8000 characters. Many people would like to have a value higher than that.

Solution

Gabe Chan suggested the following procedure;

  1. Find a hex editor for Windows/Mac/Linux/whatever platform you are using
  2. Hotsync first, then check the truncate limit you've set in the Mail program. (i.e. 4000 characters)
  3. Backup your saved_preferences.prc file, at the very least.
  4. Convert this value to hex (i.e. 4000 => 0x0FA0) (FYI, 0x designates the number as hex)
  5. Now open the Saved_preferences.prc file in your backup directory and search for all occurrences of this number and record their location.
  6. Now change the truncate limit to a different value, say 8000 (or 0x1F40), hotsync, open the saved_preferences.prc file again and search for the new value. (Try not to change any thing else between hotsyncs).
  7. The value you're looking for should be in the same location as one of the values in your last search (for 4000). (I found it located somewhere between my Palm User Info and my mail signature, both of which are also stored in saved prefs)
  8. Change the value to, to be safe, something less than 32768, or 0x8000 (not sure if the value is signed or unsigned) if you're willing to chance it, try 0xFFFF, which gives you a 64K message limit.
  9. Re-install the saved_preferences.prc file.
  10. Don't blame me if you don't backup, or something else goes wrong. It worked for me :)


Back to FAQ's