Hopefully this post will save others a lot of time when searching for information on PCF files and how to extract or get at the information they contain so they can alter this information or to enable them to create PCF’s from scratch. Time saving? because hopefully all relevant info is in this post. This is aimed at the new comer, the person who may have fledgling computer skills or can use a computer but because they have bought a Pronto suddenly find they aren’t sure of things like WinZIP and WinRAR. As a result, this post is not really for those who understand this already, though their comment is always useful.

Why would you need to mess with the PCF file or understand these concepts? Because when you get the bug for really messing with a Pronto layout you may want to change system item bitmaps or know how its is possible when PENG wont let you. To be able to change these items you have to hack the PCF file!

As you will quickly find by searching these forums the PCF file created when you save your Pronto configuration is really just a compressed file using the ZIP format. It contains a folder with all the bitmaps in and a file called ConfigEdit.XML. This file contains all the other info that the Pronto needs to know so it can create your layout.

Once you are aware of this information for most peepz it is a straight forward task to access the XML file and the folder containing all the BMP images used by the pronto, either by extracting them from the ZIP file or using the data within the ZIP file to make those more troublesome changes to your masterpiece.

What is not as obvious for successful manipulation of these files, unless you know or find out the hard way are the following:

1:
Whether using WinZIP or WinRAR they MUST have the relevant comments included, use the link below to find out what they should be for your remote, or just look at the comment in an existing PCF and cut n paste:

[Link: remotecentral.com]

Neglecting this comment will result in the following error on opening your PCF:

“File seems corrupt or damaged and ProntoEdit NG cannot open it”

How to add a comment depends on the compression program you are using and is explained at points 6 & 7.

2:
If you are using WinRAR you must remember to select the archive format as ZIP (point 6) otherwise you will receive the following error when you try to open your PCF file.

“ProntoEdit NG does not recognise this file and cannot open it”

3:
Excel is one of the easiest ways to see and search the information contained in the ConfigEdit.XML file BUT you can’t make changes, save the file, even as XML and then add to a PCF file using Excel. This is because M$ add their Schema to the data causing an error when loading as in point 2.

4:
WinRAR v2.90 seems to have a problem which won’t allow you to delete the ConfigEdit.XML within the PCF this means you can save your changed ConfigEdit.XML back to an existing archive file but you will then have two of these files within the PCF file. PENG appears to use the original.

5:
Make sure the ConfigEdit.XML file is associated with the program you want to use to edit it with. Wordpad would be the preferred choice of most here. This is most important if you are going to edit the file from within the PCF file without extracting it, as when you save the changes and exit the file it will be updated in the PCF automatically.

So for example if XML files had been associated on your computer with Excel this is the program that would fire up when you double clicked ConfigEdit.XML in the archive. It would also be the format the XML file would assume when saved and would result in an error when loading.

6: Creating an archive from scratch using WinRAR
Select the ConfigEdit.XML and bitmaps folder, once highlighted right click on either to get the context menu open. Left mouse click “add to archive”

The “archive name and parameters” window will open, MAKE SURE the archive format is set to ZIP. Once this is done change the archive name so it has a .PCF extension. Now click on the “comment” tab and enter the correct comment for your remote in the “enter comment manually” box.

If you are going to do this a lot WinRAR has a neat feature that allows you to load comments from a file.

Once this is done click “ok” and a working PCF file should result.

7: Creating an archive from scratch using WinZIP
Select the ConfigEdit.XML and bitmaps folder, once highlighted right click on either to get the context menu open. Left mouse click “WinZip” then left mouse click “add to Zip File”.

This will open the “add” window. Change the archive name or add it to the end of the line found in the “add to archive” box so it has a .PCF extension (check or change the path so you know where to find this archive) then click “add”. The “winzip” main window will then open detailing the files you added to the archive. Next add the relevant comment. To do this either use the short cut, “shift + G” or click “actions” then “comment”.

Click “close” and “yes” to the window informing you the comments have altered then close WinZIP and a working PCF file should result.

9: To open a PCF
To extract or work on the files within without extracting them, right mouse click the .PCF file, Left mouse click “open with” and select your compression program. I’ll leave you to work out how to extract them but whether using WinZIP or WinRAR if you double click the files within the archive they will open without the need to extract.

10: View the all important “comment” of a PCF file
In WinRAR just open the PCF in WinRAR and the right hand pane of the main WinRAR screen will contain the comments you need.

In WinZIP, the comment window will open on opening the PCF file in WinZIP. If not use the short cut, “shift + G” or click “actions” then “comment”.

Finally:
These explanations assume default installation settings of the relevant packages mentioned and don’t cover the many ways to achieve the same task. Most of what is covered here can be found in other topics but not always in the same detail.

If it helps one person this was worth it :)