Newt's Cape: Revision History

Newt's Cape 1.5 (21 Jan 98)

1.5p/final

• 2.x: saving a document or form data to Notes should now be exportable via Newton Connection Utilities
• package saving now recognizes Compressed preference
• 2.x: Bookmarks:Remove All removes all bookmarks from current soup; Bookmarks:Save as Outline saves bookmarks to a Notes outline that you can edit -- HTMList 1.0b-2 has (inverse) "Add Newt's Cape Bookmarks" command (to be renamed "Newt's Cape:Add Bookmarks" in 1.0c-2). This provides somewhat more support, but is not intended to substitute for a more complete manager like pURL, Shuffler or HyperNewt.
• 1.x: fixed problem with links split across book pages
• Lite: fixed error in following links (should now support both 1.4 and 1.5 books)

1.5o,-2,x,~G,~J,~C (3 Jan 98)

• "Standalone book pkg?" checkbox changed to Pkg picker

  label: Pkg(1.x) or Pkg(2.x)

  if both Newt's Cape and NewtPack are 1.x compatible (i.e., non-"-2") versions, 1.x indicates that book package will be 1.x compatible; otherwise, 2.x appears. (if NewtPack is not installed, picker does not appear)

  Standalone

  if checked, Newt's Cape or Newt's Cape Lite is not required to support basic navigation; otherwise, each saved package will be (~25K) smaller and "Lite" appears

  Compressed

  if checked, package is stored compressed -- this eliminates the need for META "package.compressed" attribute

• compiled/uploaded other versions to include "n" changes

1.5n-2 (15 Dec 97)

• 2.x: now handles invalid date fields from servers
• reduced max FONT size to 24. note: when </FONT> tags are omitted, sizes accumulate
• 2.x: immediate .pkg Install now fixed (in "m": Inbox, then Put Away works)
• IMAGE maps now work (broken in "m" due to code shared with SUBMIT)
• helpISBN added to Options:General picker: isbn of a local book to use (default: introtoc.htm)

1.5m-2 (29 Nov 97)

• (version "l" skipped due to ambiguity with "1")
• increased height of About, Prefs views
• added form objects to Options:Appearances. you can specify a different font for INPUT: CHECKBOX, RADIO, TEXT (& TEXT_LABEL), SUBMIT; TEXTAREA; SELECT (& SELECT_LABEL, SELECT_MENU(2.x popup)) and Above/Below seem to work; note: RESET font -- same as SUBMIT; PASSWORD font -- same as TEXT; XMP (removed); should these (or others) be added to 2.x menu (since it scrolls)? these can also be changed for a specific document via META PREF. (see advmeta.htm). Options:Reset All can still be used to restore all preferences to default settings (though this also affects prefs in General; might be nice to be more selective or switch between settings for a group or context).
• 2.x: created version (~E) with Newt's Cape interface in English that includes Options:Encoding (and the "NTEncoding" code for handling non-English pages); the System Family/Size pickers are still included in ~J,~C versions, but these now affect only Newt's Cape interface items, not those in HTML form (change individual form objects via Options:Appearance:Tag); size=10 now works with System font; refresh of Appearance itself may not immediately affect Tag picker/Defaults button
• 2.x: ~J,~C,~E: includes latest NTEncoding 1.1 from GNUE
• multi-line SUBMIT/RESET buttons now work; SELECT uses preceding text (like INPUT TEXT) as label (including HREF) (if a potential label is "really long" (> 30), it's not used); 2.x: SELECT displays wider menu if necessary
• FONT now constrains final character size between 8-32
• 2.x: when installing a package, prompt displays old&new version# and createDate; when not prompting (see noConfirm), package skipped if version older or date not newer. install now closes package, and waits 5 seconds before install; if package is backdrop, Extras becomes backdrop temporarily until after install. this should allow most apps (including Newt's Cape) to be updated directly from web without having to go through Inbox. Although Newt's Cape could be used as a backdrop app, (it doesn't hide or close), it doesn't float on top of book (and a book itself can't be used as a backdrop).
• META SCRIPTS. now works for book scripts (docs: SCRIPTS. but earlier implementation: SCRIPT.)
• IMG alignment now works via ALIGN=CENTER or ALIGN=RIGHT; or within CENTER tag
• noConfirm added to options API (skips confirmation for replacing a package/book or installing a new package)
• book buttons only added if Newt's Cape visible and options.noStatus = nil
• 1.x: removed some 2.x stuff

1.5k-2 (11 Nov 97)

• INPUT HIDDEN field now defaults to empty VALUE
• fixed bug for first TEXT or TEXTAREA field on page with missing NAME attribute
• fixed a TEXTAREA init problem (introduced in 1.5e) when Cursive writing enabled
• now supports graphics import from HexPaint (http://www.hexdump.com/), e.g., <IMG SRC="Paintings:HexDump/foo">; currently, Newt's Cape checks if a soup has a "name" or "title" slot, with a string or symbol index; the resulting soup entry would have a "bitmap" or "icon" slot, which contains a bitmap or PICT object. If you are using another graphic application and can find identify an id and bitmap object, you could try using :GetNamedResource(soupEntryURL, nameSlots, bitmapSlots), e.g.,

  <META NAME="DATA.myGraphic" CONTENT=":GetNamedResource("mySoup/myName", '[id], '[bitmap])">
  ...
  <IMG SRC="myGraphic">

• if using newtFTP to transfer GIFs, Newt's Cape can convert/view from Inbox
• currently, NewtsCape:dispatchFile API is not called if there's an error, so helperApp:addFile might never be called. some possibilities: 1) call :dispatchFile/addFile with content = some special value, e.g., 'error; 2) addFile options frame {..., error: "error msg"}; 3) call (new) separate errorFile API?

1.5j-2 (29 Oct 97)

• 2.x: lengthened NIE text/binary transfer timeouts -- though I don't think this fixes the NIE 2.0 "disconnect" problem; note: be careful about highlighting text with NIE 2.0 open (your Newton may hang beeping)
• a few more error messages in correct error area
• image lookups in other existing/inappropriate soups should avoid -48013 (Soup index does not exist) error, e.g., notes/image.gif; returned soup graphics are Cloned to avoid modification problems
• augmented mailto: Proxy Server syntax to include subject (the examples below are empty) and body fields (the body field is a pattern expression with the document URL supplied as a parameter). Some examples for some currently known servers (besides the default webmail) -- if you find others, please let me know:
  • mailto:webmail@www.ucc.ie?subject=&body=GET ^0
  • mailto:w3mail@gmd.de?subject=&body=GET ^0
  • mailto:getweb@usa.healthnet.org?subject=&body=GET SOURCE ^0
  • mailto:getweb@unganisha.idrc.ca?subject=&body=GET SOURCE ^0
  • mailto:agora@dna.affrc.go.jp?subject=&body=source ^0
  • mailto:agora@www.eng.dmu.ac.uk?subject=&body=source ^0

1.5i-2 (25 Oct 97)

• adds "I Paid?" checkbox to Options:General -- turn on to avoid automatic display of About box upon startup
• scrolling/overview now works if About, General or Appearance boxes are open
• 2.x: there appears to be a NIE 2.0 problem with truncation with some files/servers; I don't know if there's a general "premature disconnect" problem as there was in NIE 1.0 (later fixed in NIE 1.1); I've included a temporary workaround (it transfers unknown-length text files one-line-at-a-time rather than in 2K chunks since otherwise it appears to lose the last partial chunk); please let me know of new problem URLs where a disconnect occurs before entire file fetched
• 2.x: if NIE is frozen, you can now view cache items; certain commands (File:Reset HTTP, View:Reload, View:Load with Images, Options:Process:Cache Only) are hidden
• 2.x: NIE errors appear in error area rather than status area
• fixed some errors where partial books might not have base URL set yet
• ~J,~C: additional cleanup to support Japanese and Chinese fonts for MessagePads without system patches
• 2.x: you will be able to use HyperNewt as a "bookmark manager" (requires a new version or HyperLink Manager patch); if you select "HyperLink" from the book's control bar, it adds the book title and URL. tapping on this later (if Newt's Cape is installed) opens a saved book, or transfers and/or parses the source document
• now possible to go back to a specific page in current book (via Newt's Cape navigation or HyperNewt)

1.5h-2 (14 Oct 97)

• regular close (quit) box restored to lower right: quits Newt's Cape, removes current book, cleans up cache, releases network connections, and restores heap; File:Quit removed. hide box added on its immediate left (a close box with slightly grayed background) just hides Newt's Cape so it can be reopened quickly via book bar icon or Extras. (On MP120/130 portrait, it squeezes buttons a little closer together to make room). I think this should clear up some confusion and be more consistent with Newton user interface guidelines/user expectations.
• 2.x: "closes" book when it is removed (via File:Remove Current Book or quitting Newt's Cape) -- otherwise, StartBar (from Standalone) continues to display "Book Reader"; note: Newt's Cape itself should disappear if you quit, but it remains in StartBar if you hide it (via closebox in 1.5g or hidebox in 1.5h)
• 2.x: fixed a quit error when "FSM" was only partially initialized
• ~J: added System Family & Size pickers to Options:Appearance. this is intended for Japanese users who have English Newtons, install Japanese fonts, and do not have a system-level patch to make these default. For example, select Kanji14 in System Family. Fonts in the Newt's Cape interface and in FORM objects change to use the new font as default. You still need to choose HTML tag fonts separately in Options:Appearance (maybe FORM tags should be included here also?). System Size (default=9) is used for labels and buttons; you can choose 10 (if 9 is not readable and items fit). Data, menu and status values use 10 point (if Size=9) or 12 (Size=10); user editable entries use 12 point (in either case). There is some extra initialization that is required and some (slow) redisplay, especially for menus.

1.5gN,~J,~G,~C,-2 (7 Oct 97)

• 1.x: docDoneSound picker now works
• 1.x: scaled bitmaps (but not PICTs) work for 1.x; "Scale bitmaps to fit?" checkbox added to Options:General added a shrink/grow animation to animrom.htm example
• 2.x: scaled PICT works (though 2D scroller may appear unnecessarily)
• (not sure if it's possible to have animated PICTs in book viewer)
• fixed a bug in scaled client image maps
• fixed a bug with compiled NewtonScript expressions (that referenced "frame maps")
• VALUE_TYPE can now access a viewClass-based object (in addition to _proto)

1.5f-2 (27 Sep 97)

• fixed a serious "scale to fit?" error (book wouldn't open); some graphics (especially in tight table cells) may be scaled unnecessarily (just enough to lose resolution); also, generally since a scaled graphic is represented slightly differently internally, need to test more later in various situations (including 1.x correctness/compatibility)
• status: HTTP GET now displays URL (temporarily); Reset HTTP skips displaying the misleading "NIE: connected"

1.5e-2 (25 Sep 97)

• (user interface)
• "scale to fit?" General:Images option added; if enabled, a graphic/animation that is too large for screen/page/table cell is scaled locally to fit (rather than scrolled); any client (AREA) regions are also scaled down; server map coordinates are scaled up
• fixed bug (in 1.5d) where changing Page Size caused an error when removing book
• Newt's Cape control panel in this new version appears initially as a 2-line floating overlay at bottom of screen (over the book control bar): single-line URL and row of command buttons. (Ideally, it would actually fit within or replace the book control bar but that's messy/infeasible). This fills width of screen (leaves space for book close box on right). Let me know if you like this new look (if not, it's easy to recompile with older layout). Details:
• top area: display/enter current identifier (typically URL) for document (for 2.x: initially displays http://). 1st triangle expands/collapses 1-3 URL lines; caret automatically appears; during processing, field is set to current BASE (otherwise, current ISBN)
• if no keyboard connected, kbd icon appears at end of 1st line; or if 3-lines, under Newt's Cape icon
• Newt's Cape icon on right can be tapped to "go to" the URL (same as File:Open Location)
• below URL area: commands and status. 2nd triangle expands/collapses status line, error line and Stop button under command buttons. i, File, View, Go, Bookmarks, Options buttons are the same as 1.4/1.5d except:
  • File:Quit added (note: regular close box just hides view, does not cleanup cache, current book, heap, etc.)
  • View:Close Overview added (this can be more convenient to close TOC than dragging Newt's Cape up or hiding it, closing TOC, moving or reshowing Newt's Cape; should this be named Close TOC?)
  • 2.0: Options button does not appear in portrait orientation (not sure where it would fit; use i:Prefs)
  • Options:General general input field expanded to 3 lines (for long proxies, Find parameters,...)
• About, General, Appearance views open as drawers
• status information from NIE or serial connection and parsing appears under commands (if triangle expanded) -- this now does not interfere with the URL (as in 1.5d); error information appears separately at bottom. Stop button can be used to interrupt transfer or parsing. (I could add a gauge, though this would slow things down a little; new NewtPack 3.4f2 uses this status area also, though Newt's Cape's Stop button does not interrupt package saving -- continue to use NewtPack 3.4e2 if you need this capability).
• the "close box" now just hides rather than quits Newt's Cape (see File:Quit); this avoids unnecessary cleanup of connection, cache, current book, etc. so it can be reshown quickly -- via the NC icon in the book bar, or from Extras.
• if Newt's Cape is installed, Newt's Cape icon replaces overview (history dot) icon in book bar; (overview icon appears if book is standalone and Newt's Cape is not installed). tap NC icon to reshow Newt's Cape quickly.
• (NewtWorks)
• now handles much larger NewtWorks documents (Newt's Cape copies contents incrementally to VBO; earlier NewtWorks just returned entire contents in heap)
• Newt's Cape was immediately registering for Newtworks:Tools -- now it delays in case Newtworks is a regular package (as on MP2K) which installs a little later. (as a workaround, you can freeze/unfreeze Newt's Cape to force the Tool entry to appear).
• (tags)
• removes ' around HREF (some sites used HREF='http://...')
• now treats tabs the same as spaces (sometimes, tabs were ignored after HREF); let me know if this leads to any strange formatting glitches
• fixed TABLE BORDER (broken in 1.5d); problem was that it's ambiguously a unary or binary attribute
• extended link syntax: HREF="appSymbol" still opens (toggles an application). You can also use HREF="appSymbol/msg?param1,param2,param3", HREF="appSymbol/msg?slot1=val1&slot2=val2" or HREF="function/param1,...". For example, PlaySound?@102 (play a sound) root/Notify?3,"a notify title!","a message" (open a Notify alert);
• added several more VALUE_TYPEs (in addition to INT, NUM, DATE, PHONE): TIME, FAX, ADDRESS, NAME, COUNTRY, CITY, STATE, PROVINCE. In the case where a special prototype is not defined, this biases the handwriting recognizer toward that type, and possibly uses a different keyboard; user proto can now provide default HEIGHT setting. (see registered user examples: nformobj.htm: introduction; slider, AZ, recognition, keyboards; datetime.htm: date and time pickers/fields; location.htm: country, city, state, province, latitude&longitude pickers/fields; charedit.htm: character edit field, e.g., social security number; intpickr.htm: integer picker; names.htm: name, fax, phone, email, meeting place picker/fields).

1.5d-2 (10 Sep 97)

• (interface)
• added "follow URL immediately?" option to HTML and Image caches; if this is checked (default: true for new users), follows rather than just displays URL after Open HTML/Image cache selection
• status info displays number of tags/current tag during parsing
• allows <http://...> and <URL:http://...> in URL field
• plays docDone sound for other htmlApps; fixed Process menu error after htmlApp de-install (defaults to Display Page)
• removed $ button; added Register (if installed) item to info menu
• changing Page Size now removes current book; Rotate keeps current book if it's a help book, or portrait/landscape on 2.1; note: if a help book has too many topics, these don't scroll; a portrait book on landscape 2.1 may not update page# properly until it's saved as a package
• (HTML tags)
• FONT SIZE no longer ignored -- not sure when this got broken
• FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF" inverts entire paragraph, i.e., white text on black background (other FONT colors, background colors ignored)
• adds DIV tag (treated like P)
• unary NOWRAP attributes recognized for several tags (though not implemented) to avoid errors; multiple unary attributes should be handled with fewer errors
• HR WIDTH percentage handled properly
• scrolling client image maps should now work (broken in 1.5a?), though only for selection (not line gesture)
• computes TABLE cell widths differently -- if table is too wide, it attempts to scale each column (rather than just omit rightmost columns); let me know if this is better -- and any URLs if you have problems.
• (forms)
• now properly encodes &, +, / in form data
• does not include unused Submit or Image fields in form data
• now allows empty <OPTION>, i.e., no value before next tag
• for IMAGE maps w/ missing image and no ALT, added IMAGE: to NAME for Submit button; sends dummy coordinates (in case some CGI script really expects some)
• fixed problem when FORM has NAME attribute (which interfered with SUBMIT/IMAGE)
• multiline TEXTAREA near bottom of page should now go to top of next page rather than truncate
• (cache/NIE)
• when an HTML source or converted graphic replaces part of an existing cache entry, it now uses the same store as the entry (copying if necessary; earlier, the new data object might be on the default but different store from the original cache entry itself -- which could lead to "Newton needs the card" messages)
• provides URL of current document as "Referer" in HTTP header field for links, form data
• tested with NIE 2.0 beta4
• lengthened some timeouts (for slow net/servers)
• added support for mailto:...?subject=...
• saves but ignores HREF="javascript:..."
• (misc)
• 2.x: patches Notes menu more correctly for Newt's Cape item
• fixed a bug for selected text in Notes (and Newt's Cape checking)
• fixed an infinite loop in scanning source for image URLs for Load with Images
• a fix for URL resolution (involving //)
• more out-of-memory codes checked, and should abort parsing more reliably
• pageWidth, pageHeight API options (added in 1.5b) now fixed

1.5c-2 (22 Aug 97)

• registered sound selected in Doc Done picker now plays when doc done
• File:Reset HTTP now works
• Auto Login added to Options:General picker (non-empty means use default link setup)
• initial support for EETransfer documents (HTML, GIF) in Inbox
• fixed error with noStatus API when helperApp didn't return true

1.5b-2 (16 Aug 97)

• tested with NIE 2.0 beta1
• NewtonRefresh (and Refresh) META attribute now resolves relative URL
• accessing a URL via Open Location or :getURL, or using Go:Back at end now adds "current" book to history list; Go:Forward added (Forward icon added to book bar); Go:Clear History added to shorten history list explicitly (also shortened if more than 20 items, but not when going Back). checkmark added to current history item
• create arbitrary page sizes with pageWidth and pageHeight API options (Newt's Cape checks that they're integers, but otherwise does no bounds checking); additional book bar buttons may not appear in correct locations
• removes current book when Rotate occurs
• 1.x: kbd icon added
• 2.x: File:Reset HTTP added (removed from Options:General) -- should this be named "Reset NIE Connection"?

1.5a-2 (22 Jul 97)

• changed default "demobook" (isbn,title) to "untitled"
• 2.x. Notes, Newtworks, Inbox, Paperback source documents without TITLE tag now appear in menu as "untitled" (rather than not appear at all).
• in addition to tapping a link, you can use several gestures. highlighting -- hold down to select then double-tap selection to copy/drag -- now works in paragraphs with links (formerly, this was inadvertently disabled). use a line gesture (horizontal is easiest) to bring up a menu

  Go: ...

  follow link URL (same as just tapping on link)

  display URL

  display full (resolved) URL in status area (exit book to see it; copy it, etc.)

  Load Image:... (for ALT, graphics with links)

  get graphic URL, then re-process current page; same as View:Load Images with just this graphic

  other commands might be useful (e.g., Add Bookmark, Save Image to Newtworks, etc.); graphics URL for non-links; menus for IMAGE map in forms. I can add if enough users request (and it's relatively easy). I had to make an underlying change in how links handled clicks; hopefully, old books should be compatible with new Newt's Cape and new books should be compatible with old Newt's Cape -- in both cases, gestures not recognized just tap.
• IMG ISMAP attribute (earlier ignored) works (i.e., adds ?x,y to URL) for server side image map via HREF. e.g., www.dead.net.
• NewtWorks open/save added to 1.5-x version [avail later] (but not gray or full screen options due to 1.x compat; still no busy box for long lists since this is via a 2.x "platform function")
• long or multi-line Author META attribute not possible (book viewer filters/clips to a single line)
• using LINK to merge already-merged books probably does not work (I need to investigate)
• NewtonRefresh META attribute added -- just like REFRESH except it terminates parsing immediately before going to another URL. this could be used to allow a general web page to redirect to a more Newton-friendly page (but only for Newt's Cape or other Newton-savvy browsers).
• package. (META attribute) can be used instead of _package. (since _ is apparently an illegal meta char)
• package transfer will work for MIME type application/octet-stream (along with .pkg extension), e.g., NewtNews books; install dialog now offers "Inbox" option to store package in Inbox rather than install directly. this should be handy for downloading new versions of Newt's Cape or NewtPack, or anything else you don't want to install immediately, assuming you have storage space. (this does the same "undocumented" thing as helppkgi.htm example)
• 2.x: eliminated some unnecessary soup stashing of ROM or short objects ("out of store" sometimes for animrom.htm example)
• increased header (server request) timeout from 24 to 60 seconds -- some slow servers caused "headSpec" errors; tap Stop to give up sooner
• HEAD request properly works via API (need to document)
• when quitting, Newt's Cape no longer defers checking of caches (this may have interfered with automatic freezing); note: if you are using a "freezing manager", you can minimize problems by manually Closing any open serial connections and doing Reset HTTP (any NIE connection) and waiting a few seconds before quitting. (Ideally, freezing managers would allow a few seconds for asynchronous closing of communications)
• 2.1: apparently, the book reader maintains a large number of "offline books" entries (earlier Newtons limited this to ~20 automatically; but not so on eMate (and presumably MP2K) -- I found >150 recently); the rationale I think was to preserve annotations and marks for books which were removed/re-installed; since this slows down book removal and takes up space, Newt's Cape now removes all except most 20 recent offline entries.
• 2.1: 1.4 basically works with an alpha version of NIE 2.0, but first URL is ignored when not yet logged in (try again); Stop button seems not to interrupt NIE transactions; gauge/barber don't appear for file transfers. 1.5a fixes these 2.0 problems; let me know if you're testing 2.0 and have other problems)

Last updated: 20 Jan 1998

• changes: Newt's Cape 1.4
• changes: Newt's Cape 1.0-1.3
• email Steve
• email Greg