Updated July 1999
Prepared by Peter Rand
Sloup is a small (~45k) package which works together with a wide variety of desktop-based terminal emulation programs to allow you to quickly transfer text and data between your Newton and your desktop computer via a serial cable. With Sloup, it's easy to type on the Newton using your desktop keyboard, to transfer email or other text to your desktop for reading or processing, or to copy text items from your desktop into Notepad or NewtWorks documents. Advanced users can use Sloup to transfer entire document folders between the Newton and the desktop, as well as packages and other data types.
Sloup works together with a wide variety of desktop-based terminal emulation programs -- ZTerm and ClarisWorks for Mac, HyperTerminal for Windows as well as programs for Unix and other platforms.
If you are using one of the above (or similar) desktop terminal emulators, configure it initially as follows:
The basic procedure is to connect a serial cable between the Newton and the desktop, and then start up Sloup on the Newton and the terminal emulator on your desktop. Now set Sloup to "Keyboard" mode, and highlight the text you would like to send. (Note: in older versions of Sloup, this is called "Inspect" mode). To send the text to your desktop terminal program, simply tap the "Paste" button on the Sloup interface.
A view of the three modes available in Sloup
You have two options: the first is to simply highlight the text in the terminal program, copy it, and then paste it into a word-processing document on your desktop. For longer documents, you may want to configure your terminal program to automatically save the incoming text as a .txt file on your hard disk. In HyperTerminal this is done by selecting "Transmission/Save Text", entering a path and file name, e.g., "C:\downloads\today.txt" and then clicking "Start" to activate the setting. Now when I highlight the text in the Newton and tap the "Paste" button in Sloup, I can see the text appearing in the terminal program on my desktop, and, at the same time, a file named "today.txt" is created on the hard disk which also contains the text. While the exact options will vary from terminal program to terminal program, the basic process should be about the same.
When Sloup is set to "Keyboard" mode, you can initiate transfers from the Newton to your desktop directly from the Newton by tapping the "Paste" button.
Sloup in Keyboard mode
In Keyboard mode, Sloup allows you to:
i.e., use the desktop's keyboard to type on the Newton? I can type on the keyboard, but none of the letters appear in the terminal emulator or in the Newton.
In command mode, once a connection has been established between your desktop and Newton, all of the transfer commands are issued from the desktop terminal emulator. You can also write simple desktop macros and save them as *.txt files to automate the transfer of entire folders of Notepad/NewtWorks documents to the desktop.
A view of Sloup in Command mode
In Command mode*, Sloup can help you (via simple macros and a terminal emulator on your desktop) to:
*In Command mode, once a connection has been established between your desktop and Newton, all of the transfer commands are issued from the desktop terminal emulator.
The main difference is that in Keyboard mode, text sent from the desktop to the Newton is treated simply as text. In Command mode, text is interpreted as commands. For example, in Keyboard mode, a text such as "Store mytext.txt in Miscellaneous folder" would appear to the left of the Newton's cursor as "Store mytext.txt in Miscellaneous folder". In Command mode, Sloup would try to interpret this text as a command (unsuccessfully in this case).
Refer to the section below entitled "Using Sloup in Command mode" for explanations and examples.
In Command mode, you must first create simple "macros" (command files) on your desktop word-processor and save them as ".txt" (or .slp) files. By accessing these macros via the terminal emulator, you can automate the transfer of entire folders of Notepad/NewtWorks documents to the desktop.
Macros are generally short commands stored as .txt files which contain the following information (for Notes):
For the following examples, make sure that Sloup is in Command mode. (Note: some of these examples are included with the Sloup distribution and documentation)
Example: macro to transfer text from the desktop to Notes
You have just created a macro which should now look like this:
Notes
{}
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
BYE!
Congratulations -- you are now ready to transfer this text to your Newton, where it will be stored in Notes as an Unfiled note.
Make sure that your Newton and desktop are connected by a serial cable. Now open your terminal emulator, and select the options "Transmit/Send data/fox.txt. The text "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" should now appear in an Unfiled note. All the following example macros are activated via the "Transmit/Send data/macro.txt" command in the desktop terminal emulator.
Remember to save each macro as a separate .txt file. The following examples can easily be copied and pasted into your desktop word-processor.
Notes
{}
YOUR TEXT HERE
BYE!
Notes
{class: 'paperRoll, title: "string", _modTime: "dateTime"}
DUMP!
Notes
{labels: 'Business}
YOUR TEXT HERE
BYE!
Notes
{labels: 'Business, } // default height and font
first paragraph, first line
second line
third line
that's all folks
----------
second paragraph, first line
2nd line
3rd line
4th line
more
more
etc.
end
---------
third para
---------
BYE!
Notes
{labels: 'Business, viewFont: 10241}
YOUR TEXT HERE
a second line in same paragraph
-----
another para
-----
-----
BYE!
NewtWorks
{labels: 'Business}
DUMP!
Notes
{labels: 'Business}
DUMP!
Calendar
{viewStationery: 'Meeting, mtgStartDate: "time", mtgDuration: "int",\
mtgText: "rich", mtgStopDate: "time", repeatType: "int", mtgInfo: "int",\
mtgAlarm: "time", mtgIconType: "int",\
mtgInvitees: [{name: {first: "string", last: "string"},}], version: "int",}
DUMP!
Outbox
{text: 'string}
DUMP!
Outbox
{name: 'string, toEmailAddress: 'string, fromName: 'string, title: 'string, dateStr: 'string, text: 'string}
DUMP!
Outbox
{}
ERASE! // erases all Outbox entries
BYE!
Names
{name: {first: "string", last: "string"}}
DUMP!
Names
{name: {class: 'person, honorific: "string", first: "string", last: "string", title: "string"}, company: "string", phones: ["homePhone", "workPhone", "beeperPhone", "faxPhone"], email: "string", address: "string", address2: "string", city: "string", region: "string", country: "string", postal_code: "string", bday: "date", cardType: 0, sortOn: "stringWithClass"}
DUMP!
Names
{name: {last: "string",}, phones: ["homePhone", "workPhone", "beeperPhone", "faxPhone"], bday: "date", cardType: 0, sortOn: "stringWithClass"} // CasioNam.dm2
DUMP!{delay: 5, printFunction: func(v) SPrintObject(v), fieldDelimiter: ";", recordDelimiter: "<EOL>", soupDelimiter: "<EOF>"}
Names
{labels: 'symbol, name: {class: 'person, honorific: "string", first: "string", last: "string", title: "string"}, company: "string", phones: ["homePhone", "workPhone", "beeperPhone", "faxPhone"], email: "string", address: "string", address2: "string", city: "string", region: "string", country: "string", postal_code: "string", bday: "date", cardType: 0, sortOn: "stringWithClass"}
Business person Mr. Scott "Zz" Zimmerman Dudeface Hacker Apple Computer, Inc. (408)867-4691 (408)974-6901 1(800)SKYPAGE ZZ 23290 Big Basin Way Saratoga CA USA 95070 4/23/62 0 company
Personal person Mr. Bob "Zz" Zimmerman Dudeface Hacker Bpple Computer, Inc. (408)867-4691 (408)974-6901 1(800)SKYPAGE ZZ 23290 Big Basin Way Saratoga CA USA 95070 4/23/62 0 name
Miscellaneous person Mr. Chuck "Zz" Zimmerman Dudeface Hacker Cpple Computer, Inc. (408)867-4691 (408)974-6901 1(800)SKYPAGE ZZ 23290 Big Basin Way Saratoga CA USA 95070 4/23/62 0 company
Important person Mr. Joe "Zz" Zimmerman Dudeface Hacker Dpple Computer, Inc. (408)867-4691 (408)974-6901 1(800)SKYPAGE ZZ 23290 Big Basin Way Saratoga CA USA 95070 4/23/62 0 name
BYE!
Names
{labels: 'symbol,\
name: {class: 'person, honorific: "string", first: "string", last: "string", },\
title: "string", company: "string",\
address: "string", address2: "string", city: "string",\
region: "string", country: "string", postal_code: "string",\
phones: ["homePhone", "workPhone", "mobilePhone", "faxPhone"],\
pagers: [{pagerNum: "string.pager", pagerPin: "string"}, ],\
email: "string.email", anniversary: "date", bday: "date",\
names: [{honorific: "string", first: "string", last: "string", title: "string",}],\
notes: ["para"], cardType: 0, sortOn: "stringWithClass"}
Business person Dr. Royce Walthroop \
Grand VIP Amalgamated Consolidated \
217 Crocker Lane Hillsdale OH 44704 \
(419)555-3543 (419)555-3544 (419)555-3545 (419)555-3546 \
(123)456-7890 6666 foo@bar.com 8/25/76 12/12/46 \
Ms. Grace Mertins Relative \
hi, this is a note 0 name
BYE!
Newtons running NOS 2.x can also use Sloup to transfer outlines and checkLists.
Notes
{labels: nil, class: 'checkList}
DUMP!
Notes
{labels: 'Business, class: 'list}
DUMP!
Notes
{labels: 'Business, class: 'list}
an outline in Business
indented item
another indented item
-----
another outline
indented1
indented2
another main entry
indented1
BYE!
Notes
{labels: nil, class: 'checkList}
a checklist in Unfiled
second level
a next level item
-----
another checklist
indented1
indented2
another main entry
indented1
BYE!
Each note/outline/checklist is separated by a line of at least 5 dashes, i.e., -----. The last note separator is optional; BYE! will also terminate the last Note. Empty notes are not saved to the Notepad.
Notes
{labels: 'Business, class: 'list, viewFont: {family: 'casual, face: 0, size: 10}}
an outline in Business
indented item
another indented item
-----
another outline
indented1
indented2
another main entry
indented1
BYE!
To Do List
{class: 'todo, Date: "time", repeatInfo: {mtgStartDate: "time",\
mtgStopDate: "time", repeatType: "int", mtgInfo: "int",},\
topics: [{level: "int", mtgDone: "boolean", mtgPriority: "int",\
hideCount: "int", text: "string"}],}
DUMP!
To do
{viewStationery: 'symbol, height: "int", mtgStartDate: "date", mtgDone: 'symbol, mtgPriority: "int", data: [{viewStationery: 'symbol, viewBounds: {left: "int", top: "int", right: "int", bottom: "int"}, text: "string", viewFont: "int"}]}
TodoItem 100 2/19/95 nil 3 para 4 0 237 100 todo test1 12289
BYE!
To do
{viewStationery: 'symbol, height: "int", mtgStartDate: "date", mtgDone: 'symbol, mtgPriority: "int", data: ["para"]}
TodoItem 100 2/19/95 nil 3 todo test2
BYE!
On NOS 2.x, you can list packages, or import or export an individual package. This does not actually access the "package soup" directly but uses a different API. Import/export examples later under binary:packageEntry. To list package names:
Package
{}
DUMP!
Package
{packageName: "ReStartPkg", packageEntry: "binary:packageEntry"}
DUMP!
Package
{packageName: "ReStartPkg", packageEntry: "binary:packageEntry"}
ReStartPkg !\
7061636B616765307878787800000000000000010000004A004A001600000F7000000000\
...
BYE!
Sloup
{}
DUMP!
Yes - Sloup WILL let you send text and graphics back and forth over an IrDA link to an iMac or an appropriate Powerbook. (Note: the MP130 and earlier models are not IrDA-capable.) steps were described by Bill Moser
I can't seem to turn off my Newton when Sloup is installed
The Newton cannot turn off when there is a live connection between the Newton and the desktop. Tap "disconnect" on the Sloup interface, and then you should be able to turn off your Newton.
I used Sloup, and now when I try to use NBU/NCU the Newton refuses to connect I get the message "Unable to connect to COM Port".
NBU/NCU and your terminal program may both be trying to access the same com port on your desktop. Close your terminal program, and you should then be able to connect with NBU/NCU. If that still doesn't work, open "NBU/NCU", select "Newton/Settings" and select a different port.
I used NBU/NCU, and now when I try to use Sloup the terminal program refuses to establish a connection I get the message "Unable to connect to Com Port".
NBU/NCU and your terminal program may both be trying to access the same com port on your desktop. Close NBU/NCU, and your terminal program you should then be able to establish a connection.
When I use keyboard pass-thru function, nothing happens when I click the desktop's right/left/up/down arrows the cursor on the Newton screen doesn't move.
Depending on the terminal emulator you are using, arrow keys may not be compatible with Sloup. If this is the case, you will need to use the stylus to maneuver the cursor in the Newton. It may be possible to configure Sloup to recognize special keyboard characters. See the regular Sloup docs on Steve's web-site for further info (slrpfmt.htm#KeyboardMap)
When I use keyboard pass-thru function and I click the desktop's backspace/del key, nothing happens (or I get an error message).
The desktop backspace/delete key, depending on the terminal emulator you are using, may not be compatible with Sloup. If this is the case, you will need to use the stylus to maneuver the cursor in the Newton.
I notice that Sloup has trouble transferring some special characters. Is there a way to fix this?
Yes. Install the "Encoding:NewtsCape" plugin (available to registered Sloup and Newt's Cape users) and the ISO-8859-1 encoding plugin installed (available from Simon Bell), set Sloup to "Command" mode and tap the "Encoding" button in the bottom left corner. This will provide you with a list of all encoding plugins stored in your Newton. Select the one called ISO-8859-1, and this should improve Sloup's handling of special characters.
A view of the selected encoding plugin
I tried to increase the connection speed from 19200 bps to 38400 bps. Now nothing seems to work. What do I do? After you've reconfigured the terminal emulator to run at a higher speed, and have configured Sloup to run at the same speed, close both the terminal emulation program and Sloup. Now start up Sloup and the terminal emulation program again, and see if you can paste text between applications. If not, and the connection still seems bad, return the speed settings to their original settings, then close and restart both programs.
Various connection speeds/options available in Sloup
SloupHelp was prepared by Peter Rand in July 1999 (as a thank you to Steve Weyer for being so patient in answering my incessant questions!)