Newt's Cape: Revision History

Newt's Cape 1.6 (?? 98)

1.6s-2 (19 Sep 98)

2.x: newest cache entries appear at top of overview, i.e., sorted by modification date; (earlier, entries appeared with more-or-less oldest (creation date) entries near top, though with multiple stores and later entry updates, this sort order wasn't reliable; if enough users still want this, I may consider adding a preference for selecting between "none" and "modification date"; btw, it's not easy/reliable to have entries sort by name since URLs are typically quite long, and soup indexes often truncate these
2.x: bookmarks in overview sorted by folder:title (Unfiled sorts as none, i.e., ""); earlier only by title; should modification date be added to bookmark titles? -- currently it's not
2.x: in some situations. e.g., after deleting/expiring a cache entry, certain commands like Go:Back broke. Hopefully this fix won't break something else...
2.x: added explicit Schedule button to Schedule dialog; close box just cancels, which means that you can examine but avoid accidentally applying changes to current set of selected entries (earlier you could non-intuitively do this by setting Frequency: none)

1.6r-2 (16 Sep 98)

Options:Process menu indicates current setting (earlier only "Display..." options were checked)
2.x: Schedule:NIE Setup includes "default", i.e., use current NIE setting rather than set explicitly
2.x: File:Open NewtWorks can check (faster?) larger number of documents -- it assumes that <HTML> occurs in first ~80-100 chars
2.x: "temporary entries" with ? in URL are no longer discarded from cache (only POST results, expired entries, and old entries over limit)
2.x: it should fix a 1.6q problem with loading images when Ignore Expiration turned on
2.0: RouteBook 1.0c-2 can be used on NOS 2.0 (earlier 1.0a2 was 2.1 only) though it may provide only Mail, and only for regular books

1.6q-2 (14 Sep 98)

2.x link popup menu:Add Bookmark fixed; Display URL opens Newt's Cape if it's closed/hidden; Cache Only should work now; Load Image finds original cache entry for document (rather than duplicating)
2.x: overviews narrower to avoid overlapping button bar (esp. with ButtonBar)
2.x: Other Options:Proxy Only [new] uses proxy URL (if set) only for list of specific domains (semi-colon delimited like Proxy Exceptions)
2.x: HTML/Image:ignore expiration? [new] if on, Newt's Cape ignores expiration date of cache items; to remove, manually Reload or Delete items (or turn off preference before quitting Newt's Cape)
2.x: very large PRE uses a VBO if necessary to save heap during parsing (note: there may be long delays; status indicators are not updated until end of PRE object); View:Document Source should work for large source
2.x: RouteBook 1.0b-2 can be used on NOS 2.0 (earlier 1.0a2 was 2.1 only) though it may provide only Mail, and only for regular books

1.6p-2 (10 Sep 98)

submitting form data with "extended chars" (i.e., unicode chars > 255) avoids -48205 error; it maps a few special chars like ™ back to original character entity code; others it converts to ?. If server is expecting extended chars, you should probably be using an encoding.
2.x: widened overview title slightly to avoid truncation
2.x: adding a bookmark that already exists updates title and label(Unfiled) (earlier it was ignored)
2.x: overview:Process has icon (small package); Process status message includes number of items remaining (includes current)
2.x: Schedule includes "daily (except weekend)" option, i.e., skips Saturday and Sunday
2.x: link horizontal gesture menu includes Cache Only to transfer (but not process) URL
2.x: Encoding 1.0c-2: avoids -48418 error when submitting form data with "none" encoding selected (or you could avoid this by freezing earlier Encoding plugin if you weren't using it)
2.x: fewer -48404 errors with NIE (Apple-supplied FSM code had a bug)
2.x: when autoload is on, redirected graphics shouldn't trigger -48402; cancelling login dialog processes cached entry (earlier you had to manually turn off autoload if not all graphics were loaded)
2.x: binary files with no length specified in header from server are now skipped (this should prevent some crashes when converting truncated GIFs)
2.x: Save Book to NewtWorks works (broken in 1.6n); note: this is limited functionality, compared to HTMList: no rulers/alignment, no page range prompt; if this command remains, it may eventually require HTMList to be installed, and use it directly rather than duplicate (old) code.
HTMList 1.0e-2: book Save commands prompt for page range[2.x] or Entire Book/Current Page[1.x]; first page in page range defaults to 1 for regular books, to current page number for help books (since there's no other indication of page #; change to 1 for entire help book); Save as HTML commands automatically quote &, <, >; Save as HTML to Desktop can also use a Sloup connection (useful if Newt's Cape not installed)

1.6n,-2 (27 Aug 98)

1.x: popup menu for book link should appear closer to horizontal gesture location (unless too far right)
2.x: may have fixed some problems with creating duplicate cache entries (if you can reproduce other problems, please provide me with a sequence of actions)
2.x: fixes for a few "degenerate" GIFs that caused Newton to freeze (still investigating errors)
table processing now frees up heap space after each row (rather than after entire table)
2.x: overview items now have URL on first line; "All" displays correct folder for items; after deleting/moving items, item view should not automatically scroll back to beginning
2.x: overview items now have Process command for batch saving; popup appears with subset: Save as Package, Save to NewtWorks; (notes: items must already be present (i.e., cached); Save as Package automatically replaces (i.e., w/o confirmation) any package with same ISBN); there are some intentional delays because of the way saving is implemented; this batch Process is an experimental feature: if it's too buggy or inadequate, I may remove rather than try to fix
2.x: Save as Package displays progress when replacing old pkg (since it knows the approximate final size)
added INPUT TYPE=BUTTON (same as TYPE=SUBMIT)
selections across multiple Notes paragraphs (or list items) now concatenated
removed Save as Text to Desktop -- now Save as HTML to Desktop in HTMList; HTMList 1.0d,-2 command summary:

Notes
Save as HTML // to Notes
Newt's Cape:Add Bookmarks (2.x)
NewtWorks
Save as HTML (2.x) // to NewtWorks
book*
Save to NewtWorks (2.x) // formatted text/graphics
Save as HTML to NewtWorks (2.x)
Save as HTML to Desktop
(*if you want routing button/menu to appear in help books also, install RouteBook plugin)

1.6m-2 (15 Aug 98)

Go:[history item] now works again
ISBN in URL area now works again; default ISBN (filename) in book should now start without /
2.x: Newt's Cape kbd button now provides kbd menu if LogicTool's TLK keyboard open (just like built-in keyboard); kbd button also does Select All of current text view
2.x: 1x1 GIF files should now not crash, though they still generate errors; certain malformed GIFs (with errors in GraphicConverter/GIFConverter) can still cause crashes; awaiting fixes from Greg)
2.x: cache overview items now 2-lines (like bookmarks); first line includes last modified date/time (of cache item; or, should it be modified date/time of document from server?), plus automatic expiration date/time (if any). alarm icon (if any) is on bottom next to URL. "All" folder now adds (store:folder) names to first line
2.x: overview action menu now includes all commands; like other Newt's Cape menus (though not like other Newton routing menus), (command) occurs in parentheses if not applicable
for FRAME tag, recognizes (though ignores) NORESIZE unary attribute [prevents -48807 error and shouldn't skip SRC]
added character entity  (• = bullet in some browsers)
2.x: for "expired" cache entries, avoids immediate delete for View:Load with Images and View:Document Source
2.x: View:Reload now does not remove cached graphics associated with a document when autoLoad? is on; if you want to reload graphics, you can Delete them manually via Image Cache overview; then load automatically (if autoload? on, next time you view document) or manually (via View:Load with Images)
table cell with COLSPAN now ignores WIDTH attribute (this isn't quite right either, but earlier it erroneously used width of just 1 column)
2.x: user authentication/PASSWORD field fixes (bugs introduced in 1.6k)
2.x: large TEXTAREA value should exhaust heap less frequently (value was stored twice in heap: as default and editable field value; now stored as temporary VBOs; unusual for this to be larger than a few lines, but one form had a ~15K "agreement"); even so it may not appear entirely on screen (since TEXTAREA is not scrolled or split across book pages) and may cause problems when submitted to server.

1.6k-2,~C,~G,~J (4 Aug 98)

tested some "expiration code" in anticipation of a public beta later in August -- don't worry, not included in this version. due to large number of significant, cumulative changes, this will likely be named "Newt's Cape 2.0" rather than 1.6.
File,View,Go,Bookmarks,Options menus now include all menu items (1.x version may omit certain items, e.g., Newtworks). items that are not relevant to the current context or system configuration are surrounded by parentheses, e.g., (Open Newtworks); if selected, they should do nothing -- instead beep or popup an error window?
back,forward arrows in book control bar now have gray border if they are not applicable to current history
~J,~C: fixes errors when opening General prefs dialog, and when changing system font in Appearance pref dialog
~G: a few new strings
progress gauge at right end of status displays transfer progress (2.x: when file length is known), install progress (2.x) and parsing progress
2.x: "Other Options" appears as temporary initial label/item for General prefs misc. picker; separator ----- lines provide some grouping (items should probably be renamed/reordered)
2.x: since many users are using larger cards, overviews now include number of items in title area of folder, e.g., HTML Cache [Max. 250]: 10/49
- HTML Cache/Image Cache/Bookmarks
- [Max. # allowable, from preference]: (NA for bookmarks)
- # actual in current folder&store/
- # actual in entire soup
2.x: fixed a bug in moving cache&bookmark items between stores
form fields (SELECT,CHECKBOX) with potential multiple values now include explicit empty name and value when there are zero values (most CGI scripts shouldn't care, but just in case...); fixed -48402 bug when empty PASSWORD was first input field on a page
does not use NewtDevEnv's Print function (if installed); this should avoid quoting modifications to content for Save as Text to Desktop (in a future version, I might make this actual HTML, though limited tags, and rename to Save NewtonBook as HTML to Desktop, or perhaps move command/functionality to RouteBook plugin)
2.x: fixed a problem where some encoded data was lost/truncated during input with some servers, e.g., Apache
2.x: there should be fewer "text spec" and truncation errors; when the length of a document is indeterminate (i.e., server does not provide a Content-Length field), Newt's Cape tries to transfer a line-at-a-time; this generally worked unless the file's last line did not have a line terminator (especially bad if file had only 1 'line'); it truncated if line was > 1024. Input lines can be longer, and it terminates also if text ends with </HTML>. Note: there is a related problem for server-generated GIFs -- checking with Greg...
2.x: now adds NIE keys to "Nick's TLK" keyboard from Logictools by Nick Mueller
2.x: Schedule now supports scheduling a set of items for each folder (except "All") in Bookmarks, HTML Cache and Image Cache. In addition to having multiple sets, you can also specify a frequency, username and password. Notes: you should probably Cancel existing update set before installing new version (it should run, but can't be viewed/cancelled); due to limitations in the Newton's alarm system, the folder name (Unfiled, Business, etc.) must be unique in the first 20 characters; earlier single set showed alarm info for same URLs in bookmarks and caches (not shown now due to slowness, ambiguity). Moving scheduled items adds to existing set in new folder, or creates a new set based on old settings.

Start Date
date and time (same as before)
Frequency
repeat frequency

none
[default] no scheduling or loading occurs (same as clicking outside earlier date&time popup to cancel)
immediately
updates selected items one time (now) without delay (same as closing earlier date&time popup without changing time). Any future scheduled event remains.
once
updates selected items later one time only (same as earlier schedule behavior)
hourly
updates selected items every 60 minutes
twice-daily
every 12 hours
daily
once per day
weekly
once per week (same day)

Name
user name (if any) to be supplied to each site (URL) [see Authenticate]. note: you'd probably want to group URLs that actually require same name/password in same set; though it's possible that unnecessary name/password might be ignored by other sites
Password
user password (if any) to be supplied for all of the URLs
NIE Setup
the NIE Setup (ISP) to be used for the connection. Note: this is set each time before the connection is made (earlier it was set immediately, assuming it wouldn't change before it was needed)
2.x: "All items" in cache overview folder picker (rather than All bookmarks); All items/bookmarks indicates scheduled items, though you can't change scheduling there -- only in an individual folder
2.x: Image Cache:autoLoad? now provides a submenu (let me know if this is useful, and whether the choices are adequate; a checkmark appears next to autoload? if anything other than "none" is selected):

none
no images automatically loaded
first 1,2,3,4,5,7,10,15
Newt's Cape loads only first 1 (2, etc.) images on page [note: Newt's Cape's count can be confused by pseudo-images in FRAME or BODY attributes]
all
Newt's Cape loads all images
2.x: if you highlight more than one URL (separated by return) in a Notes (Newtworks) document, and select Newt's Cape:getURL (Newt's Cape), Newt's Cape updates the set (same as schedule "immediately")
2.x: when using Newt's Cape:Open from Notes,Inbox,Newtworks, auto load images is temporarily disabled (presumably, you're offline and don't want to keep dismissing NIE connection dialog)
2.x: tapping on overview items for Load with Images now updates checkmarks; as before, tapping single item when none is selected loads single image immediately
2.x: missing graphics (or ALT text) without an original link now provides a "link"; however, you should draw a horizontal line to load via the popup menu, since it's ambiguous whether just tapping the link will follow the link (if there were an original link) or load the graphic (if there weren't a link)

1.6j-2,~C,~G,~J (2 Jul 98)

2.x: Encoding 1.0b: fixed an undefined variable (this was causing a form Submit error); also, now compressed. Newt's Cape should now avoid duplicating "Encoding" in Options (after Rotate)
2.x: JPEG 1.0b: fixes a conversion error (affected one picture) and an install/remove error -- be sure to reboot after removing JPEG 1.0a
2.x: if a .pkg file was uploaded to server as MacBinary rather than just Binary, Newt's Cape should now detect this and remove the extra header bytes -- rather than report "not a package"
2.x: Options:Appearance now includes System Font Family/Size [this should allow use of encoded titles in popups and bookmarks in -2 version; it still affects other interface items also in ~J,~C versions]
2.x: Options:General:"Bookmarks in overview" only (default: off). if on, omits bookmarks from popup menu (this might be useful/faster if you have large number of bookmarks and/or prefer to view and select from the overview)
fixes a problem related to image maps (introduced in g, bogus FACE attribute for generated ALT text)
fixes a problem related to JavaScript not inside a comment -- Newt's Cape may still display code fragments, but should avoid errors, e.g., -48404
2.x: preliminary lock/unlock cache support. locked items are not removed when Newt's Cape quits. (though expired or temporary items will be removed anyway, along with other old items over the limit); Remove from Cache, Delete, Reload do not check lock currently
2.x: increased allowable cache sizes (250,500)
2.x: "Newt's Cape button" no longer breaks if Newtworks frozen/not installed
2.x: fixed a -48205 nested table error (hotmail)
2.x: fixed one error where if Newt's Cape hidden before following a link, re-showing Newt's Cape from task star caused an error (one user still has a problem with regular closebox sometimes misbehaving; need to reproduce)
2.x: Options:General:"Change keyboard keys" allows you to customize the top row of added keys; the preference value is a list of comma-separated labels which replace corresponding keys (http://,www.,.com,.edu,.net,.htm,.html). You can include a space (or end list prematurely) to skip existing keys; erase value to return to original defaults. Does not allow modification of key widths, so widest keys should be first or second; last key is slightly wider than middle keys. You'll have to manually close old keyboard in order to open new one.
~J: includes translations for new interface items (except Lock,Unlock, Bookmarks in overview only,Change keyboard keys); be sure to install separate Encoding plugin. I need to do some work to get fonts to display for overview folder tab menu, filing dialog, confirmation dialogs with proper font
~C: no translations yet for new interface items; be sure to install separate Encoding plugin
~G: no translations yet for new interface items

1.6i-2 (24 Jun 98)

2.x: keyboard is modified only if it has similar structure to standard keyboard; hopefully it avoids -48200 error for KeyMan(Standalone) or Int'l-Keyboard(Logictools)
2.x: cache items can be viewed by folder/store, moved between folders/stores
fixed a problem where helperApp (e.g., JPEG) failed when filename contained more than one period (and Newt's Cape matched wrong "extension")
fixed -48803 error (docDone after loading images)
2.x: Encoding in separate plugin; if it's installed with regular -2 version, there's no need for separate 1.6i~E; ~J and ~C versions of Newt's Cape would be a little smaller; users would download the Encoding plugin only once since it's stable
2.x: fixed a problem with redirected URLs -- unless it was the last one, Newt's Cape stopped prematurely (not transferring it or remaining docs). in particular, a redirected graphic is now cached under the original URL, which should allow it to be properly found in the document (though more correct behavior, I think would be to have an "indirect cache entry" for the original URL, which just links to another URL, which is also in cache). apparently problems with some GIFs generated by CGIs with error about "not real GIF". made some adjustments to delays for queuing -- hopefully I haven't introduced other problems..
2.x: may have fixed a -48418 problem whenever routing button is tapped
2.x: one JPEG conversion resulted in -10061 -- reported to Greg

1.6h-2 (23 Jun 98)

2.x: JPEG conversion via separate beta plugin (thanks Greg!). for now, Options:General:Images:original (unconverted)? should be turned off. if you access a JPEG URL directly (i.e., in status area), it will be transferred, converted and cached, but not immediately displayed since Newt's Cape is not the "helper app". However, if you then select it from the Image cache, or it's referenced in an HTML document, image appears as expected.
2.x: Inbox now has Newt's Cape on routing menu (for a single recognizable item)
"command shortcut". several people have asked what the Newt's Cape (icon) button does, and several have asked for a shortcut button that would open up Cache, or Bookmarks, or ... Rather than add another button*, I decided to recycle the existing Newt's Cape button. You can set a preference: Options:General:Newt's Cape menu (in the misc. picker); if the name partially matches Bookmarks, this is the same as if you had selected Bookmarks:Browse/Schedule; if the name partially matches Open Location, Notes, Inbox, Paperback, WabumiUni, NewtWorks, HTML Cache, Image Cache, or Nethopper, the appropriate File command menu appears; if the preference is empty or not recognized, the button behaves as before -- File:Open Location. Note: available items depend on your version and language -- see what commands appears when you tap the File button. e.g., Works would match NewtWorks; HTML would match HTML Cache; Eingang would match "Inbox" (in German version). You could still open an occasional URL in status area by tapping File:Open Location. *If this is too inconvenient, I could add a separate button -- it's just a bit more work to make sure it fits on different model MessagePads, and moves appropriately as status line expands/shrinks
2.x: after picking a date to Schedule, a menu of Internet Setups appears; the checked item is current default; you can select a different setup as the new default; at the time of the future connection, Newt's Cape uses whatever is the then current default.
Options:General:Auto hide? automatically hides Newt's Cape when it's finished processing a document (and you can reshow Newt's Cape via flashing star at top(2.x), or Newt's Cape button in book control bar)
i:About automatically processes HTML introduction (also in g but I forgot to document)

1.6g-2 (21 Jun 98)

thanks to Peter Rand for his suggestions/testing.
2.x: changed "hide" button from grayed-x to star icon
2.x. keyboard button adds top row to alphanumeric keyboard containing: http://, www., .com, .edu, .net, .htm, .html (Bookmarks:Add Pattern removed); if this kbd visible, tapping button then offers other keyboards; kbd button no longer disappears if a real keyboard is connected.
2.x: File:Open HTML Cache, File:Open Image Cache, Bookmarks:Browse/Schedule, View:Load with Images display an "overview" dialog that contains checkboxes, item text (URL w/o http://), and a routing button; item prefixed by alarm icon if scheduled (via Update), by size in K for cache items, by title line for bookmarks; bookmarks have filing tab/button for changing folders/stores. If you tap on an item to right of its checkbox, it will Open the item -- if no other items were selected (this is like popup menu behavior); otherwise, it checks the item for you.
folder tab (Bookmarks only)
change to a different folder or store
All
if any checkboxes are on, button turns all off; if all off, turns all on.
routing button/menu
Load (View:Load with Images only)
load selected image files
Schedule
check/load item(s) into cache. a date/time view pops up.

if you tap outside the date/time area, it cancels, i.e., no Update occurs.
if you close it with current time, overview closes, Newt's Cape connects and checks items -- if they have changed (based on modification date) or not in cache, they're updated; "Doc Done" sound plays after items completed.
if you select a future date/time then close, the update occurs later; if Newt's Cape is closed, it will automatically connect/disconnect; "Doc Done" sound plays after items completed; to cancel pending update, use Cancel Update, or schedule another set of items (you can currently have only one update pending). Note: due to the erratic nature of communications, and Newton's limited memory, there may be problems with Newt's Cape not updating an entire set of URLs or cleaning up properly; this area needs more tuning/testing; in the meanwhile, you should not assume unattended updates are reliable.
Cancel Schedule
cancel pending scheduled items
Open
opens (1st) selected URL (faster than: Display URL, followed by Newt's Cape button)
Display URL
displays (1st) selected URL in status area (for editing)
Save as Outline
copies items to a Notes outline (removed command Bookmarks:Save as Outline)
Delete
deletes item(s) (after confirmation)
filing button/menu (Bookmarks only; if any items selected); button contains triangle if all items are on a card
change folder and/or store for selected item(s)
close box
close overview with no action
SMALL phrase emphasis changes current font size by only -1 (earlier by -3); BIG changes size by only +1 (earlier by +3)
FONT maps FACE attribute to installed Newton font names, i.e., System, Fancy, Simple, Casual(2.x); it also recognizes Espy, New York, Geneva for the first three. e.g., <FONT FACE="Geneva">
increased serial line length limit from 2K to 3K
2.x: removed Options:General:HTML/Image Cache:open URL immediately? since this can be accessed via overview, i.e., Go or URL
2.x. since long Bookmarks can be seen better in overview (Bookmarks:Browse), bookmark popup no longer changes font for long titles
in 1.6f, if you did "Options:Reset All", the preferences frame is reset immediately (as intended), but due to a bug, it also resets every time you quit/reopen Newt's Cape. to workaround this (in f), change Options:General:Images:animated? setting (ok to turn back off)
fixed problems (I think) where Options:General:Images:original(unconverted), if checked, would cause -48400 with Open Image Cache, NetHopperCache, Inbox(EETransfer)

1.6f,f-2 (7 May 98)

fixes parsing problem (I think) where missing end tags, e.g., </FONT> in tables caused tags to accumulate across cells
1.x: client image maps containing polygons (created on 2.x) should now avoid system hang during tap/hilite
[this fix did not appear in earlier 1.6f-2; re-download if it's important] if a "null" (0) byte occurred in an HTML file (it generally shouldn't), parser earlier treated it as a content character; now treated as a space (which might avoid some strange results)
[this 1.6c fix was omitted from changes] Options:Appearance:TITLE can be used to specify a different font (and Align for 2.x) for the title which appears at top of each page. this should be especially useful in ~J,~C versions. there may be a refresh delay for non-default settings.

1.6e-2 (19 Apr 98)

fixed problem (introduced in 1.6c) where pref.tag, e.g., pref.H1, with incorrect NewtonScript stores nil preference, causing error. (until I update other versions, doublecheck NewtonScript; or if error occurs upon startup, remove NewtsCape:NewtsCape preference entry in System soup)
2.1: After Newt's Cape checks its own cache, it checks NetHopper's cache for any unconverted HTML source or GIFs stored there by WebXPress; there is supposedly a NetHopper scheduler plugin that does something similar/simpler (if someone has/finds it, let me know). This can be handy for "subscribing" to news or frequently changing web sites (since WebXPress will not be adding support for Newt's Cape (and it's unlikely that I'll find time/energy to write a competitor to WebXPress), this requires NetHopper (3.2?) to be installed for this functionality). So, you can link to an updated document or access graphics in NetHopper's cache. You can also access files directly via File:Open NetHopper Cache. Note: once you view a cached HTML source with NetHopper, it is converted to a different internal format, so source is no longer available; converted GIFs should still work, though "scale to fit?" may not work correctly (and animated GIFs would not work).

1.6d,-2,~C,~E,~G,~J,x,L (24 Mar 98)

fixed problem with Go:(history item) introduced in 1.6c
fixed problem opening saved books (introduced in 1.6c); note: if Newt's Cape not open (or noStatus), overview button may appear instead of NC button in book bar
2.1: adds Process:Save Newtworks -- creates a Newtworks document directly from HTML, rather than create a book first and then use File:Save Book to Newtworks. This is much faster; however, it has the same problems as Save Book to Newtworks: long lines not wrapped (horizontal scrolling needed), horizontal layout (e.g., tables) not supported, links inactive, and form objects not included. URL appears at end of document.
changed About:Book to About:Process
updated Greg Simon's address in About and docs: greg@accesscom.com
2.x: a different fix for encodings when submitting forms (should handle nulls better); removed rich string 1.6c conversions;

1.6c-2 (21 Mar 98)

2.1: "route book" functionality (Beam, Mail, Speak) has been removed from Newt's Cape, available separately: RouteBook 2.1 plugin supports routing for help books also; since RouteBook interferes with 1.6a-2,b-2, be sure to update to c-2 (or greater), and reboot. Reasons for this separation: make it easier to update just this functionality, offer plugin to book/non-registered Newt's Cape users, save a little space in all '-2' Newt's Cape versions, for 2.0 users or those who don't want this functionality. Note: the plugin is now 2.1-only, since on 2.0, I can support only Mail, only for regular books; (if you are a 2.0 user and would find even that limited capability useful, let me know and I'll update the plugin).
"scale to fit?" should no longer blow up graphics -- only shrink as appropriate
Options:Appearance:TITLE can be used to specify a different font (and Align for 2.x) for the title which appears at top of each page. this should be especially useful in ~J,~C versions. there may be a refresh delay for non-default font.
uses Sloup 2.2a,-2 (if installed) for "File:Open Desktop" communication; this reduces Newt's Cape (uncompressed) size by ~20K; faster, more reliable? also makes it easier to update/add connection options, e.g., MNP, IR
META REFRESH property now recognizes comma (in addition to ;) after seconds delay; refresh skipped if earlier refresh for that doc requested, or original (requesting) document no longer current doc
2.x: META ICON if not present now autoLoaded or included in Load Images menu
2.x: when removing comments, serial and line-at-a-time NIE docs now done incrementally (avoids possible long pause at end)
tentatively removing Personal Media support -- let me know if you use this and would like it to remain
2.x: strips "rich strings" (removes handwritten chars) if used in INPUT TEXT, TEXTAREA, authentication fields -- may fix problems in versions with encoding?
API should now support most of what can be set by user, e.g., allowCompile: 'compile would allow temporary override of NewtonScript compile setting; noClose: true (new API setting; if useful, I could add to UI Prefs?) prevents current book from closing until new one is ready to display (default is still nil on the assumption that you would like to maximize heap during NIE transfers and Newt's Cape parsing rather than keep book visible)
supports additional standard (HTML 4.0) characters (that are documented/built-in to the Newton):
- capital Greek letters
- Δ Δ, Π Π, Σ Σ, Ω Ω
- punctuation
- • • (bullet)
- … … (horizontal ellipsis; &ldot; removed)
- – – (en dash)
- — — (em dash)
- ‘ ‘ (left single quote)
- ’ ’ (right single quote)
- &sbquo; ‚ (single low-9 quote)
- &bdquo; „ (double low-9 quote)
- “ “ (left double quote)
- ” ” (right double quote)
- &lsaquo; ‹ (single left-pointing angle quote)
- &rsaquo; › (single right-pointing angle quote)
- &dagger; †, &Dagger; ‡ (double dagger)
- &permil; ‰ (per mille sign),
- ′ ′, ″ ″
- &frasl; ⁄ (fractional slash)
- mathematics
- &fnof; ƒ (function of)
- ∂ ∂ (partial differential)
- ∏ ∏ (n-ary product)
- ∑ ∑ (n-ary summation)
- − −
- √ √ (square root, radical sign)
- ∞ ∞ (infinity)
- ∫ ∫ (integral)
- &sim; ∼ (similar to, varies with)
- ≈ ≈ (almost equal, asymptotic to)
- ≠ ≠ (not equal to)
- ≤ ≤ (less than or equal to)
- ≥ ≥ (greater than or equal to)
- misc.
- &loz; ◊ (lozenge)
- &OElig; Œ (OE 'ligature')
- &oelig; œ (oe 'ligature')
- &Yuml; Ÿ (Y umlaut)
- &circ; ˆ (circumflex)
- &tilde; ˜ (small tilde)

1.6b-2 (24 Feb 98)

fixed hilight offset glitch when link split across book page (this fix will also be in next Lite version)
2.x: "link menu" (when using horizontal line gesture) now wider, with smaller font; added "Add Bookmark" to menu to add bookmark (with highlighted text as title) to Newt's Cape
NAME field now URL encoded (if necessary) in FORM data
MAXLENGTH attribute now applied when INPUT TEXT initialized
2.x: recognized as HTML if MIME type via serial starts with "text/html...", i.e., ignores possible encoding attributes (this was already ok via NIE)
for NewtPack progress, swapped order of info, so size# is first
2.x: adds fromRef for mailto:; some mail transports (like Eudora) needed it?
2.1: text from Newtworks docs now incrementally processed (rather than all copied first to a temporary virtual string); plus omits graphics properly; this should allow access to much larger documents, with fewer crashes

1.6a-2 (6 Feb 98)

slightly larger font for URL area
2.x: if you use hide button, flashing star appears at top; tap this, then "Newt's Cape" to re-show Newt's Cape; more convenient(?) alternative to tapping Newt's Cape icon in book control bar or Extras (which also causes the star/Newt's Cape to disappear)
2.x: WyndMail (if installed) used for mailto: transport, rather than previous regular 'mail transport
2.x: File:Save as Text to Desktop should now work on temporary (non-package) books
[note: moved to "Route Book" extension; removed in 1.6c-2] 2.x: adds "text routing" capability to all books (assuming Newt's Cape installed), so you can Beam, Mail, or Speak the text of a page or the entire book, in addition to Print or Fax. Speaking requires 2.1 NOS, and Macintalk and SpeakText extensions installed (note: Macintalk etc. is unreleased, unsupported software from Apple, so no one officially have it; however, comp.sys.newton.misc newsgroup/archive mentions sites that may have it, or users (not me) who might email it to you).
After opening book control bar, tap the action (envelope) button: each tap toggles one of two menus: (Print, Fax) or (Beam,...). I would recommend actually selecting the "Print Book" item the very first time in order to check/choose the default Format: "Entire Book" or "Current Page" (other options treated as current page). This option is used by later text routing commands, though it does not currently use page range (from Entire Book). You can email or speak an entire book (since it creates a virtual string, not in heap), but if the book is large, "Current Page" may be preferable. The book title (and page number for Current Page, if book > 1 page) is beam/email Subject, or speaking introduction.
So, to access the new menu, you would generally tap the action button three times*: first to open, then on button (or elsewhere) to cancel the Print/Fax menu; a third time to see the Beam menu:

Beam
beam text of page (or book) to another Newton
Mail (assuming Mail transports installed)
email text of page (or book); tested with Enroute, Aloha, Wyndmail (let me know about others)
Speak Text (2.1; Macintalk and SpeakText installed)
speaks book title (and maybe "page" and number), followed by text from current page (or entire book); a flashing star at top allows you to select "Speak Text" to Stop. You can change default speech settings under Inbox:i:Speak Text Prefs; you can embed speech directives directly in your text (technical Macintalk docs); it would be easy to speak specific text via links by using the PlaySound function
other transports? (let me know)
not tested

*This is a little cumbersome but not sure how else to integrate into the book reader's routing environment (heterogeneous dataTypes?), while preserving Print/Fax access. Is routing useful? Future: should text include "picture" or "object" to indicate non-text elements? should speech emphasis be added for font styles, e.g., louder for bolder/large fonts (or perhaps associated with HTML tags)? substitute words for special unicode characters, e.g., bullet?