This information is for registered NewtDevEnv users. It contains the standard, "stable" versions of NewtDevEnv, docs and related tools. If there are new features or bug fixes that you would like access to, or you don't mind helping with testing, there will be references to beta versions on the main regnewt page. If you have changed your (preferred) email address recently, please let me know so that I can keep you informed. (I often remove an address when it bounces with unknown user or host).
Many external links may be obsolete -- if you have updates, please send. There may be problems with .pkg files (esp. for Mac OS X); it may be safest to use .zip archives.
To help me resolve problems with NewtDevEnv most quickly, I would appreciate the following information:
Note: you might also check first if this is a known problem (sometimes reported at top of regnewt page, or on main newtdev page), or if it's something already fixed in a newer beta.
As an experiment in software distribution, additional Newt-related documentation, Questions&Answers, examples and other packages and plug-ins are available via this page, in the /regnewt directory.
The .zip archives are password protected. Check with me if you have lost/forgotten it.
Please do not redistribute files, password, page.
To test transfer and make sure you can unzip and open a password protected archive, try these smaller files first. If you transfer files via http, you may need to configure your browser so that large files get Saved rather than opened in a text view. For .zip files, make sure you transfer as binary; also use a relatively recent version of PKUNZIP (users have experienced problems with Norton utility; or I can use a different compression option for slightly larger files)
NOTE: I will use the following terms:
In order to support different user preferences/configurations (and tradeoffs for package size vs. speed), there are usually several versions of tools available, e.g., 1.x/2.x-compatible or 2.x-only; there could be Native versions of each. If you want to create packages that are compatible for 1.x, you should use a 1.x/2.x-compatible version even on NOS 2.x since a package often borrows code from Newt, NewtPack or constants.
If you have NOS 2.x, and plan to use 2.x-specific protos or functions, create packages only for your own use, or distribute your package only to 2.x users, you have the option of using 2.x-only versions of Newt, NewtPack and PlatFnc2. The advantage is that the development tools and your resulting packages will be (~5-10%) smaller; the disadvantage is that your packages will be incompatible with 1.x (2.x method and object formats are different).
Since this can be a confusing choice for 2.x developers, I hope that the following table makes the 1.x/2.x vs. 2.x-only options somewhat clearer:
| Version | Develop, Save App on | Use Saved Package on | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newt, NewtPack | 1.x | 2.x | 1.x | 2.x |
| 1.x/2.x | yes | yes(1) | yes(1) | yes |
| 1.x/2.x + protNOS2 + PlatFnc2 | no(2) | yes | no(2,3) | yes |
| 2.x-only(4) + PlatFnc2 | no | yes | no(5) | yes(6) |
Notes:
When you report a problem with Newt, please let me know versions of installed plugins (you can do this by tapping the Version button in the Prefs panel) -- often very old plugins (e.g., ExprKbd, LifeCnst; very old folderLibs) will interfere with Newt (or other apps I've written), especially if they install first -- often removing/re-installing these can fix the problem.
Standard releases (regular and Native) are 2.x-compatible, i.e., work on both 1.x and 2.x systems. The -2 version works only on NOS 2.x, and creates packages that will run only on 2.x.
If you distribute applications created with NewtDevEnv, I would appreciate that you mention (in your Readme or documentation) something like:
This application created using <A HREF="http://http://communicrossings.com/html/newton/index.htm">Newt Development Environment</A>
Also let me know the URLs of your web site or ftp archives so I can include in the list of NewtDevEnv applications
The standard release contains: NewtPack, NewtDrw1, DontAsk, applic0.lib, applic2.lib. [note: DontAsk is 1.x-only]
Plugins 3.? (beta) [none currently]
These correspond to versions (of NTK Platform Functions):
These definitions are used at development-time for your application, see the documentation about how to use constants at run-time (inside methods).
newest examples: voicetoy, moounit,...
These examples should generally be 2.x-compatible (though they do not support Rotate yet). I will gradually be updating these examples to conform to current DTS versions. For a complete list, see examples.htm. Note: 3.4-2 (2.x only) examples may require ProtNOS2 (or -2 version of Newt), a few may require PlatFnc2 plugins.
Generally, if you already have the "3.3" versions of examples, plus "xnew34a", you do not need to re-download the 3.4 versions of the examples. In addition to copyright notices and changes to "Sloup", the following changes were made:
Known problems:
Some user examples:
Here are first new docs (7 Mar 97) in HTML format and Newton books (and maybe later in PDF or PostScript if there's enough demand). I'd appreciate your feedback! To use the books, install Newt's Cape regular or Lite.
NTK documentation from Apple is now available for free in both Acrobat(PDF) and DocViewer (and some QuickView) formats; DocViewer&QuickView are Mac only. Make sure you have enough disk space! Rather than specific URLs (which tend to change), here are the main places/directories to get started and which documents to look for.
APDA and Addison-Wesley are selling paper manuals, separately from NTK:
NewtATut 1.5 (current public book, HTML, PDF) -- application tutorial shows how to use protoInfoButton, protoAboutText and add help book. works with Newt 3.4 (and greater).
NewtTurT 1.5 (current public book, HTML, PDF) -- turtle tutorial. works with Newt 3.4 (and greater).
NewtPFB (Newt Pico Fermi Bagels tutorial) -- Newton book and PDF versions. These correspond to a previous version of PFB (the current example PFB 1.3 is NOS 2.x compatible). I will update an HTML version and book eventually...
See also: comp.sys.newton.programmer newsgroup; NewtDevEnv discussion list
InspecTerm Printomania article (PDF) [somewhat out of date -- if there's enough interest, I'll revise as HTML and Newton book]
Q&A (question&answer) digests -- I will eventually merge this info into the main manuals.