newtVNC: VNC for the Newton

VNC icon

Application icon courtesy of an anonymous contributor. Title: Newtzilla Conquers the Desktop?

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.

Recent Updates

Since this is a working document, I've used typographic prefixes in some places to indicate:

***
important requirement or current constraint
!!!
in progress or to do
???
possible problem, or needs clarification/information/feedback

What is VNC?

VNC = Virtual Network Computing. Basically, you can display the screen of a remote system over a network, point at its screen and enter text. There are other tools available for screen sharing, but VNC is cross-platform, free, open source.

newtVNC is free VNC viewer and server for Newton; !!! source code will be made available after this has stabilized and I've had a chance to do some code cleanup, and figured out the license; it's a complete rewrite (rather than port) it was inspired by GPL (GNU General Public License) Java code, but completely rewritten in NewtonScript; also, there are contributions from others and Apple's NTK and Newton libraries aren't GPL,...

Please provide feedback on this version, current issues, and missing features to Steve. If you experience problems, be sure to check Version History, Current Issues and Implementation Notes to see if a problem/issue has already been noted or fixed. Otherwise, telling me version of newtVNC, your model MessagePad, screen orientation, and relevant viewer/server preference settings (Encoding, Use Copy Rect, Display Size, Gray Levels) would help greatly if you'd actually like me to reproduce, identify, and fix the problem. It also helps if you can verify that the server does not have the same problem with a different viewer, similarly configured (if possible); and if the server provides a log, so much the better. BugTrap or NTK Inspector results and screenshots are helpful also. If you have success with a particular server, especially if you have to tweak settings in newtVNC and/or server, let me know details -- and I can post here to spare others the same pain. There may be discussion also on NewtonTalk.

Requirements

NOS 2.1
MessagePad2000(MP2K), 2100 or eMate
??? although earlier newtVNC versions [≤ 3.3a7] should work for NOS 2.0, using b&w display and non-ethernet connections, I have not heard from any 2.0 users, so assume this is not really practical. success anyone?
*** store
[Viewer] you should have an extra space available on your Default Store for a full (~320x416 or ~432x304) local screen (double these if you create an overview also):
??? should Store be a preference
software
if you plan to use Zlib encoding, be sure to install Paul Guyot's library
user
experience with using other VNC viewers (and perhaps configuring your own server)
ability to deal with beta software and partial documentation, and provide detailed bug reports
$$$?
nope, this is free
network connection
*** tested only with NIE 2.0, Ethernet card and local network (both hub, and directly via crossover cable)
??? dialup, firewalls/proxies
remote server
for use with newtVNC as viewer
I've tested mostly with WinVNC, and somewhat with the two Mac OS 9 versions; if you have success with other platforms/servers, please send details so that I can include here; (if you have a different server and provide a host address and password, perhaps I can investigate/reproduce problems there)
servers known to work with newtVNC, issues, screenshots:
Windows (2000)
WinVNC 3.3.3R9
screenshot
this has worked best for my testing
TightVNC 1.2.2
screenshot
based on WinVNC 3.3R9 3.3; supports Zlib encoding
TridiaVNC 1.4.0
screenshot
based on WinVNC 3.3R9 3.3; supports Zlib encoding
Macintosh (OS 9.2)
Mac VNC 3.3.3b2
screenshot
for server, be sure to enter a password and save preferences
this server performs well (*** when it doesn't hang Mac); right click, clipboard don't work
ChromiVNC 3.4.0a5
screenshot
*** server sends updates for entire remote screen (I've contacted developer about this), so Newton has to skip through a lot of extra data (so, use Hide Others and make rest of screen a plain background?) -- this may lead to timeouts/disconnects; more stable, but less usable, than MacVNC IMHO; right click works; !!! I need to add some mapping for cmd-
??? does not actually support Zlib encoding even though server displays that preference
Macintosh (OSX 10.1)
OSXvnc-0.6
screenshots (from Carsten Lemmen)
Linux
there should be versions of standard (ATT) VNC viewer, TightVNC and TridiaVNC; ??? others
remote viewer
for use with newtVNC as a server
most of the servers listed above also include viewers
newtVNC server has been tested with WinVNC, TightVNC, TridiaVNC, MacVNC [Macintosh]

User Interface Summary

It is possible to start using newtVNC fairly quickly:

  1. check/set preferences
  2. connect (or listen -- Server)
  3. view, interact: scroll, point, enter text, use clipboard
  4. disconnect, or exit newtVNC

Even though the newtVNC application view consists mostly of the remote display, there are a number of controls available. Since this is an early version and there are some things that are different from a standard desktop viewer -- smaller screen, pen instead of mouse, different forms of text input, it's best to go thru the user interface commands/features first. This assumes you have some familiarity with VNC terminology and other VNC viewer(s). If you've used an earlier version of newtVNC, you should check Version History and the descriptions below since some preferences and behavior may have changed.

*** It is possible to select between four(for now) Local interface styles; any interface items in different locations are labeled with [Expanded], [Compact], [Compact(top)], [Compact(float)]. Also, it is possible to use newtVNC as either a [Viewer] or as a [Server].

screenshot [Expanded]: Prefs, Connect, About

"i" menu

"i" (info) button
lower left; [Compact(top)] upper left
used to access preferences and About

About

This displays brief information about the version of newtVNC. If Newt's Cape is installed, you can tap on the web link; in addition, if you have a mail client installed, you can tap on the mail link to provide feedback. ??? add relevant config info automatically to email, e.g., Log.

Prefs

Note: Server currently uses only Display Size and Refresh.

Encoding
these are ranked here roughly in increasing order of data transferred, and annotated with proportion of bitmap drawing and rectangle filling
??? Tight, ZlibHex
(some bitmaps, some fills)
these may be more compressed/concise than Zlib, but due to more complex processing, are not currently faster on Newton -- so they are not included
Zlib
(all bitmap)
this is basically the same as Raw except it is compressed (similar to .zip file), so less data is transferred
requires Zlib.pkg-- library from Paul Guyot
requires a server that supports Zlib: TightVNC, TridiaVNC; ??? others
Hextile [default]
(some bitmaps, mostly fills)
server sends series of 16x16 encoded (raw, filled, etc.) rectangles
CoRRE
(all fill)
Compact RRE
RRE
(all fill)
"rise-and-run-length"; similar to CoRRE but more data
Raw
(all bitmap)
if Zlib is not available on your server, this encoding is recommended next since it is universal
however, if you have a slow connection, Hextile might be faster overall since less data is transferred
generally, less data is better, but more complex encodings can actually be slower on the Newton; Paul Guyot has written a fast bitmap drawing and rectangle filling functions (≥ 3.3a6) (in additon to the Zlib library); bitmaps are often faster than filling many small rectangles; Steve's current recommendation is Zlib (if your server supports it), then Raw, then Hextile -- your mileage may vary depending on server and bandwidth
[Server] ignores this preference and sends Raw (with occasional RRE or CoRRE same-color rectangles)
Use CopyRect
Yes, No [default]
[≥ 3.3a3] server tells viewer to reuse parts of screen it already has
this can be much faster for certain operations like dragging a window by its title bar or scrolling a remote window
if server sends CopyRect request that involves copying a source area that Newton does not completely have, newtVNC ignores the CopyRect and request a refresh for just the destination area (this is a problem for big windows, but simpler than to compute and request multiple missing pieces that the server assumed newtVNC already has)
after CopyRect, server should send updates for the old areas; ??? this usually works, though sometimes I have noticed slight errors (e.g., near window bottom a window); need to investigate whether it's a newtVNC or server problem
Right Click
maps caret gesture to "right" mouse button click on remote system
ctrl-Button 1 (Mac): sends a ctrl-key modifier; this worked with ChromiVNC but not MacVNC server
Button 2: ??? I don't have a system with middle button to test
Button 3 (Win): [default] works with WIndows
(≤ 3.3a3: this preference was "Mouse buttons 2&3" with Normal/Reverse settings)
Share Desktop
Yes, No [default]
??? untested with sharing enabled
Refresh(sec)
number of seconds between checking for incremental updates
viewer sends an update request immediately after a pen, keyboard or scroll event, so Refresh applies only to interim changes generated by server; ??? probably safer for this to be larger (esp. if large display size or slow connection)
[Server] frequency to check/send incremental updates to viewer; however, server sends an update immediately if viewer requests a full screen update, after a pen tap, or while there are multiple updates in queue
Display Size
n x n
various smaller sizes for initial testing, faster interaction, less storage
full
full width and height of local screen area (minus command line; and [Expanded] top and right);
this is roughly 320x416 (portrait) or 432x304 (landscape); for convenience/efficiency, newtVNC constrains display area to be a multiple of 16 (not inherently required)
full+bar
overlays Newton button bar area and adds those commands (including Overview) to action menu
when used with Compact(float), screen sizes maxes out at 320x480 or 480x320
as mentioned under Requirements, the default store is used for local bitmap (≥ 3.3a3) and overview (≥ 3.3a6)
the amount of storage needed is related to the local display size and resolution (Gray Level): the amount needed is ≈ (width * height) / (8 / bpp), where bpp = bits_per_pixel (Gray Level); there also also some bitmap header bytes, plus bytes to pad width of each row to a multiple of 32; so, for a full 16-gray (4 bpp) screen: 320*416 / 2 or 432*304 / 2 ≈ 66K.
[Server] this preference determines how large a display area to send to viewer; generally, this would be full+bar, but you can set it to full or a smaller size.
Gray Level
newtVNC viewer receives the same amount of data for all of these; however, the amount of local storage increases with more gray levels -- see Display Size
b&w (1+ bpp)
screenshot
this uses black, white; "+" indicates that 3 gray patterns are also used to improve display
acceptable if lots of text and few detailed icons/images
for NOS 2.0, you can't use or save a different setting
4 grays (2 bpp)
screenshot
better?
16 grays (4 bpp)
screenshot
best quality
[Server] ignores this preference and always uses 16 grays; bitmap is not stored locally, but copied in small portions to viewer
KeyboardPref
this preference controls which keyboard to open with the Keyboard(icon) button at lower left; [Compact(top)] upper left: the built-in alphanumeric keyboard or one modified with extra keys; note: this does not affect the keyboard obtained by double-tapping (if Handwriting pref is enabled)
Standard [default]
regular built-in alphanumeric keyboard
+ctrl,opt,cmd
modifies built-in Newton keyboard by adding ctrl and cmd keys, shortening option to opt
opt sends "meta" key modifier, cmd sends "alt" to server
more Mac-oriented
+ctrl,meta,alt,bs
modifies built-in Newton keyboard by adding ctrl and cmd keys, relabeling option with meta, del with bs(backspace)
more PC-,Unix-oriented
??? although the patch code is extremely careful, if errors occur, let me know -- and switch back to "Standard"
note: tapping the keyboard icon while the keyboard is open provides a menu of other system keyboards
Handwriting On
controls whether Handwriting Recognition is enabled or not
Yes [default]
enter single characters or words by writing directly on remote screen
double tap gesture opens keyboard; hilite gesture does nothing; caret may be difficult to use
No
text entry only via hard or soft keyboard
double tap gesture sent to remote system; hilite gesture available for local scrolling
Local UI
three styles of overall user interface:
Expanded [default]
commands on bottom, scrollbars on bottom and right [almost identical to 3.3a3]
top: title, status
right: vertical scroll controls
bottom: info button, kbd button, horizontal scroll controls, action button, close button
screenshot
Compact
bottom: info button, kbd button, title, compact scroll arrows (same as 3.3a2), action button, close button
no status or long horizontal/vertical scroll controls; more space for remote display
Compact (top)
like Compact, but with commands/controls on top [former "Compact" in 3.3a4,a5]
About, Prefs, Connect open near top
??? this was judged to be a less consistent Newton user interface; if there are enough users who prefer Compact(top), this option may remain; otherwise, it might be removed in a future code cleanup
Compact (float)
like Compact, the command bar appears at bottom, but it's in a floating/draggable view, so you can display another 16 rows of pixels from the remote system; when used with Display Size: full+bar, entire screen can be used
Scroll Increment
used currently for top scroll arrows [Compact, Compact(top) only]
Create Overview
Yes, No [default]
if No, removes overview bitmap
if Yes, creates a scaled overview bitmap for entire remote screen, using same Gray Level (and roughly same storage) as the detailed bitmap
overview is accessible via overview button • in Newton menu
portions are filled/updated as you scroll around screen -- it's a "history" rather than a complete, current snapshot
screenshot
Landscape orientation provides the most detail if remote screen also has landscape dimensions
??? transferring entire screen at beginning could be time consuming (and would involve redesign)
(in 3.3a6, this was on action menu)
Apply
save changes and close Prefs; send relevant settings to server, refresh screen
closeBox
close Prefs (changes discarded)

You should be able to safely view and change Prefs while connected; however, changing the Display Size, Gray Level and/or Local UI may cause the screen to completely Refresh (and if an update is progress, inconsistencies may be visible temporarily)

??? Include other Newton-specific preferences, or preferences from other VNC viewers?

Action menu

The action menu (envelope icon) is at lower right; [Compact(top)] upper right. Some of these commands appear only when disconnected: Connect, Log; the others appear while connected: Disconnect, Refresh, Clipboard, Ctrl-Alt-Del; always there: Hide.

Connect [disconnected]
Connect dialog automatically appears when newtVNC is started (or after an unsuccessful connection with incorrect password)
Generally, a VNC server communicates on port 5900 + displayNumber.
General
(common to both Viewer and Server)
Display
0 [default]
if display radio button is selected, the display number is added to 5900
Port
5900 [default]
if Port radio button is selected, the port number is used directly (without display number)
you should probably not use 5800 since server might try to return a Java applet
Viewer
select Viewer radio button to choose Viewer; button displays "Connect"
Host
enter/pick a server name or IP address
Newton maintains a list of ??? 5 most recent servers (and associated passwords)
Password
this is supplied to server if authentication is needed
tap kbd icon for keyboard
if connection fails due to incorrect password, Connect dialog automatically reopens
in general, check Log if disconnect occurs
Server
select Server radio button to choose Server; button displays "Listen"
System Name
default: newtVNC: <user name>
Password
enter a password (up to 8 characters) to validate remote viewers
note: currently there is no retry limit
(in viewer)
Host: Newton's IP address (from newtVNC's progress box while waiting for viewer to connect)
Color: "restrict pixels to 8-bit" or "use server depth"; for MacVNC, you may have to edit "VNCViewer Preferences" manually
Encoding: newtVNC ignore viewer preference and sends Raw, but include RRE or CoRRE for faster fill of same-color rectangles
Connect / Listen
connect for Viewer/listen for Server, using the Display or Port, and Host and Password info; save setting and close dialog
[Server]: no host is required; displays progress box with its own IP address (Host for viewer); after connected, newtVNC automatically hides
closeBox
close dialog (without connecting; no settings saved)
Disconnect [connected]
Disconnect from server; this also occurs automatically when you close newtVNC
newtVNC should automatically (and correctly) release NIE link
if newtVNC disconnects automatically, e.g., server timeout or network error, "gong" sounds; check the Log; ??? should Log automatically open or Notify window popup (or too annoying)?
[Server] newtVNC automatically shows and redisplays connect dialog; ??? later it may automatically Listen again if viewer initiated Disconnect (or an error occurred)
Refresh [connected; Viewer]
perform an immediate, full update
useful to verify different encodings or if screen does become out of date; ??? if you do see incorrect areas on screen, and need to use Refresh, let me know your Pref settings and what actions led to this, and I could see if it's a newtVNC problem that I can fix.
Log [disconnected]
lists important status and error messages that occur during Connect or Disconnect, most recent at top
if you are having problems, especially Connecting, and the status messages at top refresh too quickly, this may provide some history of where things failed; each Connect causes it to clear, or you can use Clear button
Clipboard [connected; Viewer]
displays any text on server's clipboard via copy or cut operation; characters are 8-bit, not unicode
to use this text in other Newton applications, drag selection to Newton screen edge
??? works with WinVNC, but not MacVNC or ChromiVNC
Save to Server: send modified text to server clipboard, close Clipboard
closeBox: close Clipboard (changes discarded)
Hide (aka Minimize)
newtVNC view is hidden but not actually closed; it can be reopened by tapping the flashing * menu at center top of screen, or newtVNC icon in Extras
useful if you want to access another application or Rotate screen without disconnecting
Cut [connected; Viewer]
cuts current remote text selection, i.e., delete and copy to remote clipboard, which appears on local clipboard
equivalent to ctrl-X
Copy [connected; Viewer]
copy text selection to clipboard
equivalent to ctrl-C
Paste [connected; Viewer]
paste remote clipboard into text
equivalent to ctrl-V
Undo [connected; Viewer]
undoes last remote edit
equivalent to ctrl-Z
for MacVNC server, this worked if Cmd-Key equivalent set to "L Ctrl"
Select All [connected; Viewer]
select all text (or ???)
equivalent to ctrl-A
??? Other
keyboard equivalents like Open, Close, Quit would be nice if standard across platforms, or provide way to customize keyboard and menu mappings
ctrl-Alt-Del [connected; Viewer]
sends this special character to remote server
this can also be entered directly on hardware or soft keyboard via ctrl-opt-cmd-shift-Delete
works with WinVNC, but not Mac (map to cmd-opt-Esc ???)
Newton menu bar items
[if Display Size = full+bar; Viewer]

??? Other Newton-specific commands that should be included (Print; Save Screen to NewtWorks?) or commands from other VNC viewers -- in action menu or as separate buttons? icons, sounds (esp. if built-in)

Scrolling

Since the Newton screen area is likely to be smaller than the display on the remote system, newtVNC [Viewer] supports scrolling via several methods:

horizontal and vertical scrollbars ⇐——◊------⇒
[Expanded only] horizontal at bottom, vertical on right
arrows on ends scroll full width(height) of local screen
for less/more, use sliders to set position (they're rounded to 16-pixel increments, and updated by other scrollers)
??? change end scroll arrows to those used by compact scroller (involves some bitmap surgery to remove frame)
scroll arrows ←→↑↓
[Compact] bottom center; [Compact(top)] top center
tap once to scroll by Scroll increment, e.g., 16, 64 or full, or hold down for multiple (audible) steps
hilite gesture
only if Handwriting preference is disabled
if hold down at a point on screen (for a second or so until 'blob' appears), then draw to a new point, e.g., upper left of application window to upper left of newtVNC view
if you are in overview, hold down at corner of view rectangle and move it to a different location on screen (move gesture also works)
if Handwriting is enabled, this gesture is remapped/trapped by the character recognizer (along with double-tap)
overview button (Newton button bar) •
display overview of remote screen if it has been created, along with rectangle showing current view
use hilite or move gesture to scroll (move view rectangle to another location); other gestures ignored; detailed screen reappears
(≤ 3.3a5, this button always scrolled to 0,0, i.e, upper left of remote screen)
if Newton menu bar is hidden by newtVNC (i.e., Display Size = full+bar), Overview command appears in action menu
up/down scroll arrows (Newton button bar) ⇑ ⇓
for each separate tap (not while held down) scrolls up/down by 1/2 Display Size height

For scrolls of less than screen width or height (in one dimension), newtVNC shifts the local bitmap and requests only the new portion. In general, you should wait for an update to be done before scrolling -- otherwise, updates in progress might get written to wrong location; ??? perhaps need to delay setting new origin until next update starts.

When not connected, experiment with these methods; if interface is in Expanded mode, you can see location feedback in the status area and on the scroll sliders.

Status, Display

newtVNC [Viewer] uses several ways to provide feedback:

status area
[Expanded only] upper right
displays status and error messages
during updates, counts down the number of "top-level rectangles" remaining to be updated; this varies according to encoding -- CoRRE may use a large number of rectangles (with a small amount of data in each); others typically use a small number of rectangles
displays pointing and keyboard events
important status and error messages also appear in Log
??? more messages needed, shorten some for portrait orientation
title area
upper left [Expanded, Compact(top)]; lower left [Compact, Compact(float)]
disconnected: newtVNC application name, version and local Display Size
connected: name and size of the remote display
during update, the title functions as a gauge:
  1. it turns black (with white text) when data starts to arrive from the server
  2. intermittently, it fills for each rectangle in update
  3. when update is done, title reappears in black text on white background (and main screen updates)
main display
automatically updates from server after scrolling, pointing or text events, or periodically -- see Refresh preference
display usually refreshes only after a complete update has been received from server;
there may be temporary inconsistencies if there are user events, e.g., closing Prefs or keyboard, handwriting, scroll etc.; if inconsistencies are serious, use Refresh; if they're reproducible, try to give me details
(≤ 3.3a2: displayed partial updates immediately but only ephemerally)
sounds
built-in sounds play for many user (pointing, keyboard, scroll, action) events
??? if remote server sends a Bell event, Newton should play a sound, but doesn't work with servers tested

Removed in 3.3a3: separate x,y origin feedback at upper left; this now appears temporarily in [Expanded] status area; ??? should location be appended to Title (instead of fixed size)

Pointing Events

Desktop systems typically use a mouse with 1-3 buttons as a pointing device. The newtVNC [Viewer] can send pointing events using several gestures (note: for best results, these should occur between rather than during updates):

tap
equivalent "left click": down/up in same location
e.g., to select a menu, menu item or text insertion point
double tap
Handwriting disabled: doubletap should be sent to remote system, e.g., to open a document or application
Handwriting enabled: local keyboard opens (without extra keys)
in order to open a remote document, you can usually also use right-click to obtain a remote menu (e.g., on Windows) that contains "Open" and other commands
try preceding with a single tap to get 'focus' for current application
doubletap plays another sound after regular tap if recognized; sometimes two single taps will work
on Mac, doubletap worked to select text, and to collapse a window bar
caret: ^ < > v
equivalent to "right click": down/up in same location
e.g., to obtain a Windows or Mac(ChromiVNC) menu
Right Click preference controls how this is sent to server
line: —————
equivalent to select or "drag across", i.e., pen down at start location, pen up at end.
e.g., to select text, move a window by its title, drag a scroller, or resize window via bottom right corner
don't hold down too long -- if "fat" cursor appears, "hilite" gesture begins to be recognized, and that either scrolls or is ignored (Handwriting pref)
used for scrolling of overview map (≥ 3.3a6)
this works well on Windows
on Mac (regular VNC server), drawing across text selects; ??? dragging on title bar moves reverse direction!
scrub: WW
local gesture
equivalent to typing a Backspace character
hilite: =========
local gesture
used for scrolling of detailed map (≥ 3.3a4) and overview map (≥ 3.3a6) if Handwriting is disabled

When not connected, experiment with these methods; listen to sounds; look for feedback in the [Expanded] status area.

Text Entry

Desktop systems typically have a hardware keyboard, with various modifier keys like Shift, Ctrl, Option, Cmd/Apple. newtVNC [Viewer] maps Option to "Meta", Cmd/Apple to "Alt". The Newton can send keyboard events via several methods:

hardware keyboard
the Newton keyboard has Ctrl, Option and Apple key, which map to Ctrl, Meta, Alt
the "Delete" key is actually Backspace; newtVNC maps Shift-Delete to Del; to get Ctrl-Alt-Del, you could type Ctrl-Cmd-Shift-Delete
if keys do not appear (in status area or remote system), tap the screen or open the soft keyboard via keyboard button (then close it)
??? convention to map to Function (F1-F12) keys, e.g., ctrl-option-cmd-1,...
soft (on screen) keyboard
accessible by keyboard button
standard kbd includes Option, but not Ctrl or Cmd -- Keyboard preference to add/rename keys
??? any third party kbds with extra keys
character recognition
[≥ 3.3a3]
enable/disable via Handwriting pref
write directly on remote screen -- recognized characters or word (w/ space) are inserted at remote selection point
difficulty with some characters recognized as gestures: "." for tap, "I" or "-" for line, "v" or "^" as caret. ??? user settings/practice, or newtVNC adjust recognizer flags/scripts
scrub gesture
backspace (clear)
action menu
Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Select All, ctrl-Alt-Del
drag-and-drop
you can drag and drop text from another application or the Newton clipboard

When not connected, experiment with these methods and look for feedback in the [Expanded] status area. The status displays key combination (with modifier keys), along with actual character sent (if different). Note: you can continue to enter text during an update; however, if the Newton generates a refresh (e.g., after chracter recognition or if you close the keyboard), you may see partial results. ??? Perhaps add a flag to block refresh until update is done.

Other Controls

For completeness, here are a few other controls:

keyboard button
lower left; [Compact(top)] upper left
opens standard or modified keyboard (see Keyboard preference) or popup menu of keyboards
close box
lower right; [Compact(top)] upper right
exit application; if connected, it delays a few seconds in order to Disconnect automatically
[3.3a7] manually Disconnect first to avoid delayed errors
Rotate
Extras Drawer, or 3rd party extension
VNC does not provide a Rotate button; however, you can minimize newtVNC and then use the Rotate control in Extras
if Display Size is full, this will cause a complete refresh (and reset of overview) due to screen resizing;
[Server] Rotate while not connected to a viewer

??? More commands in action menu; in Expanded mode, some buttons could fit in right margin.

Download newtVNC

Version note: newtVNC began numbering with "3.3" to reflect that its viewer and server conform to 3.3 protocol; the first Newton version was "3.3a1". Although having separate Viewer and Server apps might make it possible to run both simultaneously, I'm doubtful that the Newton (at least MP2K) has adequate resources for both; single newtVNC .pkg is easier to maintain due to large code overlap; and it's smaller: ~105K vs. separate: 2 * ~85K?

Version History

3.3b1 (?? Nov 01)

3.3a9 (28 Nov 01)

.pkg

For downloading directly via http: to Newton with Newt's Cape or other web browser. Note: when installed, the packages are stored compressed, so take less space than shown. If after downloading to Mac, icon does not appear correctly -- use PackType.

The .zip archives will contain the package, as well as license and source -- available after I've had a chance to address the most immediate initial requests & bugs, and cleanup the source a little.

.zip

Current Issues/Plans

If there's a newer version than the one you have -- current is 3.3a9, check Version History in case an issue has already been note, or Find "???" items. Please let me know if there are problem connecting to specific servers with specific encodings or configurations, and your Log, and I'll see what else I can do (or explain). Suggestions always welcome. ??? Here are the latest problems/questions/issues that have been raised -- via email to me, NewtonTalk or comp.sys.newton.misc:

Implementation Notes

This more technical section has moved to vnc/implem.htm.

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