This software is copyright 1994 Jason Harper, all rights reserved. ViewFrame Editor 1.0 (but not any other versions, or any of the other components of the ViewFrame package) may be freely distributed, as long as it is accompanied by an unmodified copy of this documentation.
The Editor is being distributed for two purposes:
Ñ As a promised free upgrade for purchasers of ViewFrame 1.0.
Ñ As an addendum to the ViewFrame demo currently available on many online services and bulletin boards. The Editor will work normally with the demo version of ViewFrame, although its output will be subject to the display limitations of the demo.
For those of you who are not ViewFrame owners, here is a brief summary of what the Editor is and how to use it:
Ñ The Editor allows you to write simple NewtonScript programs directly on a Newton device. It is intended for experimenting with the NewtonScript lanugage - it is incapable of producing complete applications.
Ñ Programs are entered in a scrolling area similar to the Newton Notepad.
Ñ Programs should consist of a series of NewtonScript expressions. There's no need to enclose them with BEGIN and END, although it doesn't hurt to do so. Don't start the program with FUNC (), as you would when writing a script in the NTK.
Ñ Tapping the Execute button will attempt to compile and execute the program. The return value of the program (the value of the last statement executed) will be displayed: in a notification box for simple results (booleans, integers, or reals), in ViewFrame for more complex object types.
Ñ Tapping the Trace button executes the program, with Inspector tracing turned on: your Newton must be connected to the NTK Inspector for this to do anything useful.
The primary change in the new version of the ViewFrame Editor is that it supports soup storage of multiple programs: most of the other changes are there to support this main change. Note that it is only the program source code that is being stored: this version is no closer to being able to generate normal Newton packages than before.
The new Editor is supplied in two packages:
Ñ VF Editor.pkg, the actual Editor.
Ñ VF Ed SoupMaker.pkg, a dispatch-only auto part (in other words, a package that deletes itself after loading into the Newton) that loads some sample programs for the Editor. Currently, the three samples from the ViewFrame manual are loaded. This package can be reloaded if any of the sample programs are accidentally deleted or modified: it will not overwrite any Editor programs.
The appearance and operation of the new Editor are mostly the same as version 0.5, which came with ViewFrame 1.0. The differences are:
Ñ The title of the application has been moved to the top left corner.
Ñ At the top, to the right of the title, is a popup menu that shows the name of the current "file" (stored source code) and allows selection of any of the files in the Editor's soup.
Ñ In the top right corner is a status icon. It appears as a Newton with an arrow pointing down if the current file is located in internal memory, or as a card with an arrow pointing up if the file is on a storage card. Tapping on the status icon shows the version number of ViewFrame, and the amount of storage space taken by the current file.
Ñ On the status bar at the bottom is a standard Action (routing) button.
The Action options available are:
Ñ Print/fax: Produces hard copy of the current program. The output is currently limited to a single page, since large programs aren't really appropriate for the Editor.
Ñ Beam: Sends a copy of the current program to another Newton via IR. The other Newton must also have the Editor installed to allow the beam to be put away.
Ñ Mail: Sends a copy of the current program to another Newton via NewtonMail. If sent directly to another NewtonMail account, the receiver (who must also have the Editor installed) can simply put away the item. In this case, the text of the message can be scrubbed out to reduce its size. However, programs can also be sent to people on other systems, via Internet. In this case, the message must be sent "Text Only". The text of the message contains the program, wrapped in NewtonScript statements that will install it in a Newton. The recipient should paste the text into the Inspector window on his Macintosh (probably this will work with the Windows NTK as well), then select and execute it. Instructions for doing this are included in each message. Note that any non-ASCII characters are lost in the transfer, and that the program may not be very readable in the message: quotes and backslashes require some translation to turn the program into a legal NewtonScript string constant.
Ñ >Inspector: Dumps the current program to the Inspector, in the same wrapped format as used by mailing. This could be used for mailing programs by a user with no NewtonMail account: copy the program from the Inspector window and paste it into a message being sent in some other way. This is also useful for editing a program in the large-screen environment of the Inspector, then sending it back to the same Newton. Note that each time you execute the message to send it to the Newton, a new copy of the file is made. You will need to manually delete older copies if desired.
Ñ New program: Creates a new, blank program, and makes it the current program.
Ñ Rename: Opens a slip allowing you to specify a new name for the current file.
Ñ Delete: Trashes the current file. This action is undo-able.
Ñ Duplicate: Makes a copy of the current file, and opens the Rename slip to allow you to give it a new name. Note that if you close this slip without entering a new name (or by various other methods), it is possible to create multiple files with the same name. This is confusing, but harmless.
Ñ Move to/from card: Does what it says. As mentioned earlier, the status icon at the upper right indicates where the file is currently stored.
OTHER CHANGES:
Ñ Non-ASCII characters are now allowed in strings and character constants: the Editor converts them to Unicode escape sequences as needed. This is for easy entry of programs containing non-English text, where constant use of Unicode would be rather inconvenient.
Ñ The ViewFrame 1.0 manual advised you to scrub out programs to save memory. This is no longer valid: a given program only occupies frames heap memory when the Editor is open and displaying that program. Programs do occupy storage space for as long as they are present in your Newton, of course.
Ñ When using the Trace feature, the Editor now does a much better job of eliminating extraneous Inspector output before and after the actual execution of your program.
INTERNALS:
There are now some defined useful items in the Editor's base view.
To get a reference to the base view:
VFEd := GetRoot().|VFEditor:JRH|;
To specify a different font for displaying/printing programs:
VFEd.EditorFont := {/*font frame */};
This change should be made when the Editor is closed, and lasts until a reboot.
To add a new file to the Editor from another application:
VFEd?:AddFile(file)
where file is a frame containing two slots:
title - string containing file name.
text - string containing program.
This call must be made when the Editor is open. This does not overwrite any other programs, even if they have the same filename.
The Editor's soup is named "VFEditor:JRH". No provision for deleting the soup on removal of the program is made: you will need to use a soup utility (or direct soup calls, from ViewFrame perhaps) to delete this soup if you want to completely remove the Editor from your system.
I would like to say thanks to the beta testers of ViewFrame Editor 1.0: Tom Sublewski, Vernon Huang, and Flash Sheridan.
If you have any questions about ViewFrame Editor, contact:
Jason Harper
CompuServe: 76703,4222
Internet: 76703.4222@compuserve.com
NewtonMail: JasonH
For current pricing and ordering info for ViewFrame, contact:
