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v3tov4.txt
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Simeon 3.x to Simeon 4.0.x Upgrade Notes
This document describes the issues involved with upgrading from Simeon 3.x
to Simeon 4.0.x.
Viewer Associations
-----------------
Viewer Associations in Simeon 3.x have been replaced by Helper Applications
in Simeon 4.0.x. Simeon 4.0.x does NOT automatically convert V3.x Assocations into
V4.0.x Helper Applications. The following paragraphs contain the detailed
discussion of the differences between the two, the reasons why we changed to the
new format and the tools which have been provided in Simeon 4.0.x to ease the
transition from 3.x.
There are major differences between Simeon 3.x Association definitions
and Simeon 4.0.x Helper Application definitions. The V3.x Association
description was based (centered) on the MIME type, whereas V4.0.x Helper
Applications is centered on the helper application. As a result, in
version 4.0.x, a helper application can act as a viewer for many MIME types, and
a particular MIME type may be used for many file types. In practice, there is
generally one file type for each MIME type -- but not always.
The key motivation for the format change is that the version 4.0.x
format makes it much easier to bind with and use operating system provided
association information. For example, we can now incorporate Windows
application registry databases and Mac Finder databases into our "list
of available helper applications" transparently. Version 4 is helper
application centric, rather than MIME centric.
Following is a pseudo syntax for the option formats that an administrator
has to deal with.
Version 3.x Association Option Format:
Associations.IDList '{' id_list '}'
Associations.{assoc_id}.Name string
Associations.{assoc_id}.MimeType MIME_major '/' MIME_minor
Associations.{assoc_id}.Mac Mac_file_creator '/' Mac_file_type
Associations.{assoc_id}.Unix extension '/' Unix_pathname
Associations.{assoc_id}.Win extension '/' DOS_pathname
Version 4.0.x Association Option Format:
Viewers.IDList '{' id_list '}'
Viewers.{viewer_id}.Name string
Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeList '{' id_list '}'
Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeType.{mime_id}.Name MIME_major '/' MIME_minor
Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeType.{mime_id}.UnixExtensions (extension '/')+
Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeType.{mime_id}.WinExtensions (extension '/')+
Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeType.{mime_id}.MacExtensions (Mac_file_type '/')+
Viewers.{viewer_id}.UnixCommand Unix_pathname
Viewers.{viewer_id}.WinCommand DOS_pathname
Viewers.{viewer_id}.MacCommand Mac_pathname
Viewers.{viewer_id}.MacCreator Mac_file_creator
Rules for translation from 3.x to 4.0.x
Associations.{assoc_id}.Name -> Viewers.{viewer_id}.Name
Associations.{assoc_id}.MimeType -> Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeType.1.Name
Associations.{assoc_id}.Unix -> Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeType.1.UnixExtensions
-> Viewers.{viewer_id}.UnixCommand
Associations.{assoc_id}.Win -> Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeType.1.WinExtensions
-> Viewers.{viewer_id}.WinCommand
Associations.{assoc_id}.Mac -> Viewers.{viewer_id}.MimeType.1.MacExtensions
-> Viewers.{viewer_id}.MacCommand
-> Viewers.{viewer_id}.MacCreator
Note that there is no way to automatically convert between these formats
because of the fundamental change to the basis of the format. A program
cannot make a decision about what to name the new association, because
the v3 associations were named from the MIME type -- not the
application. We believe that automatic conversion will lead to
confusing configuration for users, and require that they somehow try to
"clean up" the results of the conversion. We have instead provided the
following alternative mechanisms and work arounds to getting the v3
association information into v4.
1. Simeon v4 supports the concept of an "association wizard". The
wizard does two key things to help users manage their associations
without having to know too much about file types (extensions) and MIME.
First, it will access and merge any operating system association
information with the list of defined Simeon associations (either user or
sysdflt.tcl defined). This allows Simeon to always present association
options that are immediately quite complete in terms of what is
available to run on your platform. Secondly, Simeon is capable of
learning about new associations by asking for any information it does
not have, then remembering that information as new or extended
association information in the user's configuration.
We believe that this defines a mechanism for "evolving" association
information over time, making it much easier and a much less onerous
task for users.
2. Modify the shipped sysdflt.tcl to include your favorite site
associations in the new format. The new format uses a completely
different namespace to keep the two sets of options completely separate.
You can quickly generate new sets of association information using the
new association management preference dialogue, saving options to a
file, then copying the appropriate section back to a site "sysdflt.tcl"
file.
Note that Simeon 4.0.x does an automatic conversion of any other
configuration options that have changed format or semantics from version
3.x.
Local Address Books
-------------------
Simeon 4.0.x 16 bit will automatically convert version 3.x local address
books the first time it accesses them. Once they have been converted,
Simeon 3.x will be unable to read them. If you wish to access your version 3.x
local address books with the 32 bit version of Simeon 4.0.x, you will have to
export them via the 16 bit version first.
Note:
Local address book formats are platform specific. This means that local address
books created by the Win 16 version of Simeon 4.0.x can only be read by Win 16
Simeon 4.0.x. This is true for all platforms: Win16,Win32, Macintosh and Motif.
As a result, Win 16 Simeon cannot read local address books created by Win 32
Simeon 4.0.x and vice versa. If you wish to access an address book created on a
different platform you must export it into a text file using the address book
export utility provided in Simeon and then import it with
the new platform version you wish to use.
End Simeon 3.x to Simeon 4.0.x Upgrade Notes