In addition to handling your cursor control needs, this pad can also schedule appointments, maintain your address book, fax, beam, print, e-mail, participate in your network... even program your VCR!
All you need is a serial cable and the NewTablet application. There are no skanky system patches, complex ADB driver installations, control panels, or inits to install, so system incompatibilities are basically eliminated. If you can plug in a mouse, you can plug in NewTablet!
WHAT WILL IT DO FOR ME?
=======================
NewTablet won't replace a $3000 digitizing tablet. At least, not yet.
The original version was conceived, designed, and hastily assembled in about 20 hours on-site at the 1994 MacHack conference in Ann Arbor Michigan by myself and Bob Ebert. To everyone's amazement (especially our own) it worked! So well in fact that it won third place in the coveted "best-hack" contest, and thus NewTablet was born.
Since then the idea seems to have intrigued enough people to prompt me to continue development of the product. So a couple hundred hours later, I'm proud to announce NewTablet 1.0.0 --> "The tablet for the rest of us."
This version can be used as a mouse replacement for the majority of day-to-day mouse activities. It's really handy when giving lectures, controlling a presentation application on a Mac (you don't have to keep running over to the Mac to click the mouse button or to gesture to something on the screen). It's great for drawing-type applications where using the mouse is like "writing with a brick." It's a quick way to get the text of a note or two onto your Mac without going through the entire Newton Connection synchronization routine. And if you suffer from a repetitive strain injury, you probably find the pen (or even your fingernail) more comfortable to use than a mouse.
ABOUT THE SOFTWARE
==================
NewTablet consists of two components: Mac Server & Newton Client.
It requires the Serial Tool communications toolbox tool.
[NOTE: Previous versions of NewTablet used the Apple Modem Tool. This has changed in order to provide increased performance and compatibility with non-Mac servers.]
The Mac server is an application which performs the actual hardware simulation. It controls the mouse and keyboard based on instructions coming from the Newton client.
The Newton client is a Newton Package which turns the Newton into a tablet. It takes over the entire screen, including the silk-screen buttons, and sends position data to the Mac server as the user taps and drags.
The Newton client comes in two flavors: Standard and Compact.
The compact version is roughly 64K smaller than the standard version (it does not include certain pictures, sounds, or any built-in help) but is otherwise functionally identical to the standard version.
INSTALLATION
============
Connect your Newton to your Mac using a null-modem cable (eg. the cable that comes with Newton Connection). Hardware handshake lines are not required. Be sure to plug it into the MODEM port (also called the PRINTER-MODEM port on PowerBook Duos). See "Advanced Topics" below for information on how to use an alternate serial port, such as the printer port, with NewTablet.
Using Newton Connection, or the Newton Package Downloader, download one of the NewTablet packages to your Newton using the serial connection option. This will also test your serial cable to see if it will work with NewTablet.
Copy the NewTablet Macintosh Server application to your hard drive. Be sure you have the Serial Tool communications toolbox tool in your Extensions folder (it's part of the basic connectivity set when you install System 7 so it should be there). Double-click NewTablet to launch.
Open the NewTablet Newton Application by taping on its icon in the Extras drawer. NewTablet will create a tiny preferences soup on your internal store the first time it's opened. Tap the scroll up button to connect to the Mac.
That's it!
FEATURES
========
Most of NewTablet's features are fairly self-explanatory, but nevertheless a brief description of NewTablet's operation is in order. Some features differ from other tablets, while other features are completely unique, so it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the specifics.
The Tablet Area
---------------
Tap-hold and drag to move the Mac cursor. Tap twice to single-click the Mac mouse button. Tap three times for a double-click, four times for a triple-click, et cetera.
If your "Auto Lock Delay" preference is set to "Never" the Mac mouse button will lock when you tap-hold AND drag. Otherwise the Mac mouse button will lock when you tap-hold and do NOT drag for "Auto Lock Delay" ticks (a tick is 1/60th of a second). Tap once to unlock the Mac mouse button.
The Button Palette
------------------
Overview
Quit the Newton app.
ScrollUp
Connect to the Mac server.
ScrollDown
Disconnect from the Mac server.
Assist
Mouse button. Works exactly the same way.
Find
A locking mouse button. First tap locks, second tap unlocks.
Undo
Same as Command-Z from the Mac keyboard.
Extras
Preferences, additional features.
Dates
Recognition area. Lets you write text to send to the Mac.
Names
Keyboard. Works like your Mac keyboard, even multi-key accented characters.
The Modifiers Palette
---------------------
Caps Lock, Shift, Control, Option, and Command work exactly like the Mac's versions, however, they lock when you tap to allow you to perform combination behaviors such as shift-clicking a group of icons in the finder, or option-shift-draging a circle from center in a drawing program.
When the modifiers palette is active on the Newton, it overrides your Mac keyboard's normal modifiers keys. If you wish to use those keys while tapping and dragging, this palette must not be active.
The Preferences Palette (Extras Button)
---------------------------------------
Cursor Tracking
Same as Mouse Tracking in the Mac Mouse Control Panel. There are 8 acceleration tables, 0 to 7. See Advanced Topics for more information on modifying these tables.
Tablet Mode
Specifies the mode of operation of the tablet.
Absolute = The tablet is "mapped" directly to the Mac screen, so tapping and dragging moves the cursor to those exact positions on the Mac screen.
Relative = Only drag data is used to move the Mac cursor. This allows you to pick up the stylus and perform another stroke without reorienting the cursor.
A-Tap R-Drag = First tap of a stroke positions the Mac cursor absolutely, while the button-locked drag portion of the stroke uses acceleration as in Relative mode. This mode is also referred to as "AbsRel" mode because it combines both systems.
Auto Lock Delay
How long to wait when the user taps and holds without dragging in the tablet area before locking the Mac mouse button down. 0 = always lock, 59 = wait one second, and "Never" means the button will lock only during a multi-tap-hold and drag.
Orientation
Landscape mode (the NewTablet default) requires you physically turn the Newton 90 degrees counter-clockwise and is best suited to the majority of monitor configurations. If you have a portrait monitor, however, or find yourself using the recognition slip often, then Portrait mode may be more comfortable for you (this is the normal operating position for your Newton).
Multi Tap Delay
Maximum time between taps for multi-tap sequences.
Multi Tap Radius
Maximum number of pixels away from previous tap for multi-tap sequences.
Temporary Ink
Enable/disable the display of temporary ink on the tablet surface. This is sometimes useful when in a drawing program and you wish to watch the Newton screen rather than the Mac screen as you carefully draw or trace a shape.
Modifier Keys
Enable/disable the on-screen modifiers keys palette.
Button Labels
Enable/disable the on-screen silk-screen button guide.
Sounds
Enable/disable user feedback sounds specific to NewTablet.
Auto Connect
Enable/disable the ability to automatically connect to the Mac server when the application is opened. Useful if you find yourself using NewTablet often.
Battery Indicator
Handy when your NewTableting on-the-road with a PowerBook and can't plug your Newton into a convenient power outlet.
Info Button
Gets you to the About Box, Help, and other app-specific features (to be implemented later).
The Recognition Palette (Dates Button)
--------------------------------------
Send
Sends what you have written to the Mac.
Undo
Does a local-undo of your text modification (because the silk-screened Undo button applies to the Mac in NewTablet).
Clear
Super-quick way of clearing your text entry.
Hide
Shrinks NewTablet into a tiny icon that can be moved about the Newton screen while the application remains active and connected to the Macintosh. It allows you to temporarily suspend NewTablet, for example, to copy text from the paper roll to the clipboard. Clicking on the icon returns you to NewTablet, whereupon the clipboard can be dragged into the text edit area and sent to the Macintosh.
RecPop
Normal recognition controls. Note that the shape recognizer is "disabled" -- this is normal, don't freak -- the text edit area does not accept graphics. [Note: Although a double-tap on the RecPop button will open the recognizer preferences, the universal scroll arrows will continue to function as if the recognizer preferences were not open. The unfortunate side-effect of this behaviour is that the recognizer preferences can not be scrolled. A future version of NewTablet may correct this problem.]
The Keyboard (Names Button)
---------------------------
Basically this is an Apple Extended Keyboard without the keypad. Because this actually represents a Mac keyboard, and the key-to-character mapping is performed by the Mac server application, this keyboard doesn't (currently) behave exactly like the standard Newton keyboards, which show you the different character sets based on the modifier keys. But hey, you're controlling a Mac. If you're that curious, open the Key Caps Desk Accessory...
MODIFICATION HISTORY
====================
NewTablet 1.0.1
---------------
Due to a minor BinHex synchronizing glitch, the version 1.0.0 Newton component simply would not run. Oops. Seems it just goes to prove the old saying: "Never trust version '1.0' of anything."
NewTablet 1.0.0
---------------
Complete rewrite of both Newton and Macintosh components. Now supports Macs without the Cursor Device Manager. Added an interface to the Mac component. Switched to the Serial Tool rather than the Apple Modem Tool for improved performance and increased cross-platform communications ability. Changed orientation of the Newton app to make the serial cable connection more convenient. Changed all the silk-screen button functions. Added gobs of new features. Removed the "undo a mouse movement" feature. Added a couple Easter eggs... This version doesn't suck too badly. It was written entirely on a PowerBook Duo 210 using Newton Toolkit 1.0.1 and Think Object Pascal 4.0.2.
NewTablet 0.0.1d2
-----------------
Post-MacHack release. Minor bug-fix to prevent crashing on Macs without the Cursor Device Manager in ROM. Adjusted application memory requirements to more reasonable values. Stable enough for the curious to explore. This version still sucks.
NewTablet 0.0.1d1
-----------------
Original MacHack release. 20 hours from concept to design to construction to release. Third place winner in the coveted "best hack" contest, possibly due to the use of duct tape in affixing the Newton over the trackball area of a PowerBook Duo to create the "Ultimate PowerBook TouchPad." This version really sucks rhino, but it works.
PLANNED ENHANCEMENTS
====================
In no particular order, some thoughts are to:
• Add integrated help. Just didn't have enough time for it in this release.
• Improve the sample-send rate of the tablet. This will result in smoother, more natural cursor tracking(!)
• Improve acceleration algorithm by implementing an accumulating delta subpixel coroutine. "Yea... whatever."
• Send tablet pressure information in addition to x-y data, for painting-type apps which can use the info.
• Add option to play feedback sounds on Mac rather than Newton (it's hard to hear the Newton in noisy environments).
• Add some type of button state display on Mac (part of the status window, or perhaps an icon in the menu bar).
• Add remaining Edit menu functions (Cut/Copy/Paste/Clear/SelectAll) as well as user-defineable macro buttons.
• Add LocalTalk network support. [Note: This requires a Newton operating system bug fix; release date unknown.]
• Add interface for Mac preferences and other customization options (and eliminate all need for ResEdit).
• Send me e-mail! Your comments and suggestions are always welcome, and will influence enhancement priorities!
ADVANCED TOPICS
===============
WARNING: This section is intended for hackers and advanced users only. Any modification to the NewTablet Mac application using ResEdit, Resourcerer, or any other resource-modification application may be hazardous to your health, as well as the health of your Macintosh, if you don't know what you're doing. Follow extreme care when modifying NewTablet, and only modify the following resources:
NtPs (128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135)
---------------------------------------------
These are acceleration curve sample points. NewTablet implements a natural cubic spline function to interpolate instantaneous accelerations at up to 256 fixed timed delta sample points. Or in plain English, when you move the stylus N points on the Newton, it moves the cursor M points on the Macintosh. Future improvements to the algorithm will include a subpixel mapping system, so for now we simply compute accelerations using a 1:1 pixel-to-pixel mapping system.
A ResEdit template has been included to aid in the editing of the sample points. Each resource requires a minimum of TWO sample points (because two points define a line). The first point MUST be [0,0] so that zero Newton stylus movement results in zero Mac cursor movement. Each additional point, up to [255,32767] will pull the curve through that point, creating more accurate, or more approximate, stylus-cursor mapping. A future version of NewTablet will likely provide an interface to edit these curves.
Be certain to click the "modified" radio button at the top of the resource if you add or modify any of the sample points. Because the spline calculations are rather complex and time-consuming, NewTablet maintains a cache of all pre-computed acceleration curves between launches. Clicking the modified radio button tells NewTablet to throw away the cache and compute new tables using the NtPs samples.
KCHR (128)
----------
This is a copy of the default System 7 key-to-character mapping tables. It is used by NewTablet to map raw key codes to ASCII characters. If you prefer an alternate keyboard mapping system, such as the System 6 mapping tables, simply edit or replace this resource.
LAMA (1024)
-----------
This is a standard communications toolbox socket configuration C-string. You will only need to modify this if you wish to use a serial port extender card rather than the built-in modem or printer port. It is used in conjunction with a STR# resource of the same ID.
STR# (1024)
-----------
This is a list of port names to use when looking for a suitable serial port. On PowerBook Duos, for example, the "Modem Port" is actually called the "Printer-Modem Port". By entering both port names in this list, the same version of NewTablet can be used on either a desktop Mac or a Duo without modification. By entering "Printer Port" as the first entry, and assuming LocalTalk is turned off, NewTablet will use the printer port for communication. If you prefer to specify the port option directly in the LAMA resource, simply delete all port name entries in this list.
For reference, the exact names of the built-in serial ports are:
"Modem Port", "Printer-Modem Port", and "Printer Port".
LEGAL STUFF
===========
NewTablet is ShareWare. You are free to download, upload, or give it to anyone you wish so long as each release is always distributed in its entirety and without modification. If you use NewTablet, please send your suggestions, bug reports, name, address, e-mail address, and $15 to:
Jim Schram
2082 Calabazas Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95051
schram@newton.apple.com
All information will be kept 100% confidential. Your name and address will not be disclosed to anyone but myself.
Your financial support will help fund additional late night Thai Iced Teas, and therefore further development of NewTablet, as well as get you advanced notice of new features, bug fixes, and Q/A info via e-mail.
Sincerely,
Jim Schram
_________
"Trois Gicquè Studios strives to bring you the highest quality products possible, using only the finest ingredients available. Packages sold by weight, not volume. Some settling may occur. Slight variances in color or texture are a result of the natural materials used and are not considered flaws. Adult supervision required. Use only as directed."
