dug@turing.ac.uk (Dug Scoular) (10/06/89)
Hello world,
Here is the latest blurb on HyperNeWS. I will be sending out the
new versions of GoodNeWS and HyperNeWS to those distribution sites
that I originally sent GoodNeWS 1.2 to, all I'm waiting for
is the green light from Arthur van Hoff (the author) who is
in turn waiting to do his final testing on the FCS release
version of X11/NeWS.
Doug Scoular "The big print giveth and the
Systems Administrator small print taketh away"
E-mail: dug@turing.ac.uk Tel: +44 41 552 6400
Postal: The Turing Institue
George House
36 N. Hanover Street
Glasgow G1 2AD
Scotland UK.
HyperNeWS update
================
We would like to apologise to everyone who has
been waiting for HyperNeWS over the past few months.
This note will explain what HyperNeWS is, why we
have delayed distribution, and what we will be doing
with it in the future.
What is HyperNeWS?
==================
HyperNeWS is a powerful tool for designing user interfaces,
developed at the Turing Institute, and extensively used
by us over the past eighteen months.
It is somehat like Hypercard in its screen organisation,
with windows (or stacks) stacks composed of backgrounds and cards.
Each card/background/stack can contain a variety of objects,
such as buttons, sliders, dials etc.
The system is message-based, with a different scheme of
message passing to that used by TNT or Lite.
The implementation language is PostScript. Objects scripts
are written in PostScript, and HyperNeWS can be used for
interesting applications without involving anything but the server.
Most people prefer C/Prolog/Lisp to PostScript, and unlike HyperCard
HyperNeWS can communicate with external clients.
The C interface is type-secure and allows each stack
to communicate with a separate client. Interfaces
to other languages, such as Prolog, are built on top of the
C interface.
Here are some of the features we think makes HyperNeWS nice.
1) SIMPLE. For standard applications (i.e. panels) it is
not necessary to program. Interfaces can be designed by
drawing, cutting and pasting. For example the shape and
background drawing of a stack is designed by using the
GoodNeWS drawing tool, as are the shape of some buttons.
2) RE-USABLE. Specialised objects can be designed and shared
by other users via a NewObjects stack. Each site, given one
PostScript "expert" can tailor the types of object they use very
easily.
3) GOOD I/O. The C interface is very straightforward.
4) ERROR HANDLINE. You can trace all the messages sent
between objects in the system, and message passing is secure.
All errors are trapped and displayed with their context.
The system (usually) can recover from errors. Essential
for PostScript novices (and everyone else).
5) POSTSCRIPT. A snapshot of any system objects can be
taken at any time, and the resulting PostScript code
saved as a drawing (in EPSF if you want) to be transferred
elsewhere. This makes documentation very much easier.
There is also a facility to import EPSF files as draw objects,
if you must have precision.
Why are we waiting?
===================
We intended to distribute HyperNeWS this summer, but found
that it didn't run under NeWS1.1/FCS -- we had been using
an earlier beta release. There was no way to fix this easily
as the crashes seemed to have something to do with the
garbage collection/reference counts.
HyperNeWS has now been ported to X/NeWS beta2, where some
major bugs remain, but we have been able to write round them
enough to make the system reliable. HyperNeWS runs on both
SPARC and 680X0 under X/NeWS.
The major problem is that thick lines can't be displayed
without crashing the X/NeWS server (!).
At the moment we are waiting to receive X/NeWS/FCS. We intend
to port HyperNeWS to this system. We assume at this stage that
if there are any major bugs SUN will do something
(triumph of hope...) to fix them. Our problem has been that
HyperNeWS is a more sophisticated NeWS application than most,
so tends to break NeWS rather easily.
All this means that we should be releasing HyperNeWS for SPARC
within 60 days. The 680X0 release should be identical and
30--60 days later.
What will you get?
=================
HyperNeWS and GoodNeWS, plus on-line manuals and several demo
programs to illustrate the PostScript, C and Prolog layers to the
system. In our interests as well as yours we hope to set up a
bug reporting system via Email, and periodic updates.
What about the future?
======================
HyperNeWS is now stable at the user level. As more experience
is gained by more people we expect that the programming interface
will be revised to increase power and consistency.
We hope that people will produce useful tools. Stacks are stored
in Ascii (i.e. PostScript) format, so people should be able to
create and distribute interesting new objects and programs.
>From our experience with HyperNeWS it is much easier for
"non-programmers' to use than TNT or associated toolkits,
largely because it is a stand-alone programming system.
NOTE: Although we are distributing HyperNeWS freely, it is
NOT in the public domain. It is available for Academic
and Research use, but cannot be incorporated into products
for further distribution without our express written permission.
Cheap licencing arrangements are available for those who wish
to use it in products.
--
Tim Niblett
E-mail: tim@uk.ac.turing Tel: 041 552 6400
Postal: The Turing Institue
George House
36 N. Hanover Street
Glasgow G1 2AD
Scotland UK.