kneller@dufy.mmwb.ucsf.edu (Don Kneller) (06/20/91)
I'm looking for a text browser with hypertext capability, basically to facilitate online help. This will be used in an X/NeWS application, so it can be based on any of XView, raw X, or NeWS. Any pointers or code would be appreciated. - don -- Donald G. Kneller University of California, San Francisco
fgreco@fis1026.govt.shearson.com (Frank Greco) (06/24/91)
> I'm looking for a text browser with hypertext capability, basically to > facilitate online help. This will be used in an X/NeWS application, so > it can be based on any of XView, raw X, or NeWS. > > Any pointers or code would be appreciated. 1. Simple "quasi-hyper" (buzzword copyright pending ;>) solution: Get the selection from a textsw or xterm and fire up a little window (xterm?) with the output of a awk-ed/sed-ed/perl-ified ASCII file. For example you could write a macro in vi (ok...ok... I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy) that gets the selection (e.g., user "swiped-selected" a function name in a C pgm) and then ran an xterm -e "man selected-thang"... Using the translations mechanism of xterm you could probably even wire up the Sun4 keyboard's Help key to run the macro too. xprop and sed could get you the selection from the shell level. 2. Powerful NeWS hypertext/hypermedia solution: see below... Frank G. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Introducing HyperNeWS --------------------- HyperNeWS is a tool developed by the Turing Institute to simplify the increasingly complex task of building user interfaces. Created in 1988 for in-house projects, it has matured into a system used for commercial projects as well. Its features include: - The ability to build user interfaces quickly using direct manipulation. - A predefined set of system objects that can be used as-is, or modified to suit requirements. - Implementation in NeWS using the power of the PostScript graphics model. - A programming model that works well with hypermedia applications. - The ability to communicate with client programs written in C, Prolog, and Lisp. Interactive Interface Building ------------------------------ When developing software with today's windowing environments, a majority of software development time can go into creating the user interface. This is the case with many existing user interface toolkits where the interface is written as a program definition, requiring a low-level understanding of the system. HyperNeWS takes a different approach called direct manipulation, in which the designer does much of the interface development by dragging, drawing, and sizing objects with the mouse and keyboard. System Object Types ------------------- A base set of system objects allows the user to build an interface using these default objects instead of having to build them from scratch. Most of these objects have a default appearance and behaviour that the developer can take advantage of. Buttons, text fields, and scroll bars each have a standard appearance and an intuitive behaviour, though they can be modified by the developer. A canvas object with little default behaviour is also provided for existing software that requires direct access to the screen. The Stack/Hypermedia Model -------------------------- HyperNeWS is designed using the hypermedia stack model, in which a program can be represented as one or more stacks, and each stack consists of varying numbers of cards, backgrounds, and card objects. This model is easy to comprehend for users and developers alike. HyperNeWS stacks are saved in an ASCII format, providing object persistence and stack portability. All ob- jects in the HyperNeWS environment communicate via message passing, promoting modular separation of functions. HyperDraw --------- The HyperDraw graphics tool is used for all graphics support within HyperNeWS. Drawings consist of PostScript objects so that parts of a drawing can be manipulated individually. HyperDraw can import Encap- sulated PostScript (EPSF) files, allowing work done under other graphics packages to be used within HyperNeWS. High Level Language Support --------------------------- The HyperNeWS system provides an abstract interface to high level languages so that programs written in C, Prolog, and Lisp can communicate with a HyperNeWS front end. These interfaces use the same message passing mecha- nism that HyperNeWS objects use between themselves. System Requirements ------------------- HyperNeWS requires OpenWindows2.0 and SunOS4.0 or above. It requires a Sun-3 or newer workstation, and about 6 MB of disk space. A color or greyscale monitor and at least 8 MB of RAM are recommended. Availability ------------ HyperNeWS is available from various FTP sites in Europe and the United States. It can also be retrieved via mail server in the United Kingdom. Please contact The Turing Institute for further details. About The Turing Institute -------------------------- The Turing Institute is a not-for-profit company engaged in research and development in Artificial Intelligence and related disciplines. It was established in 1983 and named in honour of the late British mathematician, Alan M. Turing. The Fine Print -------------- HyperNeWS is a copyright of The Turing Institute. It may be freely used and modified for research and academic purposes. A brief acknowledgement is required in any research paper or other publication where HyperNeWS has made a significant contribution. For licensing information or con- ditions of use in commercial products, contact: NeWS Development The Turing Institute George House 36 North Hanover Street Glasgow G1 2AD United Kingdom E-mail: newsdev@turing.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ HyperNeWS1.4 Availability ------------------------- HyperNeWS1.4 runs on Sun workstations running SunOS4.0 or above with OpenWindows2.0. It requires approx. 6MB of disk space. It is free for academic and research use, and is available via these networks (be sure to set binary mode if applicable!!): Internet: hostname: tumtum.cs.umd.edu (128.8.128.49) filename: NeWS/HyperNeWS1.4/HyperNeWS1.4.tar.Z username: anonymous password: your e-mail address hostname: lth.se (130.235.16.3) filename: NeWS/HyperNeWS/HyperNeWS1.4.tar.Z username: anonymous password: your e-mail address UUCP: hostname: uunet.uu.net (192.48.96.2) filename: NeWS/HyperNeWS1.4/HyperNeWS1.4.tar.Z username: anonymous password: your e-mail address JANET: hostname: uk.ac.strath.cs filename: <NIFTP>/HyperNeWS1.4.tar.Z username: guest password: your e-mail address HyperNeWS is also available via mail server in the UK. Send a mail message to Info-Server@daresbury.ac.uk containing the following lines: Request: Sources Topic: /NeWS/HyperNeWS1.4.tar.Z Request: End NOTE: The filename on the second line is case-sensitive!! HyperNeWS will be sent to you in manageable portions of 1200 lines each to avoid problems with older mailers. Expect to receive 25 parts. The file will reach you in numbered parts. Combine them and you will have a compressed tar file which has been uuencoded using uue. Check the header from the server acknowledgement message for unencoding information. For those without network access, HyperNeWS is available on 3.5" floppy disk or 1/4" cartridge tape. These can be purchased at minimal cost from the Turing Institute, as can hardcopy versions of the online documentation. Contact the Turing Institute for details.
steve@umiacs.UMD.EDU (Steve D. Miller) (06/25/91)
Note that HyperNeWS is no longer available via anonymous FTP from tumtum.cs.umd.edu. (In fact, I don't think that *anything* is available via anonymous FTP to tumtum.cs.umd.edu at this point...) However, you can still get a copy via anonymous FTP to ftp.umiacs.umd.edu (128.8.120.19); you'll want to get the file pub/NeWS/HyperNeWS1.4.tar.Z. -Steve Spoken: Steve Miller Domain: steve@umiacs.umd.edu UUCP: uunet!mimsy!steve Phone: +1-301-405-6736 USPS: UMIACS, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742