Welcome to NewtonOS
Personal Data Sharing 1.5
Introduction
| System Requirements
| Get Started
Why the New Name?
- New
Features!
Serve A Custom Default Page! |
Set Default Font, Size, Background Color! |
Better support for Non-ASCII characters! |
Access your Datebook! |
Bug Fixes! |
Automated Setup of your Notpad |
|
Post Notes to your Notepad from the WWW! |
More Helpful Error Messages |
- Since its conception and earlier release, Notepad
Server has begun to transcend its humble beginnings as a simple text-to-html
markup device and emerge as a tool for sharing all sorts of data with other
users on the WWW. Since the initial release, I have heard of this package
being used as a replacement for NCU, a web server, a calendar server (sing
Herb Otto's DateSum), and much, much more. The new name reflects the promise
that our humble little package represents and that is cross-platform
sharing of many types of personal digital assistant data using established
protocols.
- During the initial development cycles, the components
of this package were numbered separately in anticipation of possible divergence
in development times. However, since the second release it has been obvious
to me that all components of this package should be updated simultaneously
and therefore share a version number.
- Finally, this software package is modular and
with this release, I introduce three more modules. Attempting to denote
each version number separately would be inane!
What Are the Components of Personal Data Sharing?
- Notepad Server allows you to use nHTTPd
or better to serve web pages from your Newton Notepad. And that's it. (Although
this is no small feat since as you know, the Newton doesn't have any notion
of files and directories!).
- Notepad Setup is an optional self-removing
autopart that ensures that you have a proper Web folder and installs two
sample Notes in that folder so that your server is even more ready to go
right after installation!
- Agenda Server examines your Dates and
makes your Agenda (All Meetings and Notes) for the next 4 days available
as a nicely formatted table. A HyperLink to Agenda Server (if installed)
is accessible from pages served by Notepad Server. A future version of
Agenda server will allow you to change the number of days shown and will
present ToDo items as well.
- nHTTPd is a small web server based on
a technical writeup Ray Rischpater did for develop
magazine in March 1997. In the form it
was released in, nHTTPd was fairly non-functional, but after some tweaking
of the publicly available source code, it is now capable of working with
my Notepad Server CGP (included) to serve notes from your Newton OS Notepad.
The original nHTTPd is released under Gnu Public License (see GPL.html)
as will the source to this build when it is finalized but until then I
will keep development of nHTTPd private.
- nHTTPd Setup is an optional package used
to configure nHTTPd's plethora of new features.
- Whiteboard is a preview of what's to
come for PDS. Installing this extension allows you and other clients to
use a forms-enabled browser to post Notes right into the Web folder of
your PDS-enabled Newton.
What do I need to use these
packages?
Since NewtonOS Personal Data Sharing relies on
a TCP/IP connection, Newton OS 2.x and NIE 1.1 (or greater) are required
and because of the prestidigitation we do to generate web pages, a maximum
of heap is recommended.
Although it's not required, a static IP is nice,
too, as it is with any type of server you run.
OK. Let's Get Started.
I suggest you install NewtonOS Personal Data Sharing
in 4 steps.
- Install
nHTTPd and make sure you can get a connection
with it. But you still won't be able to serve web pages.
- Not until you have installed
Notepad Server and
Agenda Server
- And written
some web pages for service on the WWW.
- Serve
some Web Pages!
After you get that running, you may want to:
Miscellaneous Items:
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