Newton Developer Technical Information: Newton Programmer's Guide: 2.1 OS Addendum /

Chapter 1 - Newton Works / About Newton Works

User Interface

Newton Works looks like a typical NewtApp-based application. It has a large document work area under a title bar and a status bar at the bottom, with a New button, in addition to other application-specific buttons. The New button gives the user access to the different applications installed in the Newton Works shell. When tapped, the New button displays a picker listing the different types of documents that the user can create, corresponding to the stationery applications installed in Newton Works. Tapping on a document type switches to that application and creates a new document of that type. Figure 1-1 shows an example of the word processor application.

Figure 1-1 Word processor display

When used on the eMate 300 device, the Newton Works user interface can look slightly different when the unit is in Classroom Mode. This is a simplified operating mode designed for student use. In this mode, the filing folder interface is hidden, to prevent work from appearing lost. The user sees all their documents together in the Newton Works overview. If the device is being shared among multiple students, each student logs into the unit under their name and sees only their documents in Newton Works. Filing isn't necessary in this mode, since most documents will be uploaded to a classroom server when finished, and only a few working documents will reside on the unit at a particular time.

Note that this simplification of the Newton Works user interface in Classroom mode follows the standard recommendations for applications that support classroom mode on the eMate 300 device. This behavior is not special to Newton Works.

Like most Newton applications, work is saved as it is entered, so there is no "Save" function necessary for Newton Works users. All saved documents are accessed through the standard Newton Overview button (either on the floating button bar or on a real keyboard). Tapping the Overview button displays a list of existing Newton Works documents, from which the user can select one to work on.

Newton Works extends the NewtApp user interface in one notable way: with the addition of scroll bars to documents. Because documents are typically larger than the screen, scroll bars allow users to navigate their work. The support for scroll bars is provided by the Newton Works shell. For details on how scrolling is supported, see the section "Supporting Scrolling".