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

Chapter 1 - Newton Works / About Newton Works

Programming Interface Overview

You can extend Newton Works in two ways: you can add tools to existing stationery, and you can add new stationery. You add new stationery by registering a new dataDef and viewDef with the system.

Remember that in the NewtApp framework, a single dataDef can have multiple associated viewDefs. However, in Newton Works, each dataDef (representing one type of stationery) can have only a single viewDef, named 'default. Other viewDefs are allowed for routing formats, but not for use in displaying Newton Works data on the screen.

As usual for a NewtApp, the user accesses the different stationery types through the New button on the status bar. Each dataDef registered for Newton Works corresponds to one item in the New picker. The corresponding 'default viewDef controls the status bar, scroll bars, and the document viewable area.

A good candidate application to add to Newton Works would include an editor that allows the user to view and modify some kind of document. Also, you'd want your application to fit with a general suite of productivity applications, such as those supplied with Newton Works. If your application is very specialized, perhaps it would be better to make it a stand-alone application.

You can also add tools to an existing application that supports this. For example, you might add a thesaurus to the word processor. The user accesses tools from the Tools button in the status bar. You register a new tool for an application by sending the *RegNewtWorksTool message to the Newton Works base application.