Register, Plans

Registration

Newt's Cape is shareware. Newer versions, especially beta versions, may have a 45-day time limit, with expiration warnings after the first 30 days. Even if you decide not to register, please let us know, if you have problems, suggestions or questions. The current registration fee for Newt's Cape version 2.0 is (still) $35 for credit cards/net cash via Kagi and SoftShop shareware registration service, or US $ checks (equivalent of $40 if check is in foreign currency).

You can mail checks to:

Steve Weyer
17 Timber Knoll Drive
Washington Crossing, PA 18977-1052

Although the Newton has been discontinued, by registering, you encourage us to provide support and continue some development. You also receive

• additional documentation
• NewtPack plug-in to save books as packages
• Newt's Cape Graphic Converter for Mac/Windows to convert to Newton format
• latest versions of Sloup for transferring graphics or Notes text
• updated and more examples
• better support and faster answers
• priority in requesting fixes/features
• earlier access to new versions and tools
• a discount for the Newt Development Environment (if you are interested in additional NewtonScript tools or general application development)

If you distribute books created with Newt's Cape, we would appreciate that you mention (in your book or Readme) something like:

This book created from HTML
using <A HREF="http://members.bellatlantic.net/~sweyer/newton/newtscape.htm">Newt's Cape</A>

Also let us know the URLs of your web site or ftp archives for us to include in our list of Newt's Cape books

Plans

Despite some inevitable bugs and missing features, we believe that Newt's Cape should be quite usable for many users and kinds of HTML documents. Over time we will fix problems and may add new functionality to track evolving HTML standards and address new user needs. Your feedback and support are critical to encourage us and shape the product. Based on difficulties and dependencies, we have grouped some anticipated work into several rough categories:

• short-term (~3? months)
• medium-term (~6? months)
• long-term (~12? months)

This a working list (not a firm commitment!), influenced by our HTML/http understanding, available time, other resources/distractions, ease of implementation, user reports and requests, and level of registrations.

Short Term

1-3 months?

• bug fixes
• more support for APIs, 3rd party apps; email attachments, other protocols (ftp?) -- see helper apps

Medium Term

3-6 months?

• use file:// URL for local docs (Notes, NewtWorks, Paper, etc.?), possibly using application and folder in path?
• table fixes: borders; splitting rows with mixed height (graphics)
• HTTP/1.1 client support
• more HTML 4.0 features (style sheets? XML? dynamic HTML?)
• mailto: -- popup routing slip rather than completed message in Outbox?
• even smaller books, e.g., form definitions/support from Newt's Cape at run-time
• IMG anywhere? nested tables (and ROWSPAN)
• more horizontal layout, use of size and alignment attributes

Long Term

6-? months?

• Java, VRML
• JavaScript support? (well, not syntax initially; maybe just object/event model). Although NewtonScript is not that different from JavaScript, supporting JavaScript as a language directly on the Newton appears to be a non-trivial undertaking. As a start, we might support the JavaScript object model; you will define NewtonScript methods using <SCRIPT LANG="NewtonScript"> rather than via META. You should also be able to add event handlers to FORM objects. Or, maybe we'll just to wait to see what happens with Java.
• PNG graphics
• SSL (secure socket layer)
• sound (.WAV)
• parser: other text formats for input (e.g., RTF, setext)

For More Info

• Top: this document
• Last: Tag Index
• TOC: Intro
• Newt's Cape Home Page

This document (in all its formats) is © 1995-99. Steve Weyer, Greg Simon. All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Version 2.0. Last updated: Feb 1999