Feb 95 Newsbits
- Jan 95 Newsbits
- Mar 95 Newsbits
- Internet Config
- Apr 95 Newsbits
- May 95 Newsbits
- Jun 95 Newsbits
- Jul 95 Newsbits
- Aug 95 Newsbits
- Sep 95 Newsbits
- Oct 95 Newsbits
- Nov 95 Newsbits
- Dec 95 Newsbits
Volume Number: 11
Issue Number: 2
Column Tag: Newsbits
By Scott T Boyd, Editor
URL Standard Apple Event Suite
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are a standard notation for identifying the locations
of files and other resources on the Internet. Mac TCP/IP networking programs often
make use of each other as “helper programs”. To make it easier to do this, some Mac
Internet software developers have designed a simple standard for Apple Events
programs can send to each other to ask them to process URLs. Here’s a brief overview
of the events. Suite code: ‘GURL’
The geturl event
Get an object referenced by an URL and display it in a window or save it to a file:
geturl > [to ]
retrieve the object reference by the URL
Result: small integer - result code
The fetchurl event
Get an object referenced by an URL and return the object as the event result
fetchurl >
Result: the referenced object, usually text
Servers must support the following formats for the URLs:
(1) scheme:É(the “canonical form”)
(2) >
(3) URL:scheme:
(4) >
This standard was designed by John Hardin, Peter Lewis, Steve Dorner, Farhad
Anklesarian, Aleksandar Totic, and other Mac TCP/IP developers. It was edited by John
Norstad , and is available in full at:
ftp://ftp.acns.nwu.edu/pub/newswatcher/url-ae-standard.txt
BBEdit 3.1
version includes “soft” text wrapping, interaction with development environments not
previously supported, electronic documentation, and an all-new packaging and
delivery system.
BBEdit 3.1 features new “soft” text wrapping. Previous versions of BBEdit
required users to insert carriage returns in order to break lines, and to manually
re-format the text while editing. BBEdit 3.1 now offers the option to wrap lines
without inserting carriage returns, and will automatically re-flow lines as necessary
when the user inserts or deletes text.
BBEdit now supports integration with THINK C, Symantec C++, and CodeWarrior.
BBEdit provides a unified user interface for interacting with all supported
environments, and lets the user easily switch between them. Metrowerks added
services in the new CW5 CodeWarrior release to support close integration. BBEdit 3.1
also supports the upcoming version 8.0 of Symantec C++ for Power Macintosh.
The new version of BBEdit ships on CD-ROM, and includes full documentation for
BBEdit in machine-readable form (a printed and bound manual is available at a
nominal extra cost), demos of products from Bare Bones Software and other
developers, promotional information and special offers from various third-parties,
and a collection of BBEdit extensions contributed by BBEdit users from all over the
world.
SRP US$119. Customers who purchase BBEdit 3.0 (the current version) after
December 1, 1994 will be eligible to receive a free upgrade to version 3.1. All other
owners of BBEdit 3.0 will be able to upgrade to the new version for US$39. An upgrade
path is also available for users of older versions of BBEdit (including freeware
versions), and for selected competing and complementary products; contact Bare Bones
Software for more information.
Bare Bones Software, Inc. P.O. Box 108 Bedford, MA 01730 (508) 651-3561 voice, (508) 651-7584
fax. E-mail bbsw@netcom.com, AppleLink BARE.BONES, eWorld BareBones, CIS: 73051,3255.
The Internet Configuration System
Quinn “The Eskimo” announces the release of the Internet Config system, a
development that makes Internet access by a Macintosh even easier.
We all use many different programs to access the Internet and each of these
programs has its own preference dialog, wherein you set things like your Email
address, your FTP helper application and your preferred program to open “.jpg” files.
Keeping these preferences in sync in all your Internet applications is increasingly
difficult. Worse yet, many simple applications do not even have a mechanism for
setting these preferences and so you are stuck with the author’s default preferences.
The Internet Configuration system is a solution to this problem. Internet Config
is an application that allows you to set these preferences once. Internet Config stores
these preferences in a shared database and any “IC-Aware” application will get its
preferences from this database.
Internet Config has broad-based support from a wide range of Macintosh Internet
developers. A number of applications have already been programmed to be “IC-Aware”
and many more are expected soon.
Internet Config will run on all Macintosh Plus or newer machines running
System 6 or later. Internet Config is available at the MacGifts, Info-Mac and UMich
ftp sites (and their mirror sites), and also any site that holds Peter Lewis’ software
(see p. 66). Internet Config is available as a NewsWatcher helper at
ftp://ftp.acns.nwu.edu/pub/newswatcher/helpers/ and on the TidBITS site
ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/pub/tidbits/
Internet Config has been placed in the public domain and can be freely
redistributed by any means. This means that you’re legally entitled to:
• sell it or its source code commercially
• distribute it as part of any other product
• distribute it on CD, disk, network or any other medium
• do anything else you like with it
From a programmer’s point of view, Internet Config is an application
programmer interface (API) that lets you read and write shared preferences. This API
calls through to the Internet Config component (if it is present) so that the actual
implementation of the preference database code is dynamically linked in to your
application. This means that as the Internet Config system gets smarter, your
applications will become smarter, without the need for any work on your part (other
than supporting Internet Config in the first place).
The Internet Config Application automatically installs the Internet Config
component when it is first run. If the Internet Config component is not available, then
the API will use a statically linked version of the current database code, so IC-Aware
programs do not rely on having the component available.
Internet Config manages the following groups of preferences: Personal, Email,
News, File Transfer, Other Services (e.g. Gopher and Ph), Fonts, File Types, and
Helpers (for mapping URLs to their help applications).
Full source code to the Internet Config system has been placed in the public
domain. The system is essentially ‘open’, not a proprietary add-in which may become
a liability in the future.
You can get the Internet Config Programmer’s Kit from
ftp://ftp.share.com/internet-configuration/
and
ftp://redback.cs.uwa.edu.au//Others/Quinn/Config/
It has all the information you need to develop for Internet Config in Pascal or C
using any of the common development environments (Metrowerks, Think and MPW).
The kit also contains the source code to the Internet Config Extension. The same sites
also have the Internet Config Application Source Kit, which contains the source code to
the Internet Config application (in Think Pascal).
About adding IC support to NewsWatcher, “I’m pleased, too. I figured this would
be reasonably easy to support, and it turned out to be even easier. There were no major
problems or stumbling blocks - just a bunch of really easy code, and it worked with no
major hassles.” - John Norstad
Hierarchical or Relational? - Why Not Have Both?
iD de Magellan is a new external package for 4th Dimension. It allows 4D
programmers to manage and present their relational data in a hierarchical manner.
Whatever the structure of the data, iD de Magellan can create and maintain a
hierarchical representation of it. Relational and hierarchical database systems, the
two most common types in today’s database market, are normally completely separate.
iD de Magellan allows you to integrate the two representations.
iD de Magellan adapts itself to any relational structure, generating a hierarchical
representation of the data. Moreover, iD de Magellan can generate more than one
hierarchical representation of the same relational structure. Once integrated into an
external zone, iD de Magellan manages all data processing, navigation, formatting,
importing, exporting, printing, etc., in an outliner-like interface.
Logiciels Magellan (514) 344-1056 voice, (514) 344-2970 fax, AppleLink LOG.MAGELLAN,
CompuServe 76506,1656.
Demo available ($10 CDN) by post to 919 Dunlop ave. Outremont, QC Canada H2V 2W9, or on
CompuServe/MACDEV/Library 6, file name: ID.SEA, or AppleLink/Third Parties/ACI/ACI
Information/Third-Party Information.
Apple Support Programs Update
Apple Computer introduced the Newton Associates Program, and enhancements to the
Newton Partners and Macintosh Partners programs. The Newton Associates Program
is a low cost (US$400 annual fee), high quality, self-help development support
program for Newton developers, and includes:
• Support services from Apple’s Developer Support Center
• Discounted rates for online technical information
• Access to a technical Q&A reference library
• Discounts on Newton and Macintosh hardware
• A Newton Orientation Kit
• A monthly Newton developer mailing, including the Newton Developer CD and Newton
Technology Journal
• Use of Apple’s third party compatibility lab
• Discount on a Newton development class
• Invitation to Newton and Worldwide Developer Conferences
• Eligibility to participate in StarCore’s Affiliate Label Program
now US$2500 annually, and includes all the features of the Newton Associates
Program plus services such as expert-level programming support via e-mail, free
updates to Newton development tools, and participation in select Apple marketing and
PR opportunities.
as seeding on most Macintosh technologies, pre-release documentation for new CPU’s,
one free Mac OS SDK subscription. Macintosh Associates may purchase the Mac OS SDK
subscription at a substantial discount directly from APDA.
the Associates Program. Members of the Apple Multimedia Program will continue to
receive all the core services available through the Apple Developer Programs, as well
as the benefits received through the Apple Multimedia Program.
For more information on joining the Newton Associates Program or any of the Apple Developer
Programs, please contact the Apple Developer Support Center at (408)974-4897, link DEVSUPPORT or
e-mail devsupport@applelink.apple.com.