ButtonBar Plus

A Buttonbar enhancment for the Newton OS 2.1
 
 
Table of Contents


1 	Welcome and Registration	
1.1	About ButtonBar Plus	
1.2	System Requirements
1.3	Registering ButtonBar Plus	
1.4	Contacting Stand Alone, Inc.	
1.4.1		Business Hours	
1.4.2		Email	
1.4.3		Phone	
1.4.4		Regular Mail	
1.4.5		World Wide Web	
1.5	Reporting Bugs	
1.6	Version History	

2	Installation	

3	First Impressions	

3.1	First Impressions	
3.2	Placing New Icons in ButtonBar Plus	
3.3	Arranging ButtonBar Plus	

4	Using the Action Button	

4.1	Sets		
4.2	Prefs		
4.2.1		Thickness	
4.2.2		Position	
4.2.3		Options	
4.2.4		Additional Icons	
4.2.5		Sets Button	
4.3	Add Icons	
4.4	Add Extras	
4.5	About		
4.6	Icon Menu Options
4.6.1		Enlarge (Shrink) Icon	
4.6.2		Remove Icon	
4.6.3		Shrinking the ButtonBar	

5	Special Icons	

5.1	Volume Control	
5.2	Package Pop Up	
5.3	Back Lighting	
5.4	Mute	
5.5	Garbage Collection	
5.6	Screen Contrast	
5.7	Sleep		
5.8	Special Icon	
5.9	Rotate		
5.10	Keyboards	

1	Welcome and Registration

1.1	About ButtonBar Plus Welcome to ButtonBar Plus, an enhancement
for the Newton 2.1 OS that expands the power and versatility of the
buttonbar. It controls the size of the buttonbar, can hold many more
icons than before, launches applications from the buttonbar, and allows
you to save multiple buttonbar configurations to be used as needed.
Using ButtonBar Plus, you can also shrink the bar into a small floating
window that gives you the maximum amount of free screen space, or you
can move the buttonbar to the top or sides of the screen.

Included in this archive are the following packages:

ButtonBar Plus.pkg 
This is the software package that you need to
install on your Newton.


ButtonBar Plus.pdf This is the users manual for ButtonBar Plus. You
are reading it right now.


ButtonBar Plus.txt This is a text only format of the users manual. If
at all possible, use the pdf version of the manual
as it has layout and graphics that cannot be included in the
text version. The pdf version of the manual is 						
viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader. This can be obtained free of
charge at www.adobe.com.

SAStuff.txt 
A list of all of the software available from Stand Alone
Inc.

SA reg.pkg 
If there isnt a registration option under the  button,
install this package to register your software.

1.2	System Requirements ButtonBar Plus requires Newton OS 2.1, and a
Message Pad  2000, or eMate.

1.3	Registering ButtonBar Plus 
The ButtonBar Plus Demo will work for a 30 day trial period. At the end of the 30 Days, 
it will stop working. To avert this tragedy, you will need to get in touch with Stand Alone to
register your software. You can register with us by several different
methods.

You will need to include the following information, no matter how you
choose to register. Most importantly, you need to include your name
EXACTLY as it is entered in your Newton, including spaces. We use this
to generate your password, so it must be precise. You will need to
specify which programs you wish to register, and include payment for
each of them. We accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. If you
are using normal mail, you can send us a check as well. Make sure to
include your card number, the expiration date, and what type of card you
are using. You also need to give us a way to get in touch with you.
Email is the preferred way, followed by your address and phone number.
An Email address is not strictly necessary, but it will result in much
faster service.

For instant gratification, register by phone, and pay using Visa or
Mastercard. To do so, call (773) 477-2492 and we will give you a
password right over the phone.

Alternatively, you can send us a check to the address below.

You can also Email us one of several ways. The application has a
Register section under the  button. Tap on that to open up a
registration slip. If you fill out that slip, and have an Email client
on your Newton, it will automatically Email us and we will send you a
registration code. You could also just Email us the relevant information
from your Newton or a desktop machine, and well send you a code. If you
are registering through Compuserve, use, GO SWREG.

Once you register, you will receive a password from us. You can install
this password one of two ways. There is an option to Enter Password
under the  menu. Tap on it to bring up a screen that has a space to
enter the password. Alternatively, just install the SA Register package
enclosed in the ButtonBar Plus archive. Select ButtonBar Plus from the
pop-up menu at the top, and enter the password. You should get a message
confirming the password. Afterwards, you may remove the SAS Register
application from you Newton.

1.4	Contacting Stand Alone Inc. 
There are several ways to get in
touch with us here at Stand Alone, Inc. Email is the preferred form of
communication, but whatever works for you is fine. If you have any
questions, comments, suggestions or compliments, please don't hesitate
to contact us through any of the methods listed below.

1.4.1	Business Hours 
Stand Alone is open from 9 AM to 9 PM Monday to
Friday, and 10 AM to 4 PM Saturday and Sunday. These times are CST and
GMT -5.

1.4.2	Email: 
internet: 		info@standalone.com 
AOL: 		Std Alone 
CompuServe:	76342,3057

1.4.3	Phone: 
Voice: 		(773) 477-2492 
Fax:		(773) 477-2579

1.4.4	Regular Mail: Stand Alone 3171 N. Hudson, Suite 1 
Chicago IL, 60657
USA

1.4.5	World Wide Web: 
http://www.standalone.com

1.5	Reporting Bugs If you find a bug in our software, it would be
helpful if you reported the bug to us. To report a bug, please Email us
with Bug Report Request in the subject line.	 In the Email, include
the following information:

What type of Newton you are using (i.e. MP 2000) 
The version number of the system software (i.e. Newton OS 2.1) 
The software name and version number (i.e. ButtonBar Plus 1.03) 
The error number 
A brief description of how we can recreate the error 
Your name and Email address so we can contact you when the bug is fixed

When reporting bugs, it is best to Email us, rather than calling, so
that the programers have a written record of the information they need
to solve the problem. As soon as we receive your Email, the programer
will examine the problem, and fix it.. Because our programers are busy
creating software, it can take a while for them to reply, but they will
release a new version of the software that fixes the bug as soon as they
can.

1.6	Version History

Version		Date			Notes 
1.0			April 28, 1997		First public release
2.0			November 11, 1997	Major revisions 

2	Installation

The first thing that you need to do to get your software up and running
is to install it on your Newton. To do this, you need to have Newton
Backup Utility, or Newton Connection Utilites, set up to talk to your
Newton. If you have problems with this part of the installation, pleast
contact  consult the documentation that came with your Newton. Once
Newton Backup Utility is set up, just follow the steps listed below to
for each of the packages you wish to install.

1. Open the Newton Backup Utility , or Newton Connection Utilties  on
your Desktop machine.

2. On your Newton, go to the Extras Drawer and tap the Connection icon .

3. Once the Newton Backup Utility has loaded on your desktop machine,
make sure your cables are connected and tap the  button on your Newton.

4. For each of the packages you wish to install, do the following:

 Tap the Install Package button in the Newton Backup Utility

Go to the folder where your packages are, and select the desired
package.

 Click on the Install button


3	First Impressions

Once ButtonBar Plus is installed, it activates immediately to enhance
the basic Newton OS buttonbar.

3.1	First Impressions

When you first install ButtonBar Plus, you will see that it looks
slightly different than the buttonbar you are used to.

ButtonBar Plus sets up the buttonbar so that the icons can be small or
large, and it also adds a little action button next to the control
arrows.

3.2	Placing New Icons in ButtonBar Plus

One of ButtonBar Plus great strengths is that it lets you place any
icon you wish in the buttonbar. This gives you access to any application
on the Newton with a single tap. The simplest way to install new icons
is to place them directly from the Extras drawer. To do this, just tap
and drag an icon from the Extras drawer onto the buttonbar. If you later
decide that you dont want that icon included on the buttonbar, just
open up your Extras drawer and drag it off of the bar into the Extras
drawer.

3.3	Arranging ButtonBar Plus

Using ButtonBar Plus, you can arrange the icons in the buttonbar any way
that you wish. To do so, tap and hold the icon, and drag it to an icon
next to where you wish it placed. The icon will be placed on the to the
side of the icon that it was dragged to. If it was dragged to the top of
an icon, it will go above it. If it was dragged to the side, it will be
placed to the side, etc. When working with the icons in the buttonbar,
you can also perform actions on multiple icons at once. To do this, just
tap and hold on an icon until it squeaks. The icon will become
highlighted, and a heavy black line will appear under the pen. If you
drag the heavy black line through other icons, they will be highlighted
as well. You can move the highlighted icons together as a group.

4	Using The Action Button

Now that you know how to work with the icons in the buttonbar, this
chapter takes you through the features of the bar itself. There are two
icons in ButtonBar Plus that are treated differently than the others.
One is the Extras Drawer, and the second is the small Action button.
Both of these let you access the special features of the buttonbar. When
the action button is tapped, or the Extras drawer tapped and held, a
menu will appear that gives you special options for ButtonBar Plus. The
number of options in the menu changes, depending on if there is an icon
hilighted or not.

4.1 	Sets

The items at the top section of the menu are all sets of saved
configurations for the buttonbar. The one with the check mark next to it
is the set currently in use. To create sets, see the section 4.2.

4.2	Prefs

The Prefs section gives you the chance to customize many of the settings
of the buttonbar. ButtonBar Plus Prefs can also be accessed through the 
button Prefs in the Extras drawer.

4.2.1	Thickness This lets you set how thick the buttonbar will be. 
It can be set from the width of one small icon (narrow) to the width of
four small icons (huge)

4.2.2	Position Using this feature, you can place the buttonbar on any
of the four edges of the Newtons screen. The buttonbar will stay in 
the same relative position, even if the screen is rotated.

4.2.3	Options If these boxes are checked, then the option is included
in ButtonBar Plus.

4.2.4	Additional Icons Opens up a screen of special icons that may be
included in the buttonbar. The special icons will explained in detail in
the next chapter.

4.2.5	Sets This option lets you create and save different ButtonBar
Plus configurations so you can use them when you need them.

The sets button lets you create or delete your own personal sets. The
names listed at the top of the screen are the sets that already exist.
If you tap on one of them, you have the option to delete the specific
set. If you tap on the New button, it shows you the above screen, and
gives you a few choices. The Set Name line is where you write in the
name of the new set. If you want the set to rotate the Newtons screen,
check the box beneath the Set Name line. If the box is checked, the
screen will give you the option of which direction the screen will be
routine. If you tap the Duplicate Current Set, then the icons of the
currently used set will be included in the new set. Otherwise, the set
will be empty, and you add icons to it as normal. The Delete button lets
you delete the set with which you are working.

4.3	Add Icons

Choosing this lets you access a number of special icons for the
buttonbar. These are examined individually in chapter 5.

4.4	Add Extras

Tapping Add Extras brings up a list of all of the packages in the Extras
drawer. If you want to include any of them in the buttonbar, all you
need to do is check off the box next to the application you wish to
include.

4.5	About

This brings up a splash screen that tells you a little about the
program, and tells you how to get in touch with us.

4.6	Icon Menu Options

These options only appear on the menu if an icon is hilighted.

4.6.1	Enlarge (Shrink) Icon tap this to make the icon large if it is
small, or small if it is large.

4.6.2	Remove Icon This will remove the icon from the buttonbar.

4.6.3	Shrinking the ButtonBar ButtonBar Plus can also shrink the
buttonbar down to a small floating window in order to save the maximum
amount of screen space. To reduce the buttonbar, first include the
Rotate special icon described in Section 5.9 in the buttonbar. Then,
open up the Rotate menu and choose Close ButtonBar.  The Newton OS then
rebuilds the desktop, remove the bar at the bottom of the screen, and
replace it with a small floating bar. The floating bar includes only the
most basic icons, as shown below. It should be noted that in this view,
it is impossible to access the ButtonBar Plus Menu. To access the Menu,
the buttonbar needs to be returned to the large view by tapping the box
with the x inside.

5	Special Icons

ButtonBar Plus has a number of special icons that can be include on the
message Pad.

5.1	Volume Control

This icon lets you quickly set the volume of the Newton. Tapping it
brings up a picker to set it from silent to very loud.

5.2	 Package Pop Up

This pops up a list of all the applications on the Newton, and lets you
launch them right from the list.

5.3	 Back lighting

You can toggle the Newtons backlighting from here.

5.4	 Mute

Silence your Newton with the tap of a pen. Tapping it again will restore
what ever sound level you were using before.

5.5	 Garbage Collection

Tapping on this collects and frees all of the unused heap on the Newton.
It will display how much heap you had before and after the garbage
collection.

5.6	 Screen Contrast

The Newtons contrast is controlled through here using a sliding bar.

5.7	 Sleep

Turn your Newton off with this button.

5.8	 Special Icon

From here you can restart the Newton, put it to sleep, or close the
buttonbar.

5.9	 Rotate

This button gives you more options to customize your buttonbar. As the
name suggests, you can rotate the screen, but you can do far more as
well.

The top section of the menu lets you rotate the Newton, as you would
normally. The next section lets you set the width of the buttonbar, just
as in Prefs. The third section lets you move the buttonbar to a
different edge of the screen. The Controls Left changes the side of the
buttonbar where the Overview button and the Scroll Arrows are located.
Lastly, you can shrink the buttonbar into a small floating window. For
details on that function, please refer section 4.8.3. You can also
restart your Newton, or put it to sleep (a low power mode) with the two
options at the bottom.

5.10	 Keyboards Tapping on the Keyboard button brings up a list of
keyboards. Tap on one of them to bring up a keyboard. You have the
choice of the following keyboards: Typewriter, Numeric, Phone,
Time/Date. If you have KeyMan installed, then additional keyboards will
be available. 			




		
