HELP XNEWS.V13_9 Oct 1990
For most recent news please see HELP *NEWS, *XNEWS
1990
Oct 26 (Aaron Sloman)
--- Version 13.9 At last. Very nearly ready for general release.
See HELP * XPOP for information on getting started, and an overview
of available documentation.
Jul 3 (Roger Evans)
--- Version 13.81 interim release. Some users will see an
interim release of Xpop numbered 13.81. This release is in a
transitory state and may be missing some features and have features
which will not be in v14. The main points to note are:
1) the representation of widgetclasses has changed. Since
widgetclasses were generally considered opaques anyway, this should
not affect many users. However the following routines have
disappeared and have not been replaced by any functional equivalents
(yet):
iswidget_class
iscomposite_widget_class
widget_class_name
widget_class_superclass
widget_class_resources
widget_class_actions
2) The coercion type for widgetclasses, [widgetclass], (as
used in external_load) has disappeared and been replaced by the
implicit access procedure XptImportWidgetClass. NOTE HOWEVER, that
XptImportWidgetClass can currently ONLY be used in the contetx of
external loads (this will be changed for V14). General advice: don't
use it directly, stay with xt_load_wc (in the compatibility lib) for
now.
3) bobcat version no longer uses timer for its asynchronous IO
stuff (it uses the virtual timer instead), and so, among other
things, won't keep stopping whenever you mishap!
4) garbage collector feedback does not work properly for bobcats.
Also spontaneous destruction of widgets (via garbage collection,
window manager etc.) throw the garbage collector into a dizzy spin.
Don't do it - keep hold of your widgets and destroy them explicitly
with fast_XtDestroyWidget if necessary.
Jun 27 (Aaron Sloman)
--- LIB RC_MOUSE extended to allow user-assignable
rc_rubber_function for use with colour displays.
TEACH RC_GRAPHIC extended with colour and context examples.
Jun 22 (Aaron Sloman)
--- The RC_GRAPHIC package has been extended with LIB * RC_CONTEXT
to simplify switching between different windows.
Jun 1 (Roger Evans)
--- The following libraries have been moved out of the main
x/pop/lib directory into x/pop/compat. These libraries are obsolete
and should be avoided where possible. They will be retained in
V.14 for the convenience of users of pre-release Xpop, but are
likely to disappear in V.15.
external_data_ptr.p xt_check_live_widget.p
external_field_val.p xt_check_widget.p
external_subscr.p xt_check_widget_class.p
fast_XtCreateManagedWidget.p xt_dummy_event.p
islive_widget.p xt_font.p
sys_trace_var.p xt_load_wc.p
vedxgotomouse.p xt_new_shell.p
xt_arglist.p xt_shadow.p
xt_async.p xt_value.p
xt_check_exlinkbase.p xt_windows.p
To access these libraries, load LIB * XT_COMPAT, which will put the
appropriate directory in your lib lists etc.
May 27 (Aaron Sloman)
--- A first draft HELP * XPOP has been created. Updated 27 May.
May 24 (Aaron Sloman)
--- HELP * XPOP_NEWS moved to the main help directory
--- The "RC" (Relative Co-ordinates) graphics package added to the
Xpop library providing the following
LIB * RC_GRAPHIC
LIB * RC_ROTATE_XY
LIB * RC_MOUSE
LIB * RC_DRAWGRAPH
LIB * RC_SET_SCALE
These are all described fully in HELP * RC_GRAPHIC and an
interactive introduction is available in TEACH * RC_GRAPHIC
The package will probably be extended especially with additional
facilities for interaction with the mouse.
--- In order to facilitate access to the macro definitions, the
following new files have been created in $usepop/pop/x/pop/lib/
PopCore.ph PopGraphic.ph PopPixmap.ph
and the definitions removed from the corresponding .p files
The same thing has been done with $usepop/pop/x/pop/lib/xlib files
XConstants.ph XCoords.ph XDrawingPrimitives.ph
--- The HELP * PopGraphic file has been corrected and extended, and
the files LIB * PopGraphic, * PopPixmap, and * PopCore altered so
that instead of applying -intof- to their numeric co-ordinates they
check whether they are integers in the correct range. This means
users will now have to round non-integer arguments where integers
are needed.
May 23 (Aaron Sloman)
--- LIB * POPXLIB extended to set up -popincludelist- so that
Xpop programs can just do things like include PopGraphic.ph
without having to specify a proper path name. Also LIB * XLIB
(See HELP *INCLUDE)
April 30 (Ian Rogers)
--- Integrated Jon Meyer's PD Poplog Widget Set with the main system.
Amongst other things this meant deleting the old widget set and
some of its' support libraries. See HELP * XPOPINDEX for a list
of currently available facilities, and TEACH * XPOP for an
introduction to this system.
1989
January 11 (Ian Rogers)
--- Installed Xpop into the masters
August 8 (Roger Evans)
RELEASE 9
--- Xpop now supports X11R3 as well as X11R2. However the Xt
interface remains as it was under R2 (ie the new toolkit
features in R3 are not yet supported). There are now multiple
binary directories names <Xversion>.<architecture> (eg
X11R2.sun3. Most of the explicit X startup scripts have been
removed - sites are expected to do this themselves. System
configuration is controlled by three environment variables:
$Xpop (root of Xpop tree), $Xpopbin (binary directory) $Xroot
(root of X11 system) - see README file for more details.
The HP widget set (and hence the demo), are not yet available
under R3.
--- As well as the basic xpop executable, there are three
alternative entry points into the system: xpop11, xved and
xprolog. Each of these starts up xpop in pop/ved/prolog
respectively and creates a 'logo' widget. In R2 this is an HP
button widget and has a ved files menu attached to left mouse
button, in R3 it is a PopGraphic widget (with no menu).
--- A new system constant -XtVersion- is exported, whose value is
<X version no.> * 10000 + <X release no>
(ie 11002 or 11002, currently). It is the approved way of
testing (a) whether you are in Xpop (eg with #_IF DEF XtVersion)
and (b) which version you are running.
--- -fast_XtCallAction- now actually exists!
--- Error handling is now slightly improved - Xlib low level errors
are caught as well as Xt errors.
March 8 (Roger Evans)
--- Changed name of executable to xpop (was Xpop) to bring it into
line with X Windows conventions.
--- -xt_load_wc- now knows about a new group of widgets - the
keyword "pop" accesses the Poplog widget set. Currently this
only contains one widgetclass, a simple graphics plane called
"PopGraphic". See HELP *PopGraphic, HELP *xt_graphic. See
HELP *xt_pwm for graphics PWM compatibility routines.
-xt_load_wc- also accepts, within a list of widgetclass names,
a LIST in place of a name. This is taken to be the spec for
non-widgetclass data for external_load (eg other external
procedures) to be loaded at the same time.
--- -pop_reprompt_read- no longer exists - the system handles
reprompting after interrupt properly now so it is not needed
--- Widgets have -fast_XtDestroyWidget- as their default destroy
actions so they get destroyed when they become garbage. The only
exception is the first shell widget (returned by
-fast_XtInitialize-). The system maintains a pointer to this
widget and never lets it be destroyed (-fast_XtDestroyWidget-
will mishap if you try and destroy it explicitly). This is
because the X toolkit falls over if you destroy the first
widget!
--- A collection of new libraries have been added, mainly to support
the new graphics plane widget PopGraphic. These are:
PopGraphic.p - load widget class and associated routines
xt_check_widget.p - check for valid widget
xt_check_live_widget.p - check for live widget
xt_check_widget_class.p - check for valid widget class
xt_windows.p - widgets as free-standing windows
xt_graphic.p - high level support for PopGraphic widget
xt_pwmgfx.p - limited pwm compatibility for graphics
--- The demo system now has a PopGraphic widget in it.
January 25 (Roger Evans)
--- Threw out some nasty garbage collector-related bugs.
--- Demo saved image now uses -sys_lock_system-
--- System now has a default .uwmrc file ($Xpop/bin/uwmrc.default)
which is used by the default .xstart file if there is no
$HOME/.uwmrc
January 16 (Roger Evans)
--- RELEASE 6
SunOS 4 release (SunOs 3 no longer supported).
Directory structure slightly changed: $Xpop/bin now replaces
$Xpop/com and $Xpop/pop. New shell command Xved starts Xpop in
Ved. NB: -external_invoke- code mentioned below is not yet fully
tested!
1988
December 15 (Roger Evans)
--- New procedures -external_invoke- and -fast_external_invoke-
for calling external procedures - an alternative to
-external_apply-. See HELP *external_invoke.
October 31 (Roger Evans)
--- $Xroot now points to the X11 installation directory, rather than
the virtual root directory. See $Xpop/README
September 14 (Roger Evans)
--- There is now a simple demonstration system in $Xpop/demo. See
HELP *xpop_demo for details.
--- Changes to the callback mechanism - widget argument is now the
Poplog widget record, -fast_XtAddCallback- allows you to specify
coercion type for the call arg. It is now possible to raise two
instances of the same callback, and interaction with the GC is
better. See HELP *xt_callbacks.
September 13 (Roger Evans)
--- Bug in -external_write_shadow- fixed: now clears out old dynamic
references before rewriting shadow.
--- LIB xt_value no longer creates garbage every time it is used.
--- New library LIB hp_menu for creating popup menus. See SHOWLIB
*hp_menu
September 12 (Roger Evans)
--- -external_shadow- no longer takes optional eb, off arguments, so
that it will now behave when given an external block.
-external_shadow_over- provides the former extended
functionality. See HELP *external_shadow
--- LIB xt_value now accepts an optional coercion type for the
result (eg "string"). See SHOWLIB *xt_value
--- New global variable -external_alloc_perm- controls the initial
setting of the permanence flag in external_alloc. See HELP
*external_block. Lib xt_shadow also uses this flag to decide
whether to copy strings.
September 9 (Roger Evans)
--- Widget records now contain children and popup lists and so
you only need to keep hold of the root widget to avoid the rest
becoming garbage. They also become 'dead' when the widget is
destroyed.
--- Widget classes now read their names from the external widget
record when its not already known.
September 5 (Roger Evans)
--- OverrideShell and TransientShell widget classes now built-in.
Added fast_XtCreateManagedWidget as a library.
September 2 (Roger Evans)
--- fsub_ei (etc.) procedures withdrawn. New libraries LIB
external_field_val and LIB external_subscr can be used to obtain
similar functionality.
--- New vm instructions: to complement sysFIELD_VAL there is now a
sysSUBSCR, which plants code to subscript into a vector of
arbitrary type, taking vector and subscript from the stack. Also
sysEXT_FIELD_VAL and sysEXT_SUBSCR plant code for corresponding
operations for external class objects. Updater versions are also
provided See HELP *external_vm.
--- Bug fix: a bug in the handling of the 'external' coercion type
has been fixed - previously it tended to fall over if used after
a garbage collection.
August 31 (Roger Evans)
--- System now includes -sys_destroy_action- for allocating destroy
actions to objects. External blocks get -external_free- as their
default destroy action.
August 8 (Roger Evans)
--- Coercion of external data changed completely.
-external_coerce_...- routines withdrawn in favour of
-external_coerce- (see HELP *external_coerce). -external_apply-
and -external_load- modified to use new coercion.
-XtNewWidgetClass- now redundant and so withdrawn, LIB
xt_load_widget modified to accommodate
--- New routine -fast_XtCallAction- added. See HELP *xt_core.
July 15 (Roger Evans)
--- New routine -fast_XtFetchAction- added. See HELP *xt_core.
--- Added libraries:
xt_dummy_event.p - contains an intvec for use as an event
sys_trace_var.p - utility for tracing updates to variables
hp_toggle_var.p - library for creating a toggle widget
synchronised with a boolean variable.
hp_scroll.p - example hp scrollbar widget
July 14 (Roger Evans)
--- Exported XtConvert as -fast_XtConvert-. See HELP *xt_core.
--- Added libraries:
recordclass.p - allows declaration of external
recordclasses
xt_font.p - creating font records from font names
July 13 (Roger Evans)
--- Added HP widget set to list of know sets in LIB xt_load_wc.
--- Exported XtSetSensitive as -fast_XtSetSensitive-
--- added variable -xt_garbage_widget-. If this variable contains a
widget then Poplog makes it (and any children) insensitive for
the duration of garbage collections.
July 11 (Roger Evans)
--- Added some simple libraries - do SHOWLIB for more info:
vedsunxterm.p - Ved customisation for xterm
xt_load_wc.p - loading widget_classes
xt_new_shell.p - creating top-level 'shell' widgets
xt_arglist.p - support for specifying arglists
xt_value.p - accessing/updating individual resources
xt_async.p - controlling asynchronous event handling
xt_check_exlinkbase.p - boring utility
xt_shadow.p - useful variant of external_shadow
athena_scroll.p - simple example athena widget
--- Exported Xroot in Xstartup script - used by libraries to locate
widget libraries etc.
--- C.all/help/xnews.v13_9
--- Copyright University of Sussex 1990. All rights reserved. ----------