Basic Instructions:

Installation:

Package

Function

Required

NoteServ

Makes the Notepad Available on the WWW

YES

DateServ

Makes your Calendar Available on the WWW

RECOMMENDED

CardServ

Makes your Names File Available on the WWW

RECOMMENDED

Tracker Client

Enables you to sign on to a Tracker when online

OPTIONAL

Web*Pager

Recieve Instant messages from Visitors to your Newton (urlCop is required with Web*Pager)

RECOMMENDED

NPDS Setup

Configuration options for the NPDS Suite

YES

Script Editor

Write and edit custom Server-Side Scripts for NPDS

OPTIONAL

GIFServer

Serve Screenshots off of your Newton

OPTIONAL

GIFMaker

Extension needed for GIFServer

OPTIONAL

urlCop

Extension needed for Web*Pager to reply to Web*Pages

YES*

Scripts

Example embedded NPDS Scripts for your pages

OPTIONAL

Serving Your First Web Page:

Starting Up

  1. I assume you will be using NoteServ to serve HTML Pages. We need to configure that plugin before we start up NPDS.
    1. Decide upon one folder in your Notepad that you want to use to hold the Notes you'll make available on the WWW. You can change it later.
    2. Make sure there's at least one text-only note filed in that folder.
    3. Open NoteServ and use the folder picker to select the desired folder. (By default, it's set to "Personal")
  2. Open nHTTPd and establish a connection to the WWW by tapping the Start button (A)

    When the connection is established, your server's IP address will show up in the area marked "Not Assigned" in the illustration on the right (D). The status indicator (B) will change from "IDLE" to "INIT", pause while the other parts of the server start up, then proceed to "RDY". You'll also notice the Start button has been replaced by a Stop button.

  3. You're now ready to access your Newton WWW server from a web browser. In a browser of your choice, go to http://insert.server.ip.here/ and you'll see the default page for Notepad Server. Somewhere in there, you'll see a link to the note that's filed in the WWW folder of the Notepad. Go ahead and click on it and see the that contents of that note appear in your browser. You have just served a web page off of your Newton!!!!
  4. Before doing much more with NPDS, I suggest you read the short chapters on Notepad Server, DateServ, and so on, so that you can begin to tap the full capability of your handheld WWW Server but for now, you are completely and totally ONLINE!

Shutting Down

To shut down your server, tap the Stop button (A). A slip will come up telling yout that the server is disconnecting.

If it doesn't go away in 30 seconds, then the connection actually has been dropped: the operating system just forgot to tell the slip about it (Bug Alert) You may go ahead and close the slip by tapping its close-box.

Other nHTTPd User Interface Items:

Hit Counter (C): Offers a display of the total number of files served since the last install of nHTTPd.

Info Button (E): Under this button you can find the Cache Manager, as well as the Standard "About", "Help", and "Prefs" entries.

Plugin Menu (F): Pop-up access to the Prefs/Application screen of all installed Plugins. When it is first tapped, there will be a short delay while the names of all plugins are collected. Don't Panic.

Notify Star: (Not shown in screenshot) Tap the star and nHTTPd will minimize to a small blinking star at the top of your Newton screen.

Recent Hosts: If Access Logging and DNS Lookup are turned on, tapping the Status Indicator (B) will give you a popup list of the last ten unique clients to visit your server since you started it up.

Removing NPDS:

OK. So things didn't work out and you want this thing off of your Newton. Let me tell you how to make sure ALL the data from the NPDS installation is gone.

  1. Remove all the packages.
  2. In your storage folder in the Extensions drawer, select NPDS Cache and Delete all the items. This, as you can guess, will remove all your GIFs, cached HTML bits, and other large stored data structures.
  3. Next, tap NPDS Scripts and NPDS Log in the Storage drawer and Delete those items. Those are CGI scripts and Log entries, respectively.
  4. To be complete, use a prefs-cleaner like *Standalone's Prefs Cleaner to remove these entries from your Prefs soup.

*Standalone Software: http://www.standalone.com/