ViolaWWW beta release is available

Pei Y. Wei (wei@xcf.Berkeley.EDU)
Fri, 25 Feb 1994 13:45:38 --100


Hi--

The new ViolaWWW is now available for ftp'ing. It's beta and feedback
is very welcomed. The README file follows...

===========================================================================
ViolaWWW, Version 3.0 Beta Feb 23 1994
==========================

ViolaWWW is an extensible World Wide Web hypermedia browser for XWindows.

Based on and drawing from the Viola scripting language and toolkit,
ViolaWWW provides a way to build relatively complex hypermedia applications
that are beyond the provisions of the current HTML standard.

Notable features in the new ViolaWWW
------------------------------------

* HTML+ support: container paragraphs; input forms; tables.
(Note: not yet exact and complete compliance with the currently
evolving HTML+ standard)

* In addition to the currently defined HTML+, there're a few other
extensions, such as for columning and document insertion (client side).

* Embeddable in-document and in-toolbar programmable viola objects.
A document can embed mini viola applications (ie: a chess board),
or can cause mini apps to be placed in the toolbar.

* Motif front-end. The X11 (non Motif) version is also available.

* Single binary for easy installation, unlike the old ViolaWWW which

Availability
------------

Source and binary can be found in ftp://ora.com/pub/www/viola.
Sparc binary is supplied.

I'd appreciate hearing about compilation success stories (and patches)
for platforms other than SunOS and Ultrix.

Compiling and running ViolaWWW
------------------------------

To compile, run the 'BUILD' script (or 'BUILD.decstation').

This generate two binaries: viola/src/viola/viola and viola/src/vw/vw.

Right now, you should use the binary 'vw' as it is the ViolaWWW with
the Motif GUI, which is currently the more polished front-end.
But do let us know if you'd like support on the non Motif version.

Note: Viola requires X11R5, and the Motif version of ViolaWWW requires
a Motif toolkit library. The libwww(2.14) that comes with ViolaWWW is
modified, so until the changes are integrated into CERN's, don't use
the libwww that didn't come with viola.

Contact
-------

You can send mail to viola@ora.com. Feedbacks, bug reports, patches,
constructive criticisms, etc, are always welcome.

Acknowledgements
----------------

In particular, many thanks to: Tim Bernners-Lee for inventing the WWW;
Tim and the CERN crew for the libwww; All the contributors on www-talk etc;
Jon Blow (ORA) for the lexical analyzer used in viola; Scott Silvey (ORA)
for creating the Motif front-end; Terry Allen (ORA) for lots of testings
and help with SGML; Dale Dougherty and Tim O'Reilly for supporting the
work on viola at ORA.

Pei Y. Wei (wei@ora.com)
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.