NCSA Mosaic v2.0.0Alpha8 Release Notes

Table of contents

MOSAIC.INI Update Information

Win32s Update Information (v1.20 with OLE)

Features, Enhancements and Bug Fixes v2.0.0Alpha8

Feature Descriptions

MOSAIC.INI Update Information

You will not have to add anything to your mosaic.ini file for the release of Alpha8. The last change to the mosaic.ini file occured with the Alpha6 release.

Win32s Update Information

Mosaic is a 32-bit application. This means that Mosaic is compatable with Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT and Win95. The Windows NT operating system is available for the following processors:

iX86 - Intels 386, 486, and Pentium Processors
aXP - Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) aXP 64-bit processor
MIPS - Mips Technology processor
PPC - Motorola,IBM,Apple Power PC processor

Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups Users

You have a 16-bit operating system and you need to Microsoft's freely available Win32s software. This software will allow you to run 32-bit applications in Windows 3.1, 3.11 or WfW 3.1, 3.11. Since Mosaic is now an OLE compatible application, Mosaic users must use Win32s 1.20 with the OLE extensions. This version of Win32s is available at NCSA's ftp site, ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu, in the /Mosaic/Windows directory. The file W32sOLE.exe is a self extracting executable. Just put this file in a temporary directory like c:\install, type w32sole, and the associated files will decompress. Now read the readme.txt file.

You MUST upgrade your Win32s software in order to run Mosaic. WIN32S v1.20 with OLE must be installed BEFORE you use Alpha 8.

Windows NT users and Win95 beta-testers

Windows NT and Win95 are true 32-bit operating systems and OLE support is built-in.

Features, Enhancements and Bug Fixes v2.0.0Alpha8

Features
Tables
Common Client Interface
Options, Preferences menu
Stand Alone Mode
Added Tags:
- Underline < U>
- Strikeout < STRIKE> or < S>
- Simple Superscript < SUP> or < SUPER>
- Simple Subscript < SUB>
- Forms: input controls of TYPE=Image are supported

Enhancements
Mosaic supports inline Transparent Gifs.
The NCSA Mosaic logo has a new look.
Mosaic will use the Temp directory as defined in your autoexec.bat file.
The way Mosaic displays data has improved significantly.
Mosaic is more forgiving about bad html. It shouldn't crash if it encounters bad html.

Bug Fixes
Anchor underline
All known printing bugs
Color palette problems
Forms:
- White space is handled properly
- Mosaic will remember the fields on a form after you submit it.
- SUBMIT and RESET function properly
- CHECKBOX and RADIO controls function properly.
- PLAINTEXT uses the preformatted style for display.
- TEXTAREA controls function properly

For more information about Mosaic's features see the complete list.

Feature Descriptions

Tables

Tables allow you to present your information using a column and row format. Consider the style of a newspaper, a magazine or even the Periodic Table of Elements. Before we get started, you need to know a couple of things about Tables:

1.

Anything can be placed in a cell:

2.

Tags Relevant to Tables

TAG Description Example
< TABLE> ... < /TABLE> The tag that defines a Table in HTML. If the attribute BORDER is present, then Mosaic will display the table with a border. < TABLE BORDER> ..... < /TABLE>
< CAPTION> ... < /CAPTION> This tag defines the caption for the title of the table. The default position of the Title is centered at the top of the table. The attribute ALIGN=BOTTOM can be used to position the caption below the table. Note: Any kind of markup can exist in the caption. < CAPTION ALIGN=BOTTOM> ..... < /CAPTION>
< TR> ... < /TR> This tag specifies a Table Row within a table. You may define default attributes for the entire row. These attributes are: ALIGN (LEFT, CENTER, RIGHT) and/or VALIGN (TOP, MIDDLE, BOTTOM). < TR VALIGN=BOTTOM ALIGN=CENTER> ..... < /TR>
< TH> ... < /TH> This tag defines a Table Header cell. By default the text in this cell is bold and centered. Table Header cells may contain other attributes to determine the characteristics of the cell and/or its contents. See Alignment Attributes at the end of this table for more information. < TH ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=4 ROWSPAN=2 NOWRAP> ..... < /TH>
< TD> ... < /TD> This tag defines a Table Data cell. By default the text in this cell is aligned left and centered vertically. Table Data cells may contain other attributes to determine the characteristics of the cell and/or its contents. See Alignment Attributes at the end of this table for more information. < TD ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 ROWSPAN=3 NOWRAP> ..... < /TD>

Alignment Attributes

Note: Attributes defined within < TH> ..... < /TH> or a < TD> ..... < /TD> cells will override the default alignment set in a < TR> ..... < /TR> .

  • ALIGN (LEFT, CENTER, RIGHT)

  • VALIGN (TOP, MIDDLE, BOTTOM)

  • COLSPAN=X

  • ROWSPAN=X

  • NOWRAP

  • Horizontal Alignment of a cell.

  • Vertical Alignment of a cell.

  • The number(X) of columns a cell spans.

  • The number(X) of rows a cell spans.

  • Turn off word wrapping within a cell.

3.

General Table Format

The general format of a table looks like this: 
<TABLE>                                         <== start of table definition

<CAPTION> caption contents </CAPTION>           <== caption definition

<TR>                                            <== start of first row definition
<TH> cell contents </TH>                        <== first cell in row 1
...
<TD> cell contents </TD>                        <== last cell in row 1
</TR>                                           <== end of first row definition

<TR>                                            <== start of second row definition
<TD> cell contents </TD>                        <== first cell in row 2
...
<TD> cell contents </TD>                        <== last cell in row 2
</TR>                                           <== end of second row definition

...

<TR>                                            <== start of last row definition
<TH> cell contents </TH>                        <== first cell in last row
...
<TH> cell contents </TH>                        <== last cell in last row
</TR>                                           <== end of last row definition

</TABLE>                                        <== end of table definition
In other words, the <TABLE> and </TABLE> tags must surround the entire table definition. The first item inside the table is the CAPTION, which is optional. Then we can have any number of rows defined by the <TR> and </TR> tags. Within a row we can have any number of cells defined by the <TD> </TD> or <TH> </TH> tags.
Now you're ready to create some tables! The following examples will demonstrate how to create tables in HTML, from the simple to the complex.

Common Client Interface

 The Common Client Interface is implemented as an OLE 2.0 Automation Server. This means that any application which can act as an OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) Automation Client can access Mosaic through this interface. One such application is Microsoft Excel’s built in Visual Basic for Applications. For more information about Mosaic's CCI see our online documentation.

Options, Preferences menu

We are in the process of removing the need to directly edit the mosaic.ini file. Mosaic now offers you an easy to use dialog box that will you to configure most of the options available to Mosaic. Unfortunately, you will still have to edit the following mosaic.ini items. These last few items will be added in our next release.
Preference Menus
Preference TabPreference ItemDescription

General

Show The Tool Bar On Startup
Check this item if you want to see the Tool Bar
Show The Current Location On Startup
Check this item if you want to see the URL Bar
Show Status Bar On Startup
Check this item if you want to see the Status Bar
Show Anchor URL
Check this item if you want to see the URL in the Status Bar the next time you start up Mosaic
Change Cursor over Anchors
Check this item if you want to see cursor to change from an arrow to a pointing finger over URLs
Underline Anchors
Check this item if you want to see the URLs underlined.
Autoload Home Page
Check this item if you want to see your home pages automatically loaded by Mosaic on start-up.
Grey Background
Check this item if you want to see a grey background. When this box is not checked the background will be white.
Fancy Rules
Check this item if you want to see 3D horizontal rules. When this box is not checked the horizontal rule will appear as a black line.
Round List Bullets
Check this item if you want to see a round bit map instead of a dash in front of list items.
Use 8-bit Sound
Check this item if you have an 8-bit sound card.
Show Group Annotations
Check this item if you want to see the group annotations associated with the current document. NOTE: This function is under construction.
Display Inline Images
Check this item if you want Mosaic to display the inline images.
Home PageThe URL that you want as you Home Page.
Main Window SettingsBasic window position settings. Select "Use Current Position as Default" to save the current size and position of the Mosaic window.

Services

Use Extended FTP
Display file size and file type icons.
Number of Cached Documents:
Enter the number of html documents and associated images you want Mosaic to retain in memory.
E-mail Address Enter your email address here.
SMTP Server: The name of your Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Server. This field should reflect your local SMTP server.
NNTP Server: The name of you Network News Transfer Protocol Server. This field should reflect your local NNTP server.

Tables

3D Tables
Check this option if you want your tables to have a 3D border
Recessed Tables
Check this option if you want your tables to appear resessed.
Display Empty Cells
Check this option if you want to display all cells.
Table Color Select change and Mosaic will display a color table so you can change the color of the border of the table.

Annotations

Use Group Annotations
Check this option if you want the group annotations associated with the html documents you download.
Default Annotation Title: The default title of the annotations you submit to the group server.
Annotation Directory: The directory used to save local annotations.
Group Annotations Server: The name and port number of the machine you save group annotations to.

Stand Alone Mode

Mosaic is now smart enough to run in Stand-alone mode. That is, if Mosaic doesn't find a winsock.dll on your system it will still envoke and you will have full browsing capability in your local domain. If you try to link to a URL from the network, Mosaic will display "Can't access network in stand alone mode" in the status bar at the bottom of the window.

Additional tags supported by Mosaic:

 The following tags are now supported in NCSA Mosaic(tm) for Windows:

You can underline words or entire bodies of text.

You can < U> underline words or entire bodies of text < /U>.

You can strike out words or entire bodies of text
You can < S> strikeout words or entire bodies of text < /S>.

Using subscripts and superscripts, we can now create simple equations:

f(x) = x2 + a0

f(x) = x < SUP> 2 < /SUP> + a < SUB> 0 < /SUB>
We hope you enjoy NCSA Mosaic .
mosaic-w@ncsa.uiuc.edu
National Center for Supercomputing Applications
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign