C H A P T E R 2
Getting Started
2-8
Flow of Control
When the operating system cannot obtain enough memory to complete a requested
operation, it may display a dialog box advising the user to reset the Newton device.
The user can tap the Reset button displayed in the dialog box to reset the system, or
can tap the Cancel button and continue working.
operation, it may display a dialog box advising the user to reset the Newton device.
The user can tap the Reset button displayed in the dialog box to reset the system, or
can tap the Cancel button and continue working.
The user may also initiate a soft reset by pressing a hardware button provided for
this purpose. This button is designed to prevent its accidental use. On the
MessagePad, for example, it is recessed inside the battery compartment and must
be pressed with the Newton pen or similarly-shaped instrument.
this purpose. This button is designed to prevent its accidental use. On the
MessagePad, for example, it is recessed inside the battery compartment and must
be pressed with the Newton pen or similarly-shaped instrument.
A soft reset may also be caused by misbehaving application software. One way to
minimize the occurrence of unexpected resets is to utilize exception-handling code
where appropriate.
minimize the occurrence of unexpected resets is to utilize exception-handling code
where appropriate.
The only way applications can minimize the consequences of a soft reset is to be
prepared for one to happen at any time. Applications need to store all permanent
data in a soup and write changed entries back to the soup as soon as is feasible.
prepared for one to happen at any time. Applications need to store all permanent
data in a soup and write changed entries back to the soup as soon as is feasible.
It's advisable to test your application's ability to recover from a soft reset. The
exact sequence of steps required to soft-reset a particular Newton device is
documented in its user guide.
exact sequence of steps required to soft-reset a particular Newton device is
documented in its user guide.
Flow of Control
2
The Newton system is an event-driven, object-oriented system. Code is executed in
response to messages sent to objects (for example, views). Messages are sent as a
result of user events, such as a tap on the screen, or internal system events, such as
an idle loop triggering. The flow of control in a typical application begins when the
user taps on the application icon in the Extras Drawer. As a result of this event, the
system performs several actions such as reading the values of certain slots in your
application base view and sending a particular sequence of messages to it.
response to messages sent to objects (for example, views). Messages are sent as a
result of user events, such as a tap on the screen, or internal system events, such as
an idle loop triggering. The flow of control in a typical application begins when the
user taps on the application icon in the Extras Drawer. As a result of this event, the
system performs several actions such as reading the values of certain slots in your
application base view and sending a particular sequence of messages to it.
For a detailed discussion of the flow of control and the order of execution when an
application "starts up," see the section "View Instantiation" beginning on page 3-26.
application "starts up," see the section "View Instantiation" beginning on page 3-26.
Using Memory
2
The tightly-constrained Newton environment requires that applications avoid
wasting memory space on unused references. As soon as possible, applications
should set to
wasting memory space on unused references. As soon as possible, applications
should set to
nil
any object reference that is no longer needed, thereby allowing
the system to reclaim the memory used by that object. For example, when an
application closes, it needs to clean up after itself as much as possible, removing its
references to soups, entries, cursors, and any other objects. This means you should
set to
application closes, it needs to clean up after itself as much as possible, removing its
references to soups, entries, cursors, and any other objects. This means you should
set to
nil
any application base view slots that refer to objects in RAM.