Glossary

Action button The small envelope button used
in applications to invoke routing functions.
When tapped, it displays a picker listing routing
actions available for the current item.

alias An object that consists of a reference to
another object. An alias saves space, since the
alias object is small, and can be used to
reference very large objects. Resolving an alias
refers to retrieving the object that the alias
references. See also entry alias.

application base view The topmost parent
view in an application. The application base view
typically encloses all other views that make up
the application.

arc A portion of the circumference of an oval
bounded by a pair of radii joining at the oval's
center. Contrast a wedge, which includes part of
the oval's interior. Arcs and wedges are defined
by the bounding rectangle that encloses the oval,
along with a pair of angles marking the
positions of the bounding radii.

array A sequence of numerically indexed
slots (also known as the array elements) that
contain objects. The first element is indexed by
zero. Like other nonimmediate objects, an array
can have a user-specified class, and can have its
length changed dynamically.

away city The emporium that's displayed as a
counterpoint to your home city. It defines such
information as dialing area, time zone, and so
on. Sometimes it is called the "I'm here" city.

binary object A sequence of bytes that can
represent any kind of data, can be adjusted
dynamically in size, and can have a user-

specified class. Examples of binary objects
include strings, real numbers, sounds, and
bitmaps.

Boolean A special kind of immediate value. In
NewtonScript, there is only one Boolean, called

true

. Functions and control structures use

nil

to represent false. When testing for a true/false
value,

nil

represents false, and any other value

is equivalent to

true

.

button host An application that receives
buttons from other applications (button
providers).

button provider An application that adds a
button to another application (the button host).

callback spec A frame passed as an argument
to an endpoint method. The callback spec frame
contains slots that control how the endpoint
method executes, along with a completion
method that is called when the endpoint
operation completes. See also
output spec.

card Short for a PCMCIA card. Also, a view
of information about an entry in the Names
soup, formatted as a business card.

child A frame that references another
frame (its parent) from a

_parent

slot. With

regard to views, a child view is enclosed by
its parent view.

class A symbol that describes the data
referenced by an object. Arrays, frames, and
binary objects can have user-defined classes.

constant A value that does not change. In
NewtonScript the value of the constant is
substituted wherever the constant is used in code.