WHAT EXACTLY IS NEURON ANYWAY?
Neuron is nothing more than the ToolBook Runtime with the extra ability to show itself within a Browser window.
CAN NEURON DO EVERYTHING TOOLBOOK RUNTIME CAN?
For the most part you will find that Neuron will behave just like you would expect ToolBook to. However, the process of making ToolBook run inside the confines of a browser window has a few side effects.
For example, to make the ToolBook window run inside the Browser window, ToolBook's main window has to become a child window of the Browser. This means it is not possible to have a menubar on your application deployed through Neuron. Also the "normal" techniques for making a book full screen do not work in Neuron, however there are alternatives.
Neuron has three modes: Secure, Non-Secure, and Ask. By default Neuron 7.0 and earlier installs in Secure Mode. This is similar to the browsers security settings, but since Neuron is a Plug-in, Neuron needs its own settings. NOTE: Due to the limitations imposed by secure mode, as of Neuron 7.1 the default is now Non-Secure Mode.
Secure Mode is essentially a way for the user [not the programmer] to prevent potentially harmful ToolBook applications from being loaded.
Your Neuron Help file will outline exactly what is not permitted in Secure mode but I will summarize what features are not accessible in Secure mode:
LinkDLL, LinkDLL32, openFile, closeFile, createFile, writeFile, export, save as, save changes, export, export resource, DDE, RUN, memory access functions, OLE, Mail, VBX, and the linking of system books that utilize any of the above.
It would be very difficult to build a full featured application and have it run in Secure Mode. You would have to forego hyperlinking, path animation, and the use of the question objects in the catalog, all of which require loading of system books as well as various DLL linking.
WHEN I INSTALL NEURON, WHAT REALLY GETS INSTALLED?
When you install Neuron, the installer will install the ToolBook Runtime components in the TBSYSTEM folder on your computer.
This engine is the same Runtime engine that gets installed when you install Assistant or Instructor.
In addition, depending on which browsers were detected during the installation, these two files may be installed.
NEURON.OCX
This is an ActiveX control that acts as a bridge between Internet Explorer and ToolBook. You can find this file in the Windows/System32 (or possibly System) folder.
NP32NEUR.DLL
This is a Netscape Plug-in that acts as a bridge between Netscape and ToolBook. You can find this file in the Netscape Plugins folder.
HOW DO I ACCESS MY TOOLBOOK FILE FROM MY BROWSER?
There are two ways to access your ToolBook file from your browser.
1. Navigate directly to the .TBK file.
When you navigate to a .TBK file on a Web Server, the browser will try and find an application on the user's computer that knows what to do with this .TBK file.
In the event that ToolBook [not Neuron] is installed on the user's computer, then the browser will prompt to either SAVE the .TBK file or Open it. Choosing Open will launch the .TBK file in ToolBook (not Neuron).
In the event that Neuron [and possibly ToolBook] is installed on the user's computer, then the browser will attempt to launch the Neuron Plugin based on the following logic.
IF NETSCAPE IS THE BROWSER BEING USED:
Netscape will only use the Neuron Plugin if the Web Server has been configured to identify all .TBK files with a MIME type of application/toolbook. Ask your Web Server administrator to configure this for you.
The Browser knows of the existence of the Neuron Plugin because when the browser is launched, it scans the contents of the Plugin folder in the Netscape directory and the Netscape Neuron Plugin is located in this plugin directory.
Note: If you are testing your .TBK files from your local hard drive (not a web server) then how does Neuron know to load without a MIME type being provided from the Web Server?
This works because the following setting is configured during the install of Neuron in the windows registry:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tbk Content Type = application/toolbook
This 'trick' essentially tells the browser that the .TBK file you are using locally, is a MIME type of application/toolbook, which is needed to make Neuron start up.
IF INTERNET EXPLORER IS THE BROWSER BEING USED:
Internet Explorer does not require the use of a MIME type setting on the Web Server. It locates the Neuron Plugin by an alternate method, looking up the .TBK extension in the Windows Registry:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tbk
This registry key points us to the TBKFILE entry:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\tbkfile\CLSID
This registry key points us to the following value:
{F4818F4C-BEC5-11CF-83AD-00A0242FBEA6}
You will find this value referenced by this key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\
Looking up the subkey of INPROCSERVER32 will in-turn point to the actual NEURON.OCX ActiveX control which acts as the plugin for Internet Explorer.
2. Navigate to an HTML file that contains instructions to load your .TBK file.
This second method is more work, but also gives you more control. There are several aspects that you may want to control like:
• Offering to download the Neuron Plug-in if not present.
• The ability to show your file as a component of an HTML page.This second method is done by using some sample HTML code from the Neuron Help file.
In the Contents TAB of the Help File, expand "Tips for HTML and ToolBook authors" and then double-click on "An example HTML file"
CAN NEURON READ/ACCESS FILES FROM A WEB SERVER?
ToolBook has always been able to read data from your Hard Drive, but with Neuron, it is apparent that another ability must be added to this list - thus Neuron does have the added ability to be able to access files from a Web Server.
This ability does have its limits however. Neuron can access the following types of files directly off of a Web Server:
- Clips
- System Books
- DLLs
- Other ToolBook files
When you access these 'supported' types of files, you don't have to do anything special to reference the Web Server's location. Neuron will automatically check for these files locally first, and if not found, also checks the Web Server [in the same location of the .TBK file currently running] for your requested file.
For example: linkDLL "file123.dll"
Since my sample DLL [file123.dll] contains no pathing reference, Neuron will search locally for the DLL first and then check the Web Server for the dll.
If you need the ability to access other types of files, such as a raw text file, you must use ToolBook's FTP commands to move the file to a local destination. Once local, you can access the file just like any other local file.
CAN NEURON WRITE/MODIFY FILES ON A WEB SERVER?
Neuron does not have any special abilities to allow you to write data back to a web server. ToolBook 8 introduced the ability to perform a POST action permitting Neuron to send and receive data from a .ASP page.
If you need the ability to place files on web server, you must use ToolBook's FTP commands to do so.
If you need to modify a file that exists on the web server, first download it to the local computer, modify it, and then upload it back to the web server...all using ToolBook's FTP commands.
CAN NEURON ACCESS A PARADOX OR DBASE DATABASE ON A WEB SERVER?
Paradox and dBase are the two supported database file formats that ToolBook can natively access. However, Neuron does not have the ability to read/write data from a database located on your web server.
To access this database information, the database would have to be FTP'd to the local computer, and then read from there. You can even update the database and then FTP it back to the web server if you like.