Roy Ratcliffe

Sorry for the lack of progress lately. I’ve been quite busy. And so haven’t found too much time for developing the next version of Watchtower Library for Mac.

I’ve been working mainly on the Asian input-method problem. Problem understates the issue: there is no Asian input. Poor users wanting to enter Chinese, Japanese or Korean search terms have to enter the text in a text editor then copy-and-paste the text into the box. That just is not good.

Unfortunately, the solution is not readily forthcoming. Wine depends on X11. X11 and Mac do not play nicely when it comes to the Apple Input Method interface. This is my work in progress.

There are other things to work on: printing and other language translations. Sander Wessel has kindly offered to do a Dutch translation. That adds another useful language. Please let me know if you want to customise the app for your own language.

Is there anything else that you can think of? I’ve been looking at the websites. A forum would be handy. I’m currently moving my sites over to Heroku and the cloud. So I hope they will become a little more ‘available’ and reliable.

Thanks to Tony Balaski of Toronto, a curious issue relating to X11 has come to light. X11User.pkg (i.e. X11 user package) may be missing on some Snow Leopard machines! This may apply, in particular, to machines upgraded to Snow Leopard.

The problem

You might find that although you think you have X11 installed, some Snow Leopard machines may not have X11 correctly or entirely installed.

This creates a small dilemma. Xquartz does not have a version compatible with Snow Leopard yet. If you try to install version 2.3.3.2, the closest version to the Apple version, the installer complains about OS version and will exit. And on top of that, Apple do not provide a link to Snow Leopard’s X11User.pkg on their website—or at least I haven’t been able to find one.

The solution

Locate and insert your Snow Leopard installation DVD. Select Optional Installs then check X11. This installs X11User.pkg containing the necessary X11 components for OS X 10.6.

Emergency

If you’re having problems, can’t find the installation DVD, please feel free to contact me via iChat at royratcliffe (AIM account) or royratcliffe@jabber.org (Jabber acount).

Since September 2009, the website has seen Watchtower Library for Mac downloaded 7,747 times. I’ve been thinking about what this means.

There are a number of explanations. One might be that there is only one person using the software, and he or she has clicked download 7,747 times just for fun. That is possible, but not likely! Strangely, by the way, the download counter for version 1.2 keeps ticking upward, even though a more recent version of the app (1.3) became available in mid-December.

I originally estimated only 700 Mac-using brothers and sisters based on a finger-in-the-air ratio of 1-in-1000 brothers using computers together with an assumption about Apple’s 1-in-10 share of the OS market. See Vision Statement. These assumptions were wrong on two counts.

First, there must be more than 1-in-1000 brothers and sisters using computers. Our own congregation in Lancaster ordered 26 Watchtower Libraries, 2009 edition. Out of 76 publishers, that gives a ratio of 34.2% or just over a third, 1-in-3. Can we assume that this ratio holds worldwide? Probably not. But without other data, let’s make an assumption that much less than half of that say 10% have a computer.

Second likely-wrong assumption: that the 10% Apple share holds for Witnesses. Reality is likely to be a smaller share, I guess, because most might opt for Windows-based machines because they want to use the library in its native environment. Hence brothers will have all the other reasons for choosing Windows shared with non-Witnesses, plus one more special reason. So the Mac-to-PC ratio might be more like 5% in favour of Microsoft rather than 10%. Let’s assume this is true for argument’s sake.

If 1-in-10 Witnesses use computers then there are about 7.3 million times 10% giving 730,000 “theocratic” computers of one kind or another. If 5% of those run OS X, then there should be about 36,500 Mac-using Witnesses world-wide. Could that be true, I wonder? Somehow I doubt it based on the circa 8,000 downloads. At least one of the ratios must be much smaller than estimated. But if so, which: the theocratic computer ratio, or the Apple ratio, or both? Else, perhaps the remainder use CrossOver, VMware or Parallels!

Quite a few brothers and sisters have been experiencing somewhat mysterious problems. These include, but not limited to,

• The Setup.exe installer program taking a very long time to complete before finally spitting out code-like messages!
• Messages from the library itself saying, either
  • “Watchtower Library has experienced a problem and cannot continue,” or
  • “The program WTLibrary.exe has encountered a serious problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience!”
• Crashing when you try to view the Good Land brochure!

What to do

If you experience installation problems or even post-installation issues, please try someone else’s CD-ROM, i.e. someone who has successfully installed the library.

Sometimes the combination of one particular CD-ROM and one particular DVD or CD drive gives rise to unusual errors. So you might also try creating a Disk Image on another machine (for personal use only of course). Then use the image with the machine that you’re having troubles with.

A kind brother tactfully brought something to my attention this afternoon. Watchtower Library for Mac installer uses the official library splash screen. Never thought about this before, but it makes it look official, which of course it isn’t! Didn’t think about that, funnily enough. Silly me. London branch wisely advise discretion.

So here’s the plan: change it! Big question is, What to?

Suggestions

What should the installer display?

1. A picture of a library?
2. My smiling face? (No!)
3. Nothing?
4. Any other ideas?

Mockup

Here’s a quick mockup using the old Watchtower library for Mac icon; originally built using a 3D render of books skinned with textures from photos of actual books from our library. But is this overstepping legal requirements too? I wonder.

Feedback very welcome

Please post any comments or feedback below.

Better still, if you are a talented artist please feel free to post me a design for inclusion in the next version (probably 1.3.1). Of course, all the usual caveats apply: no Watchtower or open-Bible symbols; it should keep clear of infringing the society’s legal requirements and those of others too. Please refer to Kingdom Ministry April 2009, p. 4 Question box.

Here are some notes about installing the new 2009 edition of Watchtower Library with the new version of Watchtower Library for Mac 1.3.

Be patient

It takes a little time to install. If it looks like it’s doing nothing, please wait. It will eventually complete the installation successfully. The progress bar sits still for a while. It only looks like it’s hung. The whole process takes about five minutes on a MacBook.

The right order

Note, you cannot run Setup.exe off the CD-ROM and run a library at the same time! This makes sense. The installer will make changes to the software. Hence you need to close down libraries before installing new ones.

Explicitly, the install order should proceed as follows.

1. Run Watchtower Library for Mac without the new CD-ROM in the tray;
2. close any open library editions;
3. insert the new CD-ROM.

If you have the CD-ROM in the tray before running Watchtower Library for Mac, the app will notice the CD-ROM and automatically run Setup.exe. It tries to be helpful! But in this case, if your Watchtower Library for Mac auto-launches libraries, it tries to run set-up and existing libraries at the same time at launch time. Is this making sense? In that case, close the warning message, close the running libraries then manually launch Setup.exe by dragging it to the Watchtower Library for Mac dock icon.

Uninstalling the old version

The easiest way is to insert the 2008 CD-ROM. Again, you need to shut down any running libraries first. The installer will find the version already installed and ask if you want to uninstall.

Will I loose my Research Favourites?

No.

Yet another version 1.2.5. But this time it works on Leopard 10.5.8, at long last.

Latest Leopard

Note that you likely need to upgrade your Leopard box to at least 10.5.7. This happens automatically via Apple’s Software Update tool. Hence I’ll assume that all the Leopard users have 10.5.7 or 10.5.8 installed.

The problem was persisting

I got close with 1.2.4 but not close enough. Some of the DLL files for Wine still throw up the mysterious “unknown required load command 0×80000022” error when you launch the app. You can find this message in the Console log.

However, with help from Derrick Workman of Colorado, we’ve managed to narrow it down further. Now there is a version which does in fact run properly on Leopard 10.5. Please try it out. Please let me know if you have any problems.

Default X11 with Leopard works fine

One thing I noticed during testing: You can run with Leopard’s standard X11. You do not need to install XQuartz at all. If you install the standard X11 and let Software Update upgrade the X11 software to its latest version (actually XQuartz 2.1.6 with xorg-server version 1.4.2-apple33) all is well. Useful to know.

UPDATE! Please use later version 1.2.5.

Since upgrading my build machine to Snow Leopard 10.6, quite a few users have reported crashing issues when running on Leopard. Version 1.2 of Watchtower Library for Mac was compiled on a Leopard machine, but later versions on Snow Leopard (starting at version 1.2.1).

I started working on improvements for Greek keyboard support and limitations on number of library editions running at once. I managed to fix both problems, but along the way introduced a new one.

Apologies

It was a mistake with my compile tools options for Wine and its dependencies when running on 10.6. Sorry!

Geek moment: Skip this boring bit, if you don’t want the unnecessary details. The problem I found was with the linker options. LDFLAGS (loader flags) passed to GNU auto-tools needed to include the SDK specification, i.e.

• -isysroot /Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.5
• -mmacosx-version-min=10.5

Without these in LDFLAGS, only in CFLAGS, the make tools compile for 10.5 but link against 10.6, the default. Result? Launch failure.

Try out version 1.2.4

Please try out this latest version. I’m really interested in hearing from users running on Leopard especially. Does it run without issue? You can find the download in the usual Files location, or direct link here.

Embedded framework

Along the way, I’ve embedded the framework within the app. Hence you no longer need to install a framework. All the Unix bits and pieces live in a fully relocatable way within the app bundle. Delete the app, you delete the framework too. This simplifies the installation procedure and obviates any version mismatch problems.

If it works out, I’ll bump 1.2.4 to version 1.3 and do another Disk Image.

I met up with Jens Isoaho in northern Sweden (Finnish congregation) via iChat this morning. Thanks for your kind assistance Jens!

He’s running on Leopard 10.5 with the same problems as many have been seeing. The app crashes with a report about “unknown required load command 0×80000022”. It’s looking like a developer tools issue. I build Watchtower Library for Mac using the latest developer tools from Apple on a Snow Leopard box. Despite compiling the software against 10.5 SDK, there is something going awry.

Until I figure out where exactly the problem lies and how to fix it, Jens and I have found out the following steps to put you back on track.

Solution for Leopard 10.5 users

So here’s a fix until I iron out the incompatibilities. Run version 1.2; this version was built on Leopard.

Delete the old framework first

Navigate in Finder to /Library/Frameworks and delete the folder called Watchtower.framework. Drag it to Trash.

(The framework package does not downgrade. This won’t be an issue in future versions since the framework embeds within the app bundle.)

Download and install version 1.2

Download here if you do not already have 1.2. Install the framework, having deleted the old first in the previous step. Drag the app to Applications. It should now launch and run normally.

Assumptions

I assume that these problems effect 10.5 users only, but is my assumption correct? Has anyone seen crashing issues on 10.6?

I’m on the lookout for tester for version 1.2.3. Ideally, someone who knows their way around Leopard or Snow Leopard, someone who doesn’t mind reporting bugs and fiddling. 

Version 1.2.3 includes

Two important updates, as follows. 

• Fix for limitation on number of running libraries. 
• Single monolithic app bundle; you no longer need a separate framework package. 

The first item will fix Helge’s problem. He wants to run three different libraries at the same time. The second item should simplify the installation for all users: no more external framework dependency. The app embeds the framework.

Where to download

The usual place. It’s just a zip file at the moment. No fancy disk image. Just unzip and run. Nothing else required. 

Some have been having a little problem installing Watchtower Library for Mac. The message appearing in the Console message log concerns “not finding an image” in libwine. This sounds like the Watchtower Framework has not been installed. Installation has two phases: first the framework, second the application.

So I did an experiment. I downgraded my laptop to 10.5, erasing any previous hard disk contents. So I then had a plain old Leopard 10.5 machine, no upgrades, just what the installation disk provides. Then I downloaded the disk image. It automatically download and displayed, to my surprise, its contents as follows.

The background image does not display. The background should explain the two-step instructions. Also, the icons do not have the correct size and position. It’s as if Disk Images (dmg files) created by Snow Leopard do not display correctly on the older version of OS X.

After some fiddling, I can confirm this is true. So I created a new disk image for version 1.2.2 on the Leopard machine and tried opening this on Snow Leopard—no problem at all. So it seems that 10.6 lacks some backward compatibility in the disk-image creation area!

Could this be the problem that some have been having? If so, try downloading the new Leopard-built disk image and following the installation instructions. Make sure the Watchtower Framework has been installed before launching the application. It cannot run without it.

Order is a good thing (1 Co 14:33).

Rachel and I have been talking recently about how users can find instructions and help for installing Watchtower Library on their Macs.

Rachel felt that if she was confronted by the weblog-style information at www.royratcliffe.me.uk, she would easily become confused and overwhelmed. Some of the pages carry more than 50 comments. Would a user want to wade through all that before finding the help they need? Simple answer is no. Hence, similar questions often reoccur; posting to the bottom is easier than reading through volumes of other questions and answers.

So we’ve been working on a special new corner of the site at wtlib4mac.royratcliffe.me.uk dedicated to simple straightforward help. It includes questions and answers in places easy to find, search facility, video walkthroughs, etc. Currently it is a work-in-progress. Still, your feedback is welcome.

My appologies to those who have downloaded the previous version (1.2.1). I made a silly mistake. The Watchtower.framework build for version 1.2.1 does not have the native Copy patch. This means that those who have Greek keyboard support working will also find that unfortunately Ctrl+C does not work.

New version 1.2.2 includes the native clipboard patch. My bad. I’m not quite sure how I managed to miss that. I was upgrading Wine versions for the new release and somehow managed to skip the Copy patch. Guess my subtitle is coming true: Sorry for the inconvenience! There have only been 118 downloads thus far for that versions, so hopefully not too much inconvenience created.

How to upgrade

Download, install the new framework (1.1.31) and drop the new app into Applications.

For the Greek-speaking Mac-using brothers and sisters, those who need the Greek keyboard fixing, I’ve released version 1.2.1 (build 257a515a)!

You can download the package by clicking the image above, or from the usual place. You only need to install the Watchtower Framework and application—versions 1.1.30 and 1.2.1 respectively.

Please let me know if this version fixes the keyboard for Greek users. As far as I can test on my machine, it works. You can now enter all the Greek letters: pi, lambda, mu, etc.

Localisation

At present there is no localisation for Greek. If anyone wants to localise the application please let me know.

If you are not a Greek user

Please do not upgrade to version 1.2.1 yet! Stick with version 1.2 until the later version has been thoroughly checked out. I want to make sure that other keyboards still work, as well as the Greek!

Just a quick note from Tracy Faulk regarding a possible conflict with CrossOver. He writes:

If users have CrossOver version 7.1.0 or older they will need to upgrade to a newer version. If they install X11 with an older version of CrossOver the application will open and then immediately close. The CrossOver support team notes,

“XQuartz 2.3.3.2 changed a component (quartz-wm) on which CrossOver relies such that it doesn’t work. We released CrossOver 7.1.2 back in May to address this incompatibility. Of course, we’ve also released CrossOver 8 since then, too.”

I installed the latest version of CrossOver (8.0) and your latest package on the same machine with no conflicts or problems. However, as noted, if a user has version 7.1.0 or older there will be a conflict—not with your package, but rather with X11.

How to resolve the conflict

I’d suggest installing X11 on Leopard 10.5 machines and also upgrading your CrossOver (free download for registered users with a valid serial number) plus you don’t need to re-install any CrossOver apps you may be running. I have your package of Watchtower Library for Mac and the CrossOver installation of Watchtower library running side by side with no problems (on Leopard 10.5) after I upgraded the CrossOver version.

Thanks and hope this helps!

That is the question!

Brother Faulk has asked another very good question! At X11 2.4.0 under heading Mac OS-X Updates, the XQuartz project writes,

You will need to re-install this package after future OS, and Security Updates delivered through Apple’s Software Update. Additionally, you should reinstall this package after installing XCode.

What the XQuartz folk are saying here is that Apple’s updates will overwrite XQuartz. So users will need to reinstall the XQuartz software distribution in order to get back to XQuartz.

Why two distributions?

The fundamental difficultly here is that two sets of developers (Apple and XQuartz) bundle and distribute X11 for Mac, despite it being one-and-the-same piece of software. Apple bundles their version, XQuartz provide their version.

Which to choose, Apple or XQuartz?

Since the goal is minimal hassle for most users, I recommend sticking with Apple, since you can entirely ignore the X11 question if you have upgraded to Snow Leopard—it includes X11, and Apple will doubtless post upgrades in the normal way as and when. Users can therefore remain blissfully unaware of X11. That would be ideal.

So if on Snow Leopard, ignore X11!

When should you install XQuartz?

There is only one scenario that comes to mind: you are running Leopard 10.5 (no Snow)! In this case you should install X11 2.3.3.2 since this version most closely matches the Snow Leopard version. Thereafter, you need not worry about re-installing because Leopard does not bundle X11 automatically.

Brother Faulk has asked some very good questions. The answers should help existing users. So I’ve given them a page of their own to make them clear and easy to find. My answers have two forms: the quick version first, followed by the long version if you care about the details.

Will the user need to uninstall the old Watchtower Library for Mac?

No.

The new Watchtower Framework replaces the old one. The new application replaces the old one too. The framework lives at /Library/Frameworks/Watchtower.framework; the new framework overwrites at this location on your Macintosh system hard drive. The new application overwrites the old at /Applications. Though, in fact, you can store the application anywhere and have multiple versions if you really want to, but I don’t recommend that.

Will users need the official Watchtower library disks when upgrading?

No.

Once installed, you do not need to reinstall libraries when upgrading. The new software will update and reuse any libraries already installed. Individual libraries install under Library/Application Support/Watchtower Library relative to the user’s home directory. Upgrading does not delete this. Your libraries, research favourites and other settings remain!

What order should users install X11?

Any order.

X11 installation only applies to Leopard 10.5!

Provided you do not launch the application, order does not matter. Please make sure you are not running the application when installing however.

Does Watchtower Library for Mac conflict with CrossOver?

No.

You can run both, even at the same time! No conflicts. Both Watchtower Library for Mac and CrossOver essentially work the same way. Both rely on Wine and X11. However, exactly how they get there differs. Watchtower Library for Mac uses standard X11 as used by Apple; puts the fixed-location Unix-based Wine software in a framework at /Library/Frameworks and places the floating application code in a standard Mac application bundle. The virtual Windows sub-system lives under Application Support. This layout entirely avoids clashing with CrossOver (by design).

What if the library set-up program fails to launch automatically?

Instead, drag Setup.exe to the dock icon.

Open the CD-ROM directory. You will see an executable file called Setup.exe. Drag this to Watchtower Library for Mac’s icon on the dock. This is the manual way to launch programs. Automatic launching relies on seeing a genuine CD, not a copy!

Any problems running on Snow Leopard, or Leopard?

No.

The software runs on Snow Leopard and Leopard, OS X versions 10.5 and 10.6! But not 10.4 (Tiger). The software build machine runs Snow Leopard, building against the 10.5 development kit. That means you need 10.5 at least.

If you are running on Tiger (10.4) on an Intel-based machine, I recommend upgrading your operating system. If running on a PowerPC-based machine, unfortunately there is currently no working solution to running Watchtower library programs on your Mac because you need a processor chip compatible with Windows machines, the old Intel386. PowerPC processors have hardware incompatibility with Intel processors and have no software readily available to emulate a 386.

Conclusion

I hope that answers some of the important questions when upgrading. Please feel free to post more questions below. I’ll do my best to answer them.

The latest version of OS X, 10.6, ships with X11 as standard. Previous versions included X11 as an add-on, an old X11 release at that. But no more. This is good news.

What does this mean?

Watchtower Library for Mac no longer needs to include X11. If you have upgraded to Snow Leopard already, you only need the Watchtower framework and Watchtower Library application. Don’t download or install X11; you already have it!

What about Leopard?

The framework and app support 10.5 and 10.6, with Snow and without! Handles both.

Packaging is the only concern. Future Watchtower Library for Mac packages will not include X11. That way, Leopard users can download and install a suitable or preferred X11 release at XQuartz downloads while Snow Leopard users can just forget about X11 altogether. Better not to upgrade an operating systems shipped software, unless you really need to. In Snow Leopard’s case, no need.

I’m working on the download package for version 1.2 at present.

Dear testers, could you give the latest version a spin on your systems? It’s version 1.2 final barring any unforeseen problems. I’d appreciate your feedback, positive or negative.

This new version was built on Snow Leopard but compiled for plain Leopard. Rachel and I have tested it on both versions. So far so good. But it would help to get more testing done on a wider range of computers before building the all-in-one installer for general use.

Download these two files: application and framework. Install the framework package (1.1.22) then run the app. You should find that Copy, Paste and Extract from Clipboard work all the time!

Jonatã’s icon

If you would like to try out the new version but with Jonatã Bolzan’s icon, use the following link instead and offer some feedback if you like: app v1.2 with Jonatã’s icon and sheared process counter. Please post feedback here.

Sorry about the pain with Copy-and-Paste.

I’d like to provide you with a just one simple straightforward work-around, but from the feedback and my own experience, it appears that there isn’t just the one! However, all fixes do involve twiddling with the Pasteboard Preferences.

Under Preferences (Cmd+, shortcut) you’ll find the Pasteboard tab. It has five options. The settings outlined below should give you a working Copy and Paste on the Mac! But bear in mind if you use keyboard shortcuts, use Control+C for copy, Command+V for paste!

• Enable syncing — ON
• Update Pasteboard when CLIPBOARD changes — ON
• Update CLIPBOARD when Pasteboard changes — ON
• Update PRIMARY (middle-click) when Pasteboard changes — OFF
• Update Pasteboard immediately when new text is selected — OFF

Notice the X11 protocol caveat at the bottom of the preference panel! It “may not work in some applications.” This X11-protocol issue means that sometimes, just the act of changing an option flips the syncing behaviour; it snags up. Sometimes just toggling Enable syncing re-starts the sync and everything works again.

Currently I’m working on the ultimate fix: removing the X11 protocol between Wine and Mac; removing the middle man will obviate syncing altogether making one reliable connection between the official Watchtower program and the Mac pasteboard. Copy-and-Paste blues, rest in peace! Work in progress.

Another very talented brother, Jonatã Bolzan from Brazil, has designed some alternative icons for Watchtower Library for Mac. Please see below.

What can you say? It’s beautiful! No doubt about that.

The feedback question

The main catch concerns the issue I mentioned for Pepe’s icon: that of feedback. At present, the application offers some limited feedback by displaying the number of active user processes currently running within the virtual Windows system using a counter at bottom left.

This may not be the best way to display feedback. Only, if not, then what? There should be some kind of feedback. Feedback is an important User Interface principle, along with affordance and visibility. Launching the Watchtower library programs can take some time and deserves some kind of user feedback.

Any ideas? Any other thoughts? All welcome.

Take care not to rename the Mac application. It should be called “Watchtower Library” but the operating system lets you rename this to something else, anything else.

This creates a problem (or a feature depending on your point of view) when running the application. The app takes its name from the name given to it, and looks for official Watchtower library programs under Library/Application Support according to the given name. Hence normally, it looks for installed libraries under

Library/Application Support/Watchtower Library

(relative to your home directory)

But if you change the name, the last sub-folder changes too!

Your installed programs will disappear when upgrading, if you change the app’s name. Replacing the old app is the best remedy.

If everything goes well with the latest beta (1.2 beta2) this release will become the final 1.2, albeit with a change in version number but nothing more.

However, one important thing to check: the Mac integration features, and especially when running in a non-English system. Some have reported that the Reveal Research Favourites option does not work. This option makes use of localisation so if not correctly localised, the option will not find an existing folder. Could everyone check that this option works for them, especially if non-English speaking. I’ve checked the English and the Mandarin (by which I mean Chinese Simplified, for those who know the subtlety) and no problems.

I’m wondering if actually the various international version of the library always use the English folder structure. Hence research favourites can always be found under C:\users\user name\Application Data\Watchtower\Research Favorites regardless of language. If that is the case, then these folder names need to be non-localised.

Is everyone subscribed to the RSS feeds available at this site, and at the project development site if interested?

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” meaning you can conveniently and quickly keep up-to-date with everything going on here. Whenever someone posts something, whether it’s an article, a comment, a bug or whatever, you can automatically receive a notification and read what has happened.

You only need to subscribe to the feed. In practise, this only means you need to add the feed address to your browser; Safari checks bookmarked feeds for you, or you can use a purpose-built news feed reader like NetNewsWire.

Whatever tool you choose, the feeds are here for easy reference.

• Everything to do with Watchtower Library for Mac posted at this blog
• Everyone’s comment posted in reply

If you want to follow the development effort, here is the project feed for everything going on at the Watchtower Library project.

• Watchtower Library for Mac development activity

Hope these links prove useful and convenient for you keeping up-to-date. Just click the links and bookmark them, or drag them to your feed reader.

The final beta application is ready at last. Took a little longer than I anticipated. Lots to do, little time to do it in. Sorry about the delay.

You can download it at the usual place here. Note this is a patch upgrade only. In other words you need to be already running the Watchtower framework 1.1.21! It will not work for you if you currently run just plain version 1.1 of the WTLIB Package for Mac. I’m aiming this pre-release at the canny folk who care for testing. Please forgive my cautious approach; I don’t want to unleash bugs on poor unsuspecting users, if it can be helped!

I want to check (1) it still works for you; (2) localisations are up-to-date; (3) the copy-and-paste issue is settled at last and with Rich Text format too. If you could give it a spin, I’d be very grateful for your feedback, whether positive or negative.

How to install, clarification

Just to make it clear about installation: if you aren’t yet running any version of Watchtower Library for Mac, download and install in order:

1. XQuartz 2.3.3.2 at X11-2.3.3.2.dmg
2. Watchtower framework v1.1.21 (unzip then double click to install)
3. Watchtower Library for Mac application v1.2 (unzip then drag to Applications folder)

If running plain old WTLIB Package for Mac v1.1 (the last full release) download and install items 1, 2 and 3, in that general order. If you have already upgraded to beta1 because you like living on the edge, download XQuartz and the app (items 1 and 3). Install X11 2.3.3.2 and drag the app to your Applications folder.

Always make sure you aren’t running the app while trying to install!

Kind regards,
Roy

Watchtower Library for Mac lets you run “Watchtower library” on Apple computers, though only Intel-based Macs running the Leopard operating system. You do not require any additional software, not even Windows! You only need an official Watchtower library CD-ROM and a Mac.

First, Download the Installation Package

Clicking this link starts the download process. Your browser software will fetch the installation package from the Internet.

Second, Run the Installer

After downloading the package, double click it. This runs the installer. Follow the on-screen instructions. The installer will ask you for your password. It launches the application automatically when installation completes successfully.

Finally, Insert the Official CD-ROM

With the application running, insert an official CD-ROM. Wait patiently for the application to prepare a virtual Windows system. When ready, it will run the official installer. The standard Windows software then guides you through the normal set-up process. Install the entire library.

After the final step, the newly installed library starts automatically.

I’ve been considering how to improve the information found at this site and its sister site (I use the term non-theocratically) at projects. “Brain dump in chronological order” best describes the current layout. However, brain dump in any order does not necessarily lead to good organisation.

The goal? Provide the best user experience, where best equates to simple, quick and clutter free. If I was brother so-and-so who wants to install and run his shiny new library CD-ROM easily and quickly on his Mac, how would I feel about what to do next after finding this site’s home page by Googling? (Is that word a common verb now? Should I say googling or Googling? I’ll stick with proper!) My guess is that there may be some trepidation.

Based on the established HCI principles of affordance, feedback and visibility, the visitor should clearly see a link to the package for download. After downloading, it should be clear that package-installation requires a double-click on the package icon. Finally, the user needs to insert an official CD-ROM. Is all that clear enough? Perhaps, perhaps not! It depends, mostly on the amount of computer experience.

Maintaining clarity requires elimination of clutter. Does the site and the software remove unnecessary clutter? The site has three main sections thus far: Home, Watchtower Library and Good News. Home contains the home pages, of course. I’ve used these for the major releases, for presenting basic download information with links to the necessary files. Watchtower Library section contains at lot of unnecessary detail and discussion; if you only want to use the software however, do you care about the icon and its alternatives, how to eliminate font jaggies in older versions? Answer is no.

The new theme helps to underline the section divisions. But I still wonder how it can improve. If you have any comments on this subject, I’d appreciate your feedback.

Wine and XQuartz. Versions 1.1.21 and 2.3.3.2 respectively, at the latest 1.2 beta release!

These comprise Watchtower Library/Mac’s main components. Both are open source. You can download and compile them yourself. The source is “open” meaning you can view it, change it, use it, free of charge.

Servers

From a software architectural point of view, the Watchtower on Mac system integrates two servers.

Server in the abstract sense refers to a “role” not a machine or specific piece of hardware. WTLibrary.exe (the society’s library program) running on your Mac, acts as a “client.” Clients request services from servers. The library executable requests an array of Windows services from the embedded Wine server and Wine in turn requests graphics services from XQuartz.

In the strictest sense, Wine and XQuartz simultaneously play the role of server and “client” since they request services from the host OS X software.

In a nutshell, it’s a graphical windows system that makes your Mac work like Microsoft Windows for the purpose of running official Watchtower library programs. You therefore don’t need Microsoft Windows to run Watchtower library programs on your Apple computer.

Technically, if you want the nitty gritty, it combines a Windows-compatible kernel and X11 server processes under one hood. CrossOver from CodeWeavers does the same thing. They are very similar. Watchtower Library/Mac is tailored specifically for running Watchtower libraries. That’s the difference. It integrates Favourites with the operating system for example, so you can click favourites from within Finder.

Perhaps Watchtower Library for Mac is badly named. The name describes the simple goal. But the application itself can do much more. For instance, you can also use it to run other software normally found on Windows. Version 1.2 (beta) supports e-Sword. You can run both tools together under Watchtower Library for Mac.

The name is too long, for another thing. Watchtower Library/Mac or WLM would shorten the wordage. But these aren’t very pithy. The app is for Mac OS X to be precise. So WT/X pronounced Watchtower-X might do the trick. X-tower library, going too far perhaps. Distinguishing between Watchtower Library for Mac and the real Watchtower Library is important yet difficult. The former is merely a framework for running the latter under OS X. Maybe it should be Watchtower Framework for Mac? The framework, the library.

Hope I’m making sense; thinking out loud.

I’ve been thinking! See Project Proposal.

Feedback welcome.

I originally posted the following as a comment, but since decided that the matter deserves its own posting.

I’ve been spending most of my time recently on this project dealing with the somewhat-irritating Copy and Paste problem. It’s not a straightforward issue.

Here’s the fundamental source of trouble: the Watchtower Library (the WTLibrary.exe Windows program, I mean) interacts with the Windows clipboard. However, since Windows is really Wine, this interaction becomes X11 clipboard. WTLibrary.exe manipulates the X11 clipboard in fact. However, since Mac’s aren’t X11 platforms, the Xquartz software translates this to Mac pasteboard calls. It goes through two layers therefore before text hits the Mac pasteboard. Xquartz runs a separate pbproxy thread for handling the synchronisation between X and Mac. You can control this synchronisation using the options under Pasteboard in Preferences.

My experiments have attempted to bypass these machinations by posting WM_COPY messages to the focus window. Watchtower Library for Mac is both the Wine server and the X11 server at the same time. Multiple threads running under the same process. So sending Windows messages is relatively convenient, albeit with some caution for thread safety. Catch is that the society’s WndProc code does not respond to WM_COPY by copying! The “MEPS Canvas” window class ignores these messages, instead relying on toolbar messages. To workaround this, I’ve been researching use of the Windows accelerator mechanism to force a Copy as if the user selected this from the menu.

I’m sure you don’t want to know all this. Getting to the point, the simplest solution is to remove Command+C shortcut and the Mac menu item for Copy’ing. That would leave only the Windows menu and the Control+C shortcut. I think these latter methods work. Has anyone found that clicking the Windows menu fails? As far as I know, no! I’m assuming that’s still true for you and others; please correct me if I’m wrong.

Removing the Mac Copy item would avoid the confusion between Command or Control Copy. Ideally though, both should work. But if one of these fails to work reliably with WTLibrary.exe, the Mac-ish alternative just confuses.

For those who have problems, I wonder if you could provide some feedback. The Bug report is here but note that you’ll need to sign up as a bug reporter to add material. Questions are,

• Does Copying fail only when you copy using Cmd+C but not when you use the Ctrl+C or menu and toolbar methods?
• Does changing your pasteboard settings to this help or not?

Sorry that I’ve been a little quiet lately. Among other things, I’ve been working on integration issues. In particular, integration with Bible research software such as e-Sword. So far, so good.

Add-Ons… feature

You can find a new option on the application menu called Add-Ons… which opens a new configuration panel, as follows. Hopefully, the on-screen instruction will guide you through to running e-Sword from within Watchtower Library.

This is work-in-progress. If you have any ideas for improvements, I’ll be very happy to hear your comments. Please post below.

Where to download it

If you would like to try this new feature. Download this latest beta here at the usual place. You will need to download the application (1.2 beta1) and its associated framework (version 1.1.21).

Careful though. Do not try to upgrade the Watchtower framework without upgrading the Watchtower Library for Mac application. Beta 1 goes with Framework 1.1.21! Upgrade both.

You might wonder, why have two separate pieces? It’s my solution to the requirement that certain important software components designed for general Unix systems want to live in fixed locations on your hard drive. Where as native-Mac components can happily live anywhere.

Other changes

This latest version also includes other minor enhancements. For example, Graphite Tinting is now the default. You don’t need to use Registry Editor to fix up the mismatching colours.

Many thanks to a kind (and talented) brother from Sweden who has been working on a new icon. See what you think.

It has some advantages over the current one. It has the faux 3D effect. Looks nice at all the different scales. Gradients and shadows, good. I like the gold lettering.

Still, Rachel’s not too keen. It matters what she thinks (because I like her!) She has her reservations.

Truth is though, I can’t make my mind up. Help!

I have news!

Bethel replied with a kind and encouraging letter. They highlight two problems: the Watchtower symbol and the open Bible. In the kindest, nicest way they have asked for a change. Though they haven’t been prescriptive; I think in principle the icon needs to remove the crenellation and the open book.

So that’s what I intend to do for the next release. I think I should also jettison the Apple icon. Don’t want to tread on their toes either.

The theme: a library

What is the icon theme? No Watchtower, no open Bible.

It’s a library program. The icon only needs to express the idea of a collection of theocratic books.

Does it need a CD-ROM? Well, no because after installing, you no longer need the disk.

An idea

How does this look?

It’s an isometric 3-D projection of three books skinned as an NWT, an Index and an Insight volume. I’ve adjusted the lighting to produce a top-to-bottom left-to-right shading. Though I think the right-hand Insight book needs a few more lumens and perhaps the Insight’s shadow is a little too dark.

Feedback

Is this a good icon?

Using an Index puts the logo half in view behind the Bible. Does that cause a problem, I wonder? I might try swapping sides; Insight on left, Index on right.

Watchtower Library for Mac defaults to a sickly grey colour when painting Watchtower library’s menus and buttons. The actual colour is RGB triplet D4D0C8. It jars against OS X’s graphite tinting.

If you want to change the appearance of your Watchtower Library for Mac so that it harmonises with OS X, read on!

The fix

Download the following registry editor import. Run Registry Editor (Command+R) from within Watchtower Library for Mac. Select Registry > Import Registry File… from the menu. Pick the download file and click Open. There is no feedback.

Registry Editor updates the registry used by the embedded Windows programs, including Watchtower libraries you have installed. However the changes only take effect when you start a program. If you already have a library window open, close it and re-open. The changes will then take effect.

The result

Watchtower Library, English edition, now looks like this.

Now that looks a little more like it belongs on a Mac!

Future releases

Should these tints appear in future versions? I reckon so, but what do you think?

Version 1.1 is not very Spaces friendly! The version of XQuartz which it uses to connect the underlying Windows interface to the native Mac graphics interface does not play nicely with Spaces. It’s a buglet. There’s a ticket posted already.

Symptoms

If you move the Watchtower Library window to another Space, the tooltip window does not move along with it. Tooltips (the yellow pop-up boxes containing text) always remember the original Space.

Hence when you hover over a reference, the Mac desktop jumps back to the original Space. Looks odd. Is odd!

Work around!

Looks like work in this area has been postpone until Snow Leopard. Until XQuartz becomes Spaces aware, you can work around the problem simply by opening the Library window in the Space you want to use it in. Note, you do not need to close Watchtower Library for Mac entirely, just the specific Library window.

For instance, say you want the English library window in Space 4; close it by clicking the red cross button at the top-left corner of the window (Command+W as shortcut). Move to Space 4 then re-open the window either via the Applications menu or using Shift+Command+E. E for English.

Work continues albeit at a slower pace.

Sébastien Bérubé has kindly provided a French localisation. That’s techno-babble for making the menus and other user-interface components appear in French, or should I say Français, rather than English. Good for those who have French as their first language.

I’ve been working on application help too. At the moment, it’s just a stub waiting for the real thing. If you have any suggestions as to what to put in the help, please post below. I’m planning to provide some simple step-by-step installation instructions. Although it’s straightforward, the delays while installing can cause some trepidation. A little guide might help.

If you want the latest with French localisation, click here. It’s just the application. Unzip the download. It likely unzips automatically. Then drag the unzipped app to your Applications folder. Make sure you quit first if running.

(UPDATE: Please see new home, with latest version 1.3 as of January 2010)

At last!

Direct link to meta-package

Use this when installing Watchtower Library for Mac for the first time. It installs all the necessary dependencies in one go, including XQuartz.

The full package requires 256 MB of space on your computer’s hard drive.

Upgrading from previous versions

Don’t forget to quit the application before upgrading.

The all-in-one package takes time to download, 90 MB. It also consumes a sizeable chunk of my monthly bandwidth allowance too. Don’t let that worry you too much though. Only, upgrading is quicker for you and uses less bandwidth for me. I’ve upgraded to 50GB-per-month, so no more bandwidth concern!

The upgrade provides you with a Disk Image. Downloading opens the image, from where you can install the updated Watchtower framework. Do this first. Just double-click the Watchtower Framework package icon. Then finally drag the application icon to the Applications folder.

News flash! I phoned London Bethel once again this morning.

Why phone again?

Question remains: how different should the new icon be?

For instance, could a new icon be some other kind of watchtower, e.g. a 3D version of a watchtower, something that does not echo the flat 2D logo design but conveys a similar meaning. After all, the name of the application is “Watchtower Library!” Hard to escape that.

It would be a pity to pour a lot of effort into a new icon only to find that an alternative also fails to satisfy legal requirements; that is, to appropriately differentiate itself from an official association with the legal body of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, legal proprietors of the watchtower logo design.

Slightly different outcome second time around

I explained all this as best I could to the sister at reception, who directed me to another brother. A different one. Upshot is that he could not say one way or the other. Instead, he advised that I write a letter to the branch outlining the problem, showing what I have done already; explaining also my proposal to donate the work if the society desired.

Write a letter. Very reasonable!

Where are we then?

So, the status quo looks like this: I don’t have permission but neither am I denied.

Currently, the question is unanswered as to what might qualify as a fair iconic representation of what Watchtower Library for Mac does, without infringing on the Watchtower society’s legal rights which I deeply respect and am keen to avoid encroaching on.

What now?

My plan is to go ahead and release version 1.1 as it stands; then write the letter and take it from there. I think that’s the best way forward.

Thanks all

Thanks to all who’ve mailed good suggestions and offers of help. It may come to needing a change! Who can say what will be better than what the app already uses? Not unless all forms of watchtower-ness completely disappear.

Alex has kindly posted me a reasonable alternative which replaces the tower with a CD. Not bad looking at all. Only, it looses all association with watchtower. Perhaps that’s the way it must eventually be. But I hope not. My worst-case hope: some compromise exists between not overstepping the mark and retaining some visual representation of what the app does. Best case, the software becomes official!

Reality will doubtless fall somewhere in-between.

More on application icon design. I’ve been playing.

Can’t use the Watchtower logo. Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn… Brooklyn bridge has towers. How about Brooklyn bridge tower?

Would need more work. But no. Bad idea. Those arches look too church-like.

Right now, Watchtower Library for Mac only has the English language available for the Mac menus. That does not mean that you cannot load other languages. You can. Only the Mac’s main menu, Preference and Customisation panels all remain in English.

This is not so good if you cannot speak English; which in fact, translates to most of the world! Oh dear. I seem to recall Harry Cotton saying only about 300 million people speak English as their first language; mostly American English. That’s why I made the default English the American version of English. It’s more international and avoids the somewhat archaic British spellings. Most who learn English as their second language, e.g. Chinese students studying abroad, seem to learn the American version. Suits me too since most computer literature follows American spellings. I’ve been reading American most of my life, despite my rather broad northern British way of speaking! (I originally come from Bolton near Manchester; so perhaps you can imagine.) I digress.

It would be great if Watchtower Library for Mac contains localisation strings other than English. Hence, if your Mac is switched to French you see French; if Spanish, you see Spanish; you get the idea. Problem is (learning Mandarin though remaining linguistically challenged) I can’t do that alone.

Seb has kindly offered to translate to French for me. Any other volunteers? If you are willing and able please follow this link, download the localisation files and post me your local language translations. I’ll pop them into the next version with pleasure.

As far as I can tell, version 1.1 will be the only way to run Watchtower Library on Mac computers with truly complete functionality and without any hassle. Installation requires only a few clicks—just install a package, insert a CD-ROM!

Although not a native Mac port, it blends fairly well with OS X. True, the menu bar does not appear on the Mac menu bar! OS X puts application menus on top of the screen, not on top of the application window. Nevertheless, it’s as close as you might expect for a Window program running on OS X.

You get one application, one dock icon. The application blends XQuartz with Wine when the app runs. So no unnecessary X icon. You can still run X and X applications separately, no problem. The two do not interfere, even though they share the same software installation. Most users will not care about X.

It adds small but useful enhancements:

• Installation of multiple language editions with working synchronisation. Good for those involved in the multi-language field.
• Automatic or manual launch of selected languages.
• Access to Wine configuration, Windows registry and X preferences. Useful for customising and configuring for users’ individual requirements.
• Outstanding toolbar bugs fixed. Search panel works as it does in Windows. You see all the buttons and boxes. They all work.
• Activate the favourites from outside the Watchtower Library by clicking the favourite links from within Finder. You can organise your favourites with Finder. A menu item opens the favourites folder in Finder for you. No digging around!

Of course, output features such as printing and copy-and-paste also work. There’s only one small cloud to mar the silver lining: Chinese-Japanese-Korean font mapping will require a tweak to the registry.

Final step. The app needs an icon! Any budding artists out there?

What do you think of the icon? Is it suitable?

Does it respect Watchtower copyrights? You could fairly argue, it makes the software look official, from the society, which it isn’t although perhaps it should and could be. At present however, not!

In view of the April 2009 Kingdom Ministry, p. 4 Question Box, should the icon change? The question box refers to “personal objects, and so forth.” Does the Watchtower Library for Mac icon qualify as so forth? My conscience is saying yes. After all, I have no legal affiliation with the organisation, as such. So unless I seek to obtain and receive permission, perhaps it must change!!

If it must change, what to?

When launching sub-libraries, Watchtower Library for Mac can sometimes take a few seconds to respond. I’ve been working on some simple way to convey a response to actions.

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My bad.

Mistake

I slipped up. In version WTLIB Package for Mac version 1.0 I left out the font smoothing patch. Hence, if you install from fresh using this package, you will see the dreaded font jaggies.

However, if you upgrade the package, your font smoothing will carry over to the new version unchanged; if enabled, it will stay enabled.

Installing from fresh

By upgrading, I mean keeping the application support folder!

It lives in ~/Library/Application Support/Watchtower Library where ~ (tilde) stands for your home directory. There is where the application stores all the virtual Windows sub-system files.

Hence, installing from fresh means trashing your Watchtower Library folder within your private application support.

New interim release 1.0.1

This is an annoying problem. So I’ve re-applied the patch and created a new interim release. I’ve called it version 1.0.1, adding an extra .1!

Thanks

Thanks to JK for bringing this to light. You can read the story here at the project development site.

Working towards a polished version 1.1, I’m planning to post some feedback questions regarding design and other issues. Please add your thoughts to the comments below if you want to improve or change things. It’s impossible to please everyone all of the time, as the saying goes, but you can please most of the people some of the time. That’s my hope.

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Version 1.0 is ready for download. Sooner than I thought. Things have gone relatively smoothly. Please take it for a spin. Feedback very welcome.

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The next version is almost ready. I’m currently running tests. I then need to package up the components.

Thank you all for your kindness and encouragement. Truth is though, I’m not very happy with version 0.2; the lack of harmony between X11 and the library. The new version brings everything together under one roof.

So much so, I’m thinking of jumping to version 1.0 for this next version. It is very, very close to exactly what we need. You no longer see two icons: one for the Watchtower Library, one for X. Just one icon, one application. It integrates all the necessary pieces in one. Practically everything works! Including maps, sound, synchronisation. Only the CJK problem remains as far as I can tell so far. You might find some bugs. Nothing’s perfect.

Behind the scenes though, the software comprises three sub-packages. One for X, one for a local framework and one for the application bundle. The application bundle itself has three private frameworks for separating the different units of software; not just for technical reasons but more out of respect for the licensing requirements. However, as before, there will be just one meta-package for installing all three at once. The goal is ease-of-use for the average non-technical users. Simple is good!

Remaining work also includes a welcome screen and help. When the user runs the application for the first time, it’s nice to provide a little information. Not too much. Just enough to direct the user to the next step: in this case, inserting an official CD-ROM. I think the app also needs some basic help. Anyone fancy helping with the help? For example, any ideas about what it should contain?

In conclusion, if you like the current version, I think you might love the new one. Here’s my tin-pot plan: release a functional version 1.0! Then polish and rub until shiny for version 1.1; does that sound reasonable?

Numerous changes. The biggest difference is that the underlying Windows emulator has jumped to 1.1.16; that means things like sorting of search results actually works, for instance.

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Intel Macs only, Leopard only!

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Wouldn’t it be nice if Mac users could just install a package and run Watchtower Library—no hassle, no cost?

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