Article 80710 of comp.sys.mac.programmer: Path: news.itd.umich.edu!destroyer!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!sunic!news.kth.se!mumrik.nada.kth.se!d88-jwa From: d88-jwa@mumrik.nada.kth.se (Jon Wätte) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.answers,news.answers Subject: The Mac Programming Public Domain FAQ Answer sheet. Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.programmer Date: 13 Feb 1994 11:46:36 GMT Organization: The Royal Institute of Technology Lines: 1542 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Message-ID: <2jl3us$f26@news.kth.se> NNTP-Posting-Host: mumrik.nada.kth.se Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Xref: news.itd.umich.edu comp.sys.mac.programmer:80710 comp.answers:3756 news.answers:17963 Archive-name: macintosh/programming-faq The Public Domain Mac Programming FAQ Answer sheet. Last update: 940213 This sheet was started by and is presently maintained by Jon W{tte, whom you may reach as h+@nada.kth.se. If there is anything you find errant, missing or in need of an update, please send me your submission and I will include it (I can't promise correct attributions, but I will try) All FAQ Answer submissions sent to me will be considered to be in the public domain unless stated otherwise (in which case they will not be included in this FAQ sheet) This sheet is currently archived on nada.kth.se where you can reach it using afs as /afs/nada.kth.se/public/ftp/pub/hacks/mac-f aq/CSMP_PD_FAQ or using anonymous FTP (GIVE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS AS PASSWORD!) as pub/hacks/mac-faq/CSMP_PD_FAQ I will try to update this sheet every three weeks or so. New for this revision is a small primer on moving your code to the PowerPC System 7 model (actually the new Universal model) [Changes attribution list expired] This sheet is divided into several parts; each of which covers a general area which often gets asked about in the Internet newsgroup comp.sys.mac.programmer. Please download a copy of this answer sheet and search it before you post to the 'net, to help reduce bandwidth. There is NO or VERY LIMITED error checking in these code examples, FOR BREVITY ONLY. You should make sure you ALWAYS check ALL return codes, and handle any that you are not prepared to deal with appropriately. The coding style used in the example C code is my own, and you'll have to live with it. The groups are (you may search for ** to jump directly to a group with its questions and answers) 0) Development and debugging tools and documentation for the Mac 1) Files and the File Manager 2) Serial ports 3) TCP/IP and sockets 4) AppleEvents and the Apple Object Model 5) AppleScript 6) Drawing using QuickDraw 7) Drawing NOT using QuickDraw (aka directly to screen) 8) Cache issues and other processor differences 9) What about pre-emptive multitasking? 10) Handles; they are driving me crazy; Memory issues 11) _Gestalt and compatibility 12) Standalone code and dynamic linking 13) Reading the keyboard for games and screen savers 14) QuickTime 15) PowerPC programming 16) Ice Cream and Frozen Yoghurt *0* Development and debugging tools for the Macintosh 0.1) Q: What do I need to start writing Macintosh software? A: A Mac, a lot of time, and a few hundred $. Although you can develop software on a Classic-type machine, it is not to be attempted by the weak of heart or stressed of time. If you're doing paid work and/or work for a company, a Quadra-class machine or Centris 650 or better is almost a must; remember that your time costs your employer much more than just your salary. 8 MB is a minimum to run at all comfortably, and Virtual Memory is not suited for development work. Similarly; if you don't have at least 20 MB free on your hard disk (40 MB for MPW) you need to buy more space. You need a development system such as Think C, Think Pascal , MPW C or Prograph, you need at least some of the New Inside Mac books (Toolbox Essentials, Files, Memory come to mind) and a good entry-level third-party book may help. Once you are up to speed on the general layout of the Mac and its toolboxes, you should call APDA and order the monthly developer mailing, which will give you a CD chock full of documentation, utilities and system software once a month. You will also, obviously, need a CD player; one of which Apple's own CD300 is a very good buy at the time of writing this. If you don't have the dough for the monthly mailing ($250/year) you can order a _develop_ subscription; this quarterly magazine ($30-$50/year) comes with a CD containing all Inside Mac documentation. Another tool which many find a must-have is the Think Reference version 2.0, containing reference material on the most used parts of the Mac toolbox with lightning-fast look-up and mostly correct usage hints and code snippets. 0.2) Q: What is the most used Macintosh development language? A: Out of products on the market, I have no idea; both MPW and Think products appear to be used. Among hobbyists, the Think products from Symantec are most popular because of the low price, and steep educational discounts, and, of course, the easily approachable interface! The Think C linker only strips dead code on a FILE level basis (and this is when you turn on "Smart Linking") The MPW linker (of no specified IQ, as someone so eloquently put it :-) strips dead code by the function. That may be part of the reason the Think C linker is ten times faster than the MPW linker. In the beginning, the Mac was programmed using Mc68000 assembly or Pascal; this was reflected in the Old Inside Mac volumes which only gave Pascal-style and assembly-style interfaces to the Mac toolbox. These days, Apple tells us to use C or even better C++ for developing new applications, as that will speed up the transition to PowerPC and also coming cross-platform efforts. There are also at least two Fortran compilers, at least three SmallTalk implementations (ObjectWorks, SmallTalk/V and SmallTalkAgents), a world-class LISP/CLOS implementation (Macintosh Common Lisp 2.0) and a Modula/2 implementation. Apparently, using Envy/packager, you can strip out unused code pretty effectively from Digitalk and PP apps, which are then smaller (and of course more memory efficient) than C++ apps. Metrowerks have a Pascal and a Modula II compiler. Rumour has it they're building C and C++ for both 68k and coming PPC Macs. CSI has MacForth, of which I only know the name and someone who says it's pretty good. There is another good Common Lisp implementation: Procyon Common Lisp. I don't know if it is actively supported, but Procyon CL is also available for DOS, OS/2 and Windows (as Allegro CL/PC) and actively developed. 0.3) Q: Where do I find a public domain C compiler for the Mac. Is there a GCC for the mac? What about the FSF boycott of Apple products? A: There is no really good solution for a "for-free" C development system for the Mac. GCC has been ported, but requires the MPW shell and MPW assembler to run; these have to be bought from APDA. There is a standalone port of GCC 1.37 underway, but it is presently on hold because of licensing issues. There was a freely available C compiler called Harvest C, which was somewhat unstable but usable for smaller programs; it was abandoned by the original author Eric W Sink because of a lack of time. The FSF boycott of Apple products means they will not talk to you if you ask them for help in doing a Mac port, and they will not incorporate your changes into their main code base. However, they still allow others to port GNU stuff to the Mac, and it has been done with most of the application-like GNU programs (bison, flex, perl (not really part of GNU), ...) 0.4) Q: Are there any other free Mac development platforms? A: Yerk and Mops. These are object oriented languages based on the old product Neon which itself was based on Forth. They are available with Manuals at oddjob.uchicago.edu (anonymous FTP). Plus, there's MacGambit, MacScheme, xlisp, and MacMETH which is the actual ETH (read: Nick Wirth's group) Modula 2, all for free via FTP. And OpenProlog. And SIOD (Scheme in One Defun) And [mail in more if you dare] 0.5) Q: What's the difference between the MPW and Think environments? A: The main difference is that Think is an integrated environment, while MPW provides you with a command-line shell for your Mac and tools to use in it. MPW also has a slightly higher systems demand and a much slower linker. The good thing about MPW is that you can write scripts and make files to do anything you want in the way you want it. Think still doesn't have a viable solution to do a build that requires more than one link operation, or has more than one destination file. For the MPW environment, there are three source level debuggers; SADE, SourceBug and Voodoo Monkey. The latter is an experimental debugger with support for threads debugging; the middle is bundled with MPW while SADE has to be bought separately (but is fully scriptable in its own scripting language) The Think environments have their own integrated debuggers; the Think Pascal one has a lot of useful features while the Think C/C++ one is a little more basic (but is gaining in functionality with each release) Stepping through source code and looking at variables is generally faster and easier in Think than the MPW debuggers. Any commercial Mac developer should have both Think and MPW of whatever language they prefer (Pascal, C or C++) 0.6) Q: What is a good low-level debugger for the Mac? A: MacsBug is freely available for ftp from ftp.apple.com; log in as user anonymous and give your FULL e-mail address as password. MacsBug is your basic monitor-type debugger that takes a few hundred Ks of memory, and lets you break, step, disassemble, look at the stack etc of most anything running on your Mac. Since it's free (it's also on the developer CDs) and provides most of the functionality you need, this is a popular choice. TMON is another debugger which sports a more mac-like interface; it provides windows and uses the mouse. It can take as little or much memory as you want by excluding or including certain areas of functionality. A nice touch is the 6502 disassembler that you can use to de-bug the code the IOP processors run on the Mac IIfx and Quadra 900/950. Jasik Designs have a debugger called The Debugger which can do both low- and high-level debugging, with or without source and for all types of code, application, code resources, everything. This is the debugger of choice for many large developers because of its high power and many features not found anywhere else. However; newcomers beware! This is the Lamborghini of debuggers; if you know how to drive it, it is the fastest way from A to B; if you don't, you'll just end up in the ditch. 0.7) Q: Are there any visual developments environments for the Mac (comparable to Visual C++)? A: There is no Visual C++ as such. However, there is a C++ parser/editor called ObjectMaster which provides good browsing and editing capabilities if you already have a C++ compiler. Think C++ also comes with a browser built-in, and you can draw dialogs/windows using plain old ResEdit, even for your custom view types. AppMaker is a GUI builder/code generator. Granted, it's not as nice as VC++, but it's quite a product in any case. Also, Neuron Data has their UI tool called Open Interface, which is better than VC++ and creates code portable across 35 platforms. Unfortunately it's $2500 per developer per platform. (There's also two other cross-platform products called XVT and Galaxy, the former has gotten flak on UseNet while the latter reportedly has decent networking support) There is a fully visual, dynamic, object oriented data-flow-drive n programming language for the Mac called Prograph Corporate Programming Something-or-other (CPX). It is expensive ($1500) but offers a built-in database, easy interfaces to existing data bases, very high productivity in implement-test-debug cycling and also offers cross-platform capabilities (it comes with a class library which, when your code is written using it, works under Windows after re-compilation) There is a crossing between SmallTalk and C++ that is called Component Workshop; although it seems large and slowly evolving, it does offer some promising features not found in C++ itself. There is also something called SmallTalkAgents that makes it easy to create Mac applications using SmallTalk. If you'd rather do Common Lisp, Macintosh Common Lisp offers a Common Lisp Object System with support for most Mac interface items; you can edit code while it is running and build stand-alone applications. However, all of these tools generate rather larger binaries with larger system demands than a program written in C. On the other hand; C++ programs require more memory and disk space than programs written in assembly. It's a trade-off, and I believe this type of tools is the wave of the near future. 0.8) Q: What class libraries are there for the Mac? A: Apart from the libraries mentioned above, there are three contenders: MacApp, TCL, and OOPC. On the horizon may be Bedrock. MacApp is a heavy-duty class library that has tons of features and a steep learning curve; it runs under MPW with Pascal or C++, and also under Think Pascal 4.0 A major application written in MacApp is PhotoShop. TCL stands for Think Class Library and comes with Think Pascal, C or C++. It is a smaller library that still fills most peoples needs; since Think C implements a subset of C++ (the most important OO concepts such as virtual functions and inheritance) and the TCL is carefully written not to take advantage of any C++ features not in Think C, you can use it with Think C. A major application written in TCL is Lotus 1-2-3. OOPC is a newcomer in the field, and uses plain ANSI C. However, it mangles the pre-processor to provide you with a system with full inheritance, virtual functions, and dynamic re-binding of functions for classes or individual objects. Start-up is slow, since all "linking" of virtual functions and classes is made at run-time, but performance otherwise is good. A Windows version is promised for later this year. 0.9) Q: How should I debug and test my software? A: Get ahold of, and install, the extensions DoubleTrouble, DisposeResource and EvenBetterBusError. They will catch 80% of any memory related bugs you may have, including many bugs that follow NULL handles or pointers. A low-level debugger is required, and while you install it, install the "leaks" dcmd which will help you catch memory leaks in your application. All of these tools are available from ftp.apple.com. *1* Files and the File Manager 1.1) Q: How do I tell fopen() to open a file the user has selected using StandardGetFile? A: The "standard" ANSI C file functions are less than well suited for the Macintosh way of doing things. However, if you are doing a port for your own enjoyment and benefit (or maybe for in-house work) you can use the following function: (see below about converting a wdRefNum into a vRefNum/parID pair) *code* FILE * fopen_mac ( short vRefNum , long parID , char * fileName , char * mode ) { short oldVol ; short aVol ; long aDir , aProc ; FILE * ret = NULL ; if ( GetVol ( NULL , & oldVol ) ) { return NULL ; } if ( GetWDInfo ( oldVol , & aVol , & aDir , & aProc ) ) { return NULL ; } if ( HSetVol ( NULL , vRefNum , parID ) ) { return NULL ; } ret = fopen ( fileName , mode ) ; if ( HSetVol ( aVol , aDir ) ) { /* an error we can't currently handle */ } if ( SetVol ( oldVol ) ) { /* an error we can't currently handle */ } return ret ; } *end* All of the above is necessary for one reason or another - if you are interested, by all means look HSetVol up in Think Reference 2.0 or New Inside Mac: Files. In older versions of MPW; this wouldn't work since the MPW libraries used to do a GetVol and explicitly use that value by itself. 1.2) Q: When can I use the HOpen, HCreate etc file calls? Are they only System 7 calls? A: All the HXxx calls that take a vRefNum and parID as well as the file name are implemented in glue that works on any system that has HFS (meaning 3.2 and up with the HD20 INIT, and all systems from System 6 and up) The glue is available in MPW 3.2 and up, and Think C 5.0 and up. This goes for all HXxx calls except HOpenDF; therefore, if you are interested in System 6 compatibility, use HOpen instead and make sure you don't allow file names beginning with a period. 1.3) Q: Why do you say wdRefNum sometimes and vRefNum sometimes? Why do you say parID sometimes and dirID sometimes? A: When the Mac first made an appearance in 1984, it identified files by using a vRefNum (volume reference number meaning a floppy disk or later hard disk) and a name. Once HFS saw the light of day, folders within folders became a reality, and you needed a dirID as well to point out what folder you really meant on the volume. However, older programs that wasn't being rewritten still knew nothing about directory IDs, so Apple had SFGetFile make up "fake" vRefNums that didn't just specify a volume, but also a parent folder. These are called wdRefNums (for working directory) and were a necessary evil invented in 1985. You should not create (or, indeed, use) wdRefNums yourself. There is a system-wide table that maps wdRefNums onto vRefNum/parID pairs. There is a limit to the size of this table. A dirID and a parID is almost the same thing; you say "parID" when you mean the folder something is in, while you say a "dirID" when you mean the folder itself. If you for instance have a folder called "Foo" with a folder called "Bar" in it, the parID for "Bar" would be the dirID for "Foo." 1.4) Q: How do I convert a wdRefNum as returned by SFGetFile into a vRefNum/parID pair to use with the HXxx calls. A: Use GetWDInfo, which is declared as: Pascal OSErr GetWDInfo ( short wdRefNum , short * vRefNum , long * parID , OSType * procID ) ; The procID parameter must be non-NULL and point to an OSType variable, but the value of that variable can and should be ignored. It is recommended that, as soon as you get your hands on a wdRefNum, for instance from SFGetFile, you directly convert it into a vRefNum/parID pair and always use the latter to reference the folder. 1.5) Q: How do I select a folder using SFGetFile? A: This requires a custom dialog with a filter proc. It is too complicated to show here, but not totally impossible to comprehend. There is sample code on ftp.apple.com, in the directory dts/snippets, on how to do this. 1.6) Q: How do I get the full path of a file referenced by a vRefNum, parID and name? A: You don't. OK, I cheated you. There is exactly ONE valid reason to get the full path of a file (or folder, for that matter) and that is to display its location to the user in, say, a settings dialog. To actually save the location of the file you should do this: (assuming the file is in an FSSpec called theFile - you can use FSSpecs in your program even if you don't run under System 7; just make your own MyFSMakeFSSpec that fills in the FSSpec manually if it's not implemented) *code* if ( ! aliasManagerAvailable ) { /* System 6 ? */ GetVolumeName ( theFile -> vRefNum , vName ) ; GetVolumeModDate ( vRefNum , & date ) ; Save ( vName , date , parID , fileName ) ; } else { NewAlias ( NULL , theFile , & theAlias ) ; Save ( theAlias ) ; DisposeHandle ( ( Handle ) theAlias ) ; } *end* If you are really concerned about these issues (of course you are!) you should save BOTH of these methods when available, and load back whatever is there that you can handle; since users may be using your application in a mixed System 6/System 7 environment. To get back to the file is left as an exercise for the reader. To open a file using fopen() or the Pascal equivalent, see above about using and not using HSetVol. 1.7) Q: What about actually getting the full path for a file? I promise I will only use it to show the location of a file to the user! A: Enter PBGetCatInfo, the Vegimatic of the Mac file system. Any Mac hacker of knowledge has taken this system call to his heart. What you do is this: *code* OSErr GetFolderParent ( FSSpec * fss , FSSpec * parent ) { CInfoPBRec rec ; short err ; * parent = * fss ; rec . hFileInfo . ioNamePtr = parent -> name ; rec . hFileInfo . ioVRefNum = parent -> vRefNum ; rec . hFileInfo . ioDirID = parent -> parID ; if ( parent -> name [ 0 ] ) { rec . hFileInfo . ioFDirIndex = 0 ; } else { rec . hFileInfo . ioFDirIndex = -1 ; } rec . hFileInfo . ioFVersNum = 0 ; err = PBGetCatInfoSync ( & rec ) ; if ( ! ( rec . hFileInfo . ioFlAttrib & 0x10 ) ) { /* Not a folder */ if ( ! err ) { err = dirNFErr ; } } parent -> parID = rec . dirInfo . ioDrParID ; parent -> name [ 0 ] = 0 ; return err ; } OSErr GetFullPathHandle ( FSSpec * fss , Handle * h ) { Handle tempH = NULL ; short err ; FSSpec fs = * fss ; while ( fs . parID > 1 ) { tempH = NULL ; PtrToHand ( & fs . name [ 1 ] , & tempH , fs . name [ 0 ] ) ; PtrAndHand ( ( void * ) ":" , tempH , 1 ) ; HandAndHand ( * h , tempH ) ; SetHandleSize ( * h , 0L ) ; HandAndHand ( tempH , * h ) ; DisposeHandle ( tempH ) ; tempH = NULL ; GetFolderParent ( & fs , & sSpec ) ; fs = sSpec ; } GetVolName ( fs . vRefNum , fs . name ) ; PtrToHand ( & fs . name [ 1 ] , & tempH , fs . name [ 0 ] ) ; PtrAndHand ( ( void * ) ":" , tempH , 1 ) ; HandAndHand ( * h , tempH ) ; SetHandleSize ( * h , 0L ) ; HandAndHand ( tempH , * h ) ; DisposeHandle ( tempH ) ; tempH = NULL ; if ( ! IsFolder ( fss ) ) { SetHandleSize ( * h , GetHandleSize ( * h ) - 1 ) ; // Remove colon } return 0 ; } *end* 1.8) Q: So how do I get the names of the files in a directory? A: You use PBGetCatInfo again, but this time you set ioFDirIndex to 1 or more (you need to know the dirID and vRefNum of the folder you're interested in) You then call PBGetCatInfoSync for values of ioFDirIndex from 1 and up, until you get an fnfErr. Any other err means you are not allowed to get info about THAT item, but you may be for the next. Then collect the names in the string you made ioNamePtr point to as you go along. Note that you need to fill in the ioDirID field for each iteration through the loop, and preferrably clear the ioFVersNum as well. Note that the contents of a directory may very well change while you are iterating over it; this is most likely on a file server that more than one user uses, or under System 7 where you run Personal File Share. 1.9) Q: How do I find the name of a folder for which I only know the dirID and vRefNum? A: You call (surprise!) PBGetCatInfo! Make ioNamePtr point to an empty string (but NOT NULL) of length 63 (like, an Str63) and ioFDirIndex negative (-1 is a given winner) - this makes PBGetCatInfo return information about the vRefNum/dirID folder instead of the file/folder specified by vRefNum, parID and name. 1.10) Q: How do I make the Finder see a new file that I created? Or if I changed the type of it; how do I display a new icon for it? A: You call (surprise!) PBGetCatInfo followed by PBSetCatInfo for the FOLDER the file is in. Inbetween, you should set ioDrMdDat to the current date&time. Code: *code* OSErr TouchFolder ( short vRefNum , long parID ) { CInfoPBRec rec ; Str63 name ; short err ; rec . hFileInfo . ioNamePtr = name ; name [ 0 ] = 0 ; rec . hFileInfo . ioVRefNum = vRefNum ; rec . hFileInfo . ioDirID = parID ; rec . hFileInfo . ioFDirIndex = -1 ; rec . hFileInfo . ioFVersNum = 0 ; err = PBGetCatInfo ( & rec ) ; if ( err ) { return err ; } GetDateTime ( & rec . dirInfo . ioDrMdDat ) ; rec . hFileInfo . ioVRefNum = vRefNum ; rec . hFileInfo . ioDirID = parID ; rec . hFileInfo . ioFDirIndex = -1 ; rec . hFileInfo . ioFVersNum = 0 ; err = PBSetCatInfo ( & rec ) ; return err ; } *end* 1.11) Q: Aren't we done with PBGetCatInfo soon? A: Well, it turns out that you can also find out whether an FSSpec is a file or a folder by calling PBGetCatInfo and check bit 4 (0x10) of ioFlAttr to see whether it is a folder. You may prefer to call ResolveAliasFile for this instead. You can also check the script of the file's title using PBGetCatInfo and check the ioFlFndrXInfo field if you want to work with other script systems than the Roman system. Another common use is to find out how many items are in a folder; the modification date of something or the correct capitalization of its name (since the Mac file system is case independent BUT preserves the case the user uses) 1.12) Q: How do I set what folder should initially be shown in the SFGetFile boxes? A: You stuff the dirID you want to show into the lo-mem global CurDirStore, and the NEGATIVE of the vRefNum you want into the lo-mem global SFSaveDisk. If you are using CustomGetFile and return sfSelectionChanged from an "init" message handler, you must remember to clear the script code, else the selection will not change. 1.13) Q: How do I find the folder my application started from? How do I find the application file that's running? A: Under System 7, you call GetCurrentProcess, followed by GetProcessInformation with a pointer to an existing FSSpec in the parameter block. This will give you your file, and, by using the vRefNum and parID, the folder the application is in. Beware from writing to your applications resource or data forks; the former breaks on CDs/write protected floppies/file servers/virus checkers, the latter fails on PowerPC as well as in the above cases. *2* Serial ports 2.1) Q: How do I get at the serial ports? A: You call OpenDriver for the names "\p.AOut" and "\p.AIn" to get at the modem port, and "\p.BOut" and "\p.BIn" for the printer port. The function RAMSDOpen was designed for the original Mac with 128 kB of memory and 64 kB of ROM, and has been extinct for several years. However, many users use their serial ports for MIDI, LocalTalk, graphic tablets, or what have you and have installed an additional serial port card to get more ports. What you SHOULD do as a good application is to use the Comms Toolbox Resource Manager to search for serial resources; this requires that the Comms Toolbox is present (true on earlier System 6 with an INIT, on later System 6 and System 7 always, as well as on A/UX) and that you have initialized the comms resource manager. The exact code follows (adapted from Inside Mac Comms Toolbox): *code* #include OSErr FindPorts ( Handle * portOutNames , Handle * portInNames , Handle * names , Handle * iconHandles ) { OSErr ret = noErr ; short old = 0 ; CRMRec theCRMRec , * found ; CRMSerialRecord * serial ; * portOutNames = NewHandle ( 0L ) ; * portInNames = NewHandle ( 0L ) ; * names = NewHandle ( 0L ) ; * iconHandles = NewHandle ( 0L ) ; while ( ! ret ) { theCRMRec . crmDeviceType = crmSerialDevice ; theCRMRec . crmDeviceID = old ; found = ( CRMRec * ) CRMSearch ( ( QElementPtr ) & theCRMRec ) ; if ( found ) { serial = ( CRMSerailRec * ) found -> crmAttributes ; old = found -> crm DeviceID ; PtrAndHand ( & serial -> outputDriverName , * portOutNames , sizeof ( serial -> outputDriverName ) ) ; PtrAndHand ( & serial -> inputDriverName , * portInNames , sizeof ( serial -> inputDriverName ) ) ; PtrAndHand ( & serial -> name , * names , sizeof ( serial -> name ) ) ; PtrAndHand ( & serial -> deviceIcon , * iconHandles , sizeof ( serial -> deviceIcon ) ) ; } else { break ; } } return err ; } *end* This will create four handles with the driver names, device names and driver icon handles for all of the available serial devices. Then let the user choose with a pop-up menu or scrolling list, and save the choice in your settings file. You can use OpenDriver, SetReset, SetHShake, SetSetBuf, SerGetBuf and the other Serial Manager functions on these drivers. To write to the serial port, use FSWrite for synchronous writes that wait until all is written, or PBWrite asynchronously for queuing up data that is supposed to go out but you don't want to wait for it. At least once each tim e through your event loop, you should call SerGetBuf on the in driver reference number you got from OpenDriver, and call FSRead for that many bytes - neither more nor less. If you are REALLY interested in doing the right thing, you will use the Communications Toolbox Connection Manager instead; this will give you access to modems, direct lines, and networks of various kinds using the same API! Great for stuff like BBSes that may be on a network as well etc. The Comms Toolbox also priovides modularized terminal emulat ion and file transfer tools, although the Apple-suplied VT102 tool is pretty lame, as is the VT102 mode of the VT320 tool. *3* TCP/IP and sockets 3.1) Q: Where is a Berkley sockets library for the Mac? A: There are some problems with that. MacTCP, the Mac Toolbox implementation of TCP/IP, doesn't have an API that looks at all like Berkley sockets. For instance, there is ONE paramater-block call to do a combined listen()/accept()/bind() - sort of. I have heard that there may be a socket library available by ftp from MIT but haven't seen it myself. There is also a pretty good C++ TCP implementation called GUSI which is easily handled, and it also is callable from C using the Berkley socket API. Apart from TCP, it also handles "standard" Mac network protocols such as ADSP. The big disadvantage is that it is currently only implemented for MPW. The ftp site is nic.switch.ch, software/mac/src/mpw_c. I can also recommend the Communications Toolbox; for the price of using an API that is simpler than the Berkley sockets, you get the benefit of being able to use any kind of connection (TCP tools are available) Novell and Wollogong offer commercial socket-like libraries. 3.2) Q: Where do I find MacTCP? A: You can buy the MacTCP developers kit from APDA. It is also available on E T O, and if you want saner headers than those, try ftp to seeding.apple.com. *4* AppleEvents and the AppleEvent Object Model 4.1) Q: What are AppleEvents? A: AppleEvents are a level-5 network protocol. If you are not familiar with the ISO network stack, this means it's a way of structuring sessions between network entities (programs) that is not dependent on the underlying protocol (such as PPC or TCP/IP) Despite being a network protocol, they can be very useful on Macs that are not on a network. In short, they provide applications with a comprehensive way to send arbitrary structured data to other applications (or themselves) which receive the events through their main event loop. The AppleEvent Object Model is a way of looking at applications and the data they contain, and also a level-6 network protocol. You _can_ send AppleEvent Object Model data through AppleEvents (and the standard AppleEvents defined in the AppleEvent Registry use it) but you don't have to - unless you want to talk with other applications, of course, then the AEOM is a lingua franca. 4.2) Q: What are the four required AppleEvents? A: There are four events your application really must implement if you want to sell it: the kCoreEventClass class, kAEOpenApplication, kAEQuitApplication, kAEOpenDocuments and kAEPrintDocuments events IDs. When you support these events (or any AppleEvents) you will not get startup info through GetAppParams() anymore, unless you run under System 6 of course. The kAEOpenApplication event will be sent to you when the user double-clicks your app and it's not started yet. When receiving it, you can put up a new untitled window. kAEOpenDocuments is sent when the user double-clicks your apps documents. Note that if the first AppleEvent you receive is a kAEOpenDocuments event, the user started your app by double-clicking its documents. kAEPrintDocuments is sent when the user selects your documents and chooses "Print" in the Finder menu. If this is the first AppleEvent you receive, you should print the documents and then quit the application again; if you received a kAEOpenApplication or kAEOpenDocuments event before this, you should just print the documents and close them when you're done. kAEQuitApplication is sent to you when the user chooses "Shutdown" or "Restart" from the Apple Menu. You should ask the user whether he wants to save any unsaved changed documents, and then quit unless the user presses Cancel. Interestingly enough, you can use these four AppleEvents to send even to non-AE-aware applications, and the system will translate these events into fake menu selections for you. A good way of shutting down the Finder is to send it a Quit AppleEvent. You should send a Quit AppleEvent to File Sharing Extension before you shut down the Finder, though; the FSE is found by looking for a process with the creator 'hhgg'. 4.3) Q: Are there any limits or tradeoffs with AppleEvents? A: As always, more power means more responsibility. AppleEvents sent to applications on other Macs require authentification the first time they are sent. If the remote Mac allows Guests to link to programs, the INIT AutoGuest 2.0 might help (or the code solution that comes with it and you can build into your application) In the first version of the AppleEvent manager, there was a total 64K limit on the size of data and overhead. This limit has been lifted with the version of the AppleEvent manager that comes with AppleScript. AppleEvents require a lot of memory copying and handle resizing in their construction; this means that large AppleEvents may be slow in construction, especially when compared to a pure PPC Toolbox or ADSP/ASDSP link. You should use your own application signature as event class for AppleEvents you make up, in order not to collide with anybody else. Other than that, you are free to make your own events for your own needs, though supporting the required events and at least a subset of the Core event suite will buy you a lot of functinality from within AppleScript. Especially important are the Get Current Selection and Set Current Selection events (which are really Get/Set Data on the contents of the current selection of the application) The signature for your application SHOULD be registered with DTS to avoid conflicts; this is done through e-mail to DEVSUPPORT@AppleLink.Apple.Com and the form you use is located on the developer CDs and found on ftp.apple.com. *5* AppleScript 5.1) Q: How does AppleEvents interface with AppleScript? A: AppleEvents are the meat and potatoes of AppleScript. If you support the AppleEvent Object Model from within your application, users can control you through AppleScript. The first thing you should do is get ahold of Inside Mac: Interapplication Communication, and a copy of the AppleEvents Registry. The former tells you all you ever need to know about AppleEvents, while the latter is paramount for implementing the right standard events. If everybody use the standard events, dynamic data interchange between any applications will become sweet reality! Then there is the 'aete' resource which lets you put names on the events you support, so that users can "Open Terminology" on your application from within the Apple Script Editor and use the proper AppleScript commands in their scripts. The format of an aete resource is defined in Inside Macintosh: Interapplication Communication. 5.2) Q: Can I compile and run scripts from within my application? A: Yes, this is very simple. There are toolbox calls for reading scripts, compiling scripts, and executing scripts. (OSACompile, OSAExecute) These are all documented in Inside Mac: Interapplication Communication. 5.3) Q: Is this a good way of getting a macro language almost for free? A: "Good" is an understatement. Just let users write scripts, load them into menu items and go. Total systems integration in under a week, including adding support for the AEOM to your application. There is source code for an application called "MenuScipter" on the developer CD which shows you how to do an application with all of the menus being AppleScript scripts. *6* Drawing using QuickDraw 6.1) Q: Why is CopyBits so slow? A: It is not. It just requires some hand-holding to get good results. The main rules are: Make sure the source and destination pixMaps are of the same depth. Make sure the front color is black and the back color is white. Use srcCopy and don't use a masking region. Copy to an unclipped window (the frontmost window). Make sure the ctSeed values of the source pixMap and dest pixMap match. Copying few and large pixMaps is faster than copying many and small ones. Icon-sized sprites count as small ones. Make sure your source bitmap or pixelMap has the same alignment, when adjusted for the source and destination rect expressed in global screen coordinates. The necessary alignment is 32 bits (4 bytes), although 128 bit (16 byte) alignment is probably even better on 68040 macs and won't hurt on other macs. Example of global alignment: Your window is positioned at (42,100) (H,V) Your destination rectangle is (10,20)-(74,52) The alignment coefficient of the rectangle in global coordinates is (42+10)*bitDepth where bitDepth is one of 1,2,4,8,16 or 32. Make sure your source pixmap rect has the same coeffecient modulo your alignment factor (in bits) For black&white macs, this is still true, although bitDepth is fix at 1. Offscreen pixMaps can calculate with a "global posistion" of 0,0 and get correct results. 6.2) Q: Why is CopyBits still too slow? A: Because there is always some overhead involved in calling QuickDraw; you have the trap dispatcher, clipping checks, and checking whether the CopyBits call is being recorded in a PICT handle (if you called OpenPicture) If you can't live with this, look at *7* below, but PLEASE try and make CopyBits work, and retain the CopyBits code in your application, so users with special monitors (accellerator cards, PowerBook color screens, Radius Pivot screens) can still play your game. (non-game applications don't need more speed than CopyBits can give at its max. Promise!) 6.3) Q: What is the fastest way to set one pixel? A: NOT SetCPixel()! Assuming you have the correct ForeColor() set, you can set the pen size to (1,0) and call Line (0,1) I have heard PaintRect is good for this but requires slightly more code. Using PaintRect eliminates a trap call. 6.4) Q: Why do pictures I record suddenly draw as empty space or not draw at all? A: When recording pictures, you have to set the clipping area to exactly the frame of the picture you are recording. This is because it is initally set at -32768,32727 in both directions, and offsetting the picture even one pixel when drawing it will result in the region wrapping around and becoming empty. When recording pictures, do this: *code* PicHandle h = OpenPicture ( & theRect ) ; ClipRect ( & theRect ) ; /* draw the picture */ ClosePicture ( ) ; *end* 6.5) Q: Where can I find the format of picture files and resources? A: The format of a picture resource version 1 is defined in a technical note. This format is obsolete. The format of a picture resource version 2 is defined in Old Inside Mac vol V, with addenda in Old Inside Mac vol VI. Some things happen with QuickTime compressed pictures; try the Inside Mac: QuickTime book or wait for Inside Mac: Imaging which is the definite reference on QuickDraw. The format of a picture file is the same as that of a picture resource with 512 added 0 bytes in front. 6.6) Q: GWorlds? A: What about them? They're great. Look them up in Old Inside Mac vol VI. Don't forget to SetGWorld back to what it was before calling WaitNextEvent. 6.7) Q: How do I find the current depth of the screen? A: My question to you is: What screen? Many macs have more than one screen attached. You can use GetDeviceList and walk the devices to find the screen you're looking for (use TestDeviceAttrib to see whether it's a screen) or you can call GetMaxDevice() to find the deepest device your window intersects. Once you have the device handle, finding the depth is just a matter of looking at the dgPMap pixMapHandle, and dereference it to the pmSize field. Done. *7* Drawing directly to screen 7.1) Q: Why is it a bad idea to draw directly to screen? A: Because of several reasons: - You will be incompatible with future display hardware. - You will be incompatible with some present-day display hardware, such as Radius Pivots and PowerBook color screens. - You have to think about a lot of things; testing it all on your own machine is not possible and the chances of crashing are great. - You will be incompatible with future hardware where devices may live in some unaccessible I/O space. 7.2) Q: But I really need to do it. I can't make my animation into a QuickTime movie, and CopyBits is too slow, even when syncing to the screen retrace. A: You have to prepare yourself, and ask these questions: 1) Do I want to support all screens, or just 8-bit devices? 2) Do I have a few weeks of free time to make it work? 3) Do I want to get nasty mail when I break on some hardware and have to rev the application - even if I may not be able to get ahold of the hardware that makes it break? If all you're doing is rendering an image pixel-by-pixel or line-by-line, maybe you can draw directly into an offscreen pixMap/GWorld and then CopyBits the entire GWorld to screen? That will be more compatible, especially if you use the keepLocal flag when creating the GWorld. 7.3) Q: Okay, so how do I get the base address of the screen? A: "The" screen? Which screen? There may be several. The base address may be on an accellerated screen card. There may be more than one screen covering the same desktop area. Due to unfortunate circumstances, there is a bug in GetPixBaseAddr() that causes it to return incorrect results for some versions of System 7. Instead, get the baseAddr directly from the gdPMap handle of the GDHandle for the screen you draw to. This address may need switching to 32bit mode to be valid. 7.4) Q: Quit stalling and give me code! A: Okay, but I'll let you sweat over Inside Mac to figure out what it does. All of it is important; believe me! To make this code run faster, a lot of the things it does can be done once before starting to draw. Make sure that you have a window that covers the area where you are drawing, so other windows will not be overdrawn. Also make sure that you do not do direct-to-screen-drawing while you are in the background. *code* /* This is presently untested code */ /* value is dependent on what depth the screen has */ /* this code doesn't work on non-color-quickdraw Macs (i e the MacClassic) */ /* where is in GLOBAL coordinates */ void SetPixel ( Point where , unsigned long value ) { Rect r ; GDHandle theGD ; char * ptr ; long rowBytes ; short bitsPerPixel ; PixMapHandle pmh ; Boolean oldMode ; r . left = where . h ; r . top = where . v ; r . right = r . left + 1 ; r . bottom = r . top + 1 ; theGD = GetMaxDevice ( & r ) ; if ( theGD ) { where . v -= ( * theGD ) -> gdRect . left ; where . h -= ( * theGD ) -> gdRect . top ; pmh = ( * theGD ) -> gdPMap ; rowBytes = ( ( * pmh ) -> rowBytes ) & 0x3fff ; ptr = ( char * ) ( * pmh ) -> baseAddr ; bitsPerPixel = ( * pmh ) -> pixelSize ; oldMode = true32b ; ptr += where . v * rowBytes ; SwapMMUMode ( & oldMode ) ; switch ( bitsPerPixel ) { case 1 : if ( value & 1 ) { ptr [ where . h >> 3 ] |= ( 128 >> ( where . h & 7 ) ) ; } else { ptr [ where . h >> 3 ] &= ~( 128 >> ( where . h & 7 ) ) ; } break ; case 2 : ptr [ where . h >> 2 ] &= ( 192 >> 2 * ( where . h & 3 ) ) ; ptr [ where . h >> 2 ] |= ( value & 3 ) << 2 * ( 3 - ( where . h & 3 ) ) ; break ; case 4 : ptr [ where . h >> 1 ] &= ( where . h & 1 ) ? 0xf : 0xf0 ; ptr [ where . h >> 1 ] |= ( value & 15 ) << 4 * ( 1 - ( where . h & 1 ) ) ; break ; case 8 : ptr [ where . h ] = value ; break ; case 16 : ( ( unsigned short * ) ptr ) [ where . h ] = value ; break ; case 32 : ( ( unsigned long * ) ptr ) [ where . h ] = value ; break ; } SwapMMUMode ( & oldMode ) ; } } *end* *8* Cache issues and other processor differences 8.1) Q: Why does my application work on an SE with accellerator (or a Mac II or Quadra), but not on one without? A: Assuming you're not calling Color QuickDraw (which is not available on accellerated SEs), you most probably have an odd-aligned word access somewhere. The 68000 does not allow words or longwords to be read from odd addresses, while the 68020 and up relaxes this restriction (it still is slower than aligned-word access though) This may or may not crash depending on your compiler: *code* struct foo { char c1 ; char c2 ; char c3 ; char c4 ; char c5 ; } bar ; long * x = ( long * ) & bar . c2 ; * x = 0x12345678 ; /* X is odd if compiler doesn't pad */ This WILL crash on an SE/Plus/Classic/PB100: char foo [ 10 ] ; long * x = ( long * ) & foo [ 1 ] ; * x = 0x12345678 ; *end* 8.2) Q: Why does my application work on a IIci but not on a Quadra? A: Two reasons: 1) The Quadras 900 and 950 have special processors that handle the serial ports; if you write directly to the serial chips, you will crash (this goes for the IIfx as well) 2) The Quadras have 68040 processors, as have the Centrises. These processors have separate instruction and data caches (like the 68030) but they are larger (4K each) and unlike the 68030 which is write-through data cached, the 68040 is copy-back data cached. This means that changes you make to "your code" aren't really changed all the time, since the changes may still be in the data cache and not written to memory when the CPU reads that part of memory into its I-cache. Even worse; that part might already have been read into the I-cache before you change it in the D-cache, meaning that writing out the D-cache will still not be enough. You need to flush both the caches when writing self-modifying code. Self-modifying code includes code that builds its own jump tables and code that decrypts itself and code that "stubs" MDEFs or WDEFs to jump back into the application code. You flush the cache using FlushDataCache() which is implemented if Gestalt says you have a 68020 or better processor (or if the _HwDispatch trap is implemented) 8.3) Q: Why does my application work on my Quadra but not on my accellerated SE? A: You're probably calling Color QuickDraw without first checking if it's available. The following machines do not have color QuickDraw in ROM nor RAM: Mac Plus, Mac SE, Mac Classic, Mac Luggable, PowerBook 100, Outbound 8.4) Q: I do check for color quickdraw, but crash nevertheless. A: _Gestalt lies under some versions of System 7; it says that non-color machines HAVE color QuickDraw when you test using the gestaltQuickdrawFeatures selector. Instead, check the gestaltQuickdrawVersion selector, if it returns >= gestalt8BitQuickdraw then you can safely use gestaltQuickdrawFeatures, else you only have b/w QuickDraw. 8.5) Q: Why are there no C/C++ compilers that optimize for the Mc68040? A: Beats me; optimizing for the 68040 can make programs up to 50% faster on that chip while still losing nothing, or very little (less than 10%) on older chips. *9* Inflammatory subjects 9.1) Q: What about pre-emptive multitasking? A: To the user, the Mac multitasking method, which builds upon each application calling WaitNextEvent, GetNextEvent or EventAvail every so often and the Process Manager/MultiFinder switching applications only at such calls, is at least as good as preemtive multitasking, because the present system priotitizes user interface responsiveness over everything else. The only shortfall about this is formatting floppies, which locks up the Mac CPU. This is because the Mac floppy controller is really stupid, and would happen even if the Mac multitasked preemptively. There IS "real" pre-emptive multitasking available for use in Mac applications; the expensive way is buying A/UX 3.0 which can have Mac applications written as UNIX processes; the cheap way is installing the Thread Manager which will allow you to create pre-emptive threads. However, the restrictions on those threads are the same as those on Time Manager tasks: don't call any function in an unloaded segment, and don't call QuickDraw or any toolbox call which may move memory (which are most ToolBox calls; paradoxally, BlockMove is safe :-) as are, surprisingly, FSRead and FSWrite) There are several problems with making the Mac OS preemptive; including apps that draw outside their windows or directly to screen, user dragging and other issues. 9.2) Q: What about protected memory? I'm sick and tired of re-booting when my application crashes. A: Write better software! Or install The Debugger from Jasik Designs, which can provide your application with write-protection of critical parts of memory. This may only work for 030 Macs, though. Making the Mac OS memory-protected is tricky, because applications expect to be able to write to low memory, the system heap, temporary memory, window lists, and even each other's heaps in some interapplication communication solutions that date back to before AppleEvents and the PPC Toolbox. *10* Handles; they are driving me crazy 10.1) Q: What is a handle? A: A handle is a pointer to a pointer to something. However, it is more than that; creating a handle by taking the address of one of your own pointers does NOT create a Handle; the Memory Manager will only deal properly with Handles that are created using NewHandle or something that calls it (such as NewRgn or GetResource) 10.2) Q: When do I have to lock a Handle? A: The contents of a Handle may move, and when it does, the pointer your handle is pointing to is changed to point to the new address so your handle is always valid. The toolbox may call the memory manager to allocate more memory pretty much anytime you call it (the toolbox) and when memory is allocated, your handle may move in memory. Don't dereference a handle into a pointer (or take the address of a field in a record a handle is double-pointing to) and then call the toolbox and expect the pointer to still be valid. The only way to ensure that the pointer will still be valid is to call HLock on the handle to lock it. Use HGetState and HSetState to save & restore the "locked" state of a handle when you lock it. 10.3) Q: How do I dispose of Handles? A: DisposeHandle (formerly called DisposHandle) once and ONLY once will do the trick. Trying to dispose of an already disposed Handle is an error. DoubleTrouble (see above) will catch such bugs when they do occur. 10.4) Q: What about resources? A: Calling GetResource returns NULL if the resource is not found or there is not enough memory, else it returns a handle to the resource. This handle may be moved or locked like any other handle, but DO NOT call DisposeHandle to get rid of a resource handle - call ReleaseResource. DisposeResource (see above) will catch this kind of bug. Remember that AddResource makes a resource handle out of an ordinary handle, and RmveResource or DetachResource makes an ordinary handle out of a resource handle. You cannot call AddResource with a resource handle; you have to DetachResource it first. Resource handles are automagically disposed when the resource file they belong to is closed. 10.5) Q: I'm trying to use a largish array in Think C, but get a "code overflow" error. This is valid C, why doesn't it work? A: The ANSI standard does not guarantee that any structure larger than 32767 bytes be correctly handled. Because of historical constraints, the Mac memory model is built around several small blocks of size 32K or less; these are used both for code and global/static data. If you want to use more code or data, you have to turn on "far code" or "far data" - you still will not get around the restriction of 32K code or data per compiled file, though. As opposed to, say, DOS or Windows, however, you can allocate as much memory as you want (and there is in the machine) and step through it using ordinary pointers; it's just that global and static data space is addressed off the A5 register using a 16bit displacement addressing mode in the 68000 processor. *11* _Gestalt and compatibility 11.1) Q: I see all these people call Gestalt without first checking whether it's implemented. Isn't that bad? A: No; Gestalt and a few other traps (the HXxx file manager traps, and FindFolder) are implemented using glue so they do the right thing even if the trap is not implemented. If you want to get rid of the glue, you can #define SystemSevenOrLater (and, using Think C/C++, re-pre-compile MacHeaders) However, then you will be responsible for checking for these features before you use them. 11.2) Q: What more functions are implemented in glue? A: Wake Up and Smell the Glue! [by Matthias Neeracher] How often have you wished you could use that cool new ToolBox call, but didn't want to make your application System 7 dependent? Well, it might be that you *could* in fact have used the call. Several traps are implemented in glue, that is, much of their functionality is linked into your application and thus available even if you are running under an old System. This list applies to MPW 3.2 and should also be valid for the current version of Think C. If you find any inaccuracies, please report them to me. (neeri@iis.ee.ethz.ch) FSOpen: Tries first OpenDF, then Open. HOpenResFile: Full functionality emulated if trap not available HCreateResFile: Full functionality emulated if trap not available FindFolder: Under System 6, understands the following values for folderType and returns the System Folder for all of them: kAppleMenuFolderType kControlPanelFolderType kExtensionFolderType kPreferencesFolderType kPrintMonitorDocsFolderType kStartupFolderType kSystemFolderType kTemporaryFolderType SysEnvirons: Full functionality emulated if trap not available NewGestalt: Returns an error if not implemented ReplaceGestalt: Returns an error if not implemented Gestalt: The following selectors are always implemented: vers mach sysv proc fpu qd kbd atlk ram lram 11.3) Q: I have to support System 6, don't I? A: It would be foolish to lock yourself out of the many benefits the System 7 API provides for software that you start to write now. Some of the System 6 and older things (likely SFGetFile and wdRefNums among others) will be phased out of the interfaces and lose support; especially on future platforms. The installed base of System 7 is larger than that of System 6; this is not surprising because Apple has been shipping System 7 for several years with all new machines, including the LCII, Classic II, Performas and Color Classic. Another argument is that newer computer owners (having System 7) are much more likely to buy new software than old computer owners who have systems that already do what they want them to. The added work to support both System 6 and System 7 is significant; if you have the time and money you may want to do it, but only supporting System 6 and not System 7 is doomed to fail in the market of today. Some may call this position subjective; I call it business sense based on market demographics. A rule of thumb may be that if you target color machines only, you can just as well demand System 7 as well. *12* Standalone code and dynamic linking 12.1) Q: I've got a CODE resource off in limboland (sometimes called the resource fork) and I want to open it... what do I do? A: You open the file you have the code resource in, load the resource and lock it high (don't unlock it first, since someone else may be using it). Then you cast the handle to a function pointer, and call it normally. Suppose your code resource is compiled as a SACD id 128, and is defined as: *code* long main ( MyParams * params ) { switch ( params -> message ) { case messageInit : return init ( params ) ; ... } return 0L ; } *end* Also suppose you already have the vRefNum, parID and name of the resource file you want to use. Do this: *code* setup_paramblock ( & the_params ) ; the_params . message = messageInit ; refNum = HOpenResFile ( vRefNum , parID , name , fsRdPerm ) ; if ( refNum < 1 ) { fail ( ResError ( ) ) ; } the_code = GetResource ( 'SACD' , 128 ) ; HLockHi ( the_code ) ; retval = ( * ( ( long ( * ) ( MyParams * ) ) StripAddress ( * the_code ) ) ) ( & the_params ) ; ... *end* The StripAddress is important; if your app is running in 24bit mode, the resource handle may contain tag bits and you don't want strange things to happen if the code resource switches into 32bit mode (which QuickDraw may do, incidentally) Exactly how you structure your calling conventions is up to you; there is no accepted standard (except for HyperCard XCMDs, but that is probably overkill for you). *13* 13.1) Q: How do I read the modifier keys of the keyboard? A: Just call EventAvail and check the event.modifiers field. Only works when you are in the foreground. You can also use GetKeys(), or (as a last resort) check the lo-mem global KeyMap directly. *14* QuickTime 14.1) Q: I want to write a Amiga QuickTime player and need the CODEC format details. A: Although the structure of QuickTime movies is well documented in Inside Mac: QuickTime, the inner workings of the Apple compression modules is a trade secret that Apple will only license to you at great cost. Perhaps it's time for a freeware, cross-platform QuickTime codec? *15* PowerPC programming 15.1) [Extracts from mail conversation] > BTW, I'm not seeded w/ a PPC. In short, what can you tell me about > the hardware that I should know? I'm buying my upgrade ASAP, but any > info would help. My code is in general pretty toolbox-friendly. I > don't use any wild hacks or patches. What should I look out for? UniversalProcPtrs - everywhere you pass a function pointer to the toolbox (which isn't NULL or -1) you have to do some mumbo-jumbo like: *CODE* void func ( ControlHandle cntl ) { static ControlActionUPP UPPMyControlAction = NULL ; if ( ! UPPMyControlAction ) { UPPMyControlAction = NewControlActionProc ( MyControlAction ) ; } switch ( TrackControl ( cntl , ... , UPPMyControlAction ) { ... } } *END* File filters, modal dialog filters, AppleEvent handlers, all kinds of interesting places use function pointers. However, if YOU use function pointers yourself, you'll have no problems. It's just the toolbox which can't know what kind of code (68K or R601) you're passing it. However, since Metrowerks and MPW use a new set of headers with new prototypes for UniversalProcPtrs, you'll have no problem finding the problem areas. Note that ModalFilterProcs (as used in SFGetFile and ModalDialog) and ModalFilterYDProcs (as used in StandardGetFile) are different animals and you have to use the correct version. Callbacks and interrupt tasks don't need assembly to get parameters from registers; for each callback there is a defined calling convention and you can just write your callback in C. "pascal" no longer does anything, so if you pass structures by value instead of by reference as arguments to pascal-declared functions, you HAVE to change the declaration/definition of those functions to take pointers to structures. AppleEvent handlers and Sound Manager callbacks are two common cases. 15.2) Compiler quality > Also, how good is CodeWarrior's generated PowerPC code? Better than > the 68K code? Much worse; it's so buggy I can't even use it for debugging purposes. It's a great environment though, and I recommend anyone to use it for compiling your code with the new headers and new code model until you compile cleanly with NO precompiled headers - then cast all string literals (as Apple's SDK makes pascal literals signed char :-( ) and compile using the SDK to get production code. Metrowerks will no doubt improve, as these comments apply to the development version released in early January. *16* Ice Cream and Frozen Yoghurt 16.1) Q: Dessert? A: Honey Hill Farms Cookie Jar Frozen Yoghurt or Haagen-Dazs Raspberry & Cream Ice Cream. Hokey-Pokey icecream with chocolate sauce and (for those who like their brain food firmer) Armond and Double Chocolate CookieTime cookies!? [Denis Birnie] -- -- Jon W{tte, h+@nada.kth.se, Mac Hacker Deluxe -- I offer a pot of gold for Gates' head on a pole. Naah - bashing Microsoft is "out." Love, Peace and Understanding!