System 7 revealed

389 Pages·1991·78.729 MB·English

by  Meadow, Anthony

~
ANTHONY
ow
M IEAD
I
System 7 Revealed
System 7 Revealed
Anthony Meadow
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are
claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Addison-Wesley
was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial capital letters.
Meadow, Anthony.
System 7 revealed / Anthony Meadow.
p. em. - (Macintosh inside out)
Includes index.
ISBN 0-201-55040-7
1. Operating systems (Computers) 2. System 7. 3. Macintosh (Computer)-Program
ming. I. Title. II. Title: System seven revealed. lll. Series.
QA76.76.063M43 1991 91-9681
005.265-dc20 CIP
Copyright © 1991 by Bear River Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys
tem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the
United States of America. Published simultaneously in Canada.
Sponsoring Editor: Carole McClendon
Technical Reviewer: Steve Goldberg
Cover Design: Ronn Campisi Design
Set in 10.5-point Palatine by Shepard Poorman Communications Corporation
2 3 4 56 7 8 9 10-MW-94939291
Second printing, July 1991
To Diana
Contents
Foreword by Scott Knaster xix
Acknowledgments xxi
Introduction xxiii
Why This Book? xxiii
An Overview of System 7 xxiv
Hands-on Outlines for Coding xxiv
A Guide for Future Reference xxiv
The Framework xxiv
A Brief Word on Terminology xxvii
Important Concepts of the Macintosh Operating System xxviii
MemonJ Management in the Macintosh Operating System xxviii
Resources xxix
QuickDraw xxxi
Events xxxii
Technical Documentation on the Macintosh Operating
System xxxiii
Inside Macintosh xxxiv
Technical Notes xxxiv
Apple Technical LibranJ xxxiv
APDA Documents and Software xxxv
Conclusion xxxv
1. Overview of System 7 1
Introduction 1
The Strategy behind System 7 1
The History of System 7 3
VII
viii Contents
The Components of System 7 3
The Finder 4
The Huma11 Interface 4
The Installer 5
Interapplication Communications and High-Level Events 5
The Edition Manager 6
TrueType and Fonts 6
TextEdit and International Services 7
The Data Access Manager 7
The Help Manager 8
The Sound Manager 9
The Conununications Toolbox 9
AppleTalk and File Sharing 9
QuickDraw 10
The Memory Manager and Virtual Memory 11
Processes 11
The File System 12
The Hardware Managers 13
Running System 7 14
Memon; Requirements 14
Virtual Memory Requirements 14
Conclusion 15
2. The Finder 17
Introduction 17
The Menu 17
The Apple Menu 18
The File Menu 18
The Edit Menu 18
The View Menu 19
The Label Me1111 19
The Special Menu 20
Application Menu 20
Script Me11u 21
Help Menu 21
The System Folder 21
The New System Folder 21
FontjDA Mover 22
Aliases 23
File Sharing 24
Desktop Objects 26
Navigati11g the Desktop 26
Stationery Pads 27
Contents lx
IJil>
The Trash 27
Virtual Memory 27
Conclusion 28
3. The Human Interface Guidelines 29
Introduction 29
Color and Interface Design 29
Guidelines for Using Color i11 the Interface 30
Icons 30
New Kinds of Icons 31
Menus and Interface Design 32
New Standard Menu Commands 32
Pop-up Menus 32
Windows and Interface Design 33
Dialog Boxes and Interface Design 33
Movable Modal Dialog Boxes 34
Keyboard Navigation i11 Dialog Boxes 35
Changes to tile Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines 35
Conclusion 36
4. The Installer 37
Introduction 37
Using the Installer 39
What the Installer is Really Doing 39
Developing an Installer Script 39
The Organization of an Installer Script 40
Installer Resources 42
The 'inrl' (Rule) Resource 42
The 'infr' (Rule Framework) Resource 44
Assertions 44
The 'inpk' (Package) Resource 44
The 'infa' (File Atom) Resource 45
The 'inra' (Resource Atom) Resource 45
The 'inaa' (Action Atom) Resource 46
The 'inat' (Audit Atom) Resource 46
The 'inbb' (Boot Block Atom) Resource 47
The 'icmt' (Installer Comment) Resource 47
The 'infs' (File Specification) Resource 47
The 'indo' (Disk Order) Resource 48
Customizing the Installer 48
Creating a Splash Screen 48
When to Use the Installer 48
Conclusion 49
X ... Contents
5. Compatibility 51
Introduction 51
The Gestalt Manager 52
Calling Gestalt 52
Modift;ing the Gestalt Manager 55
Selector Functions 56
Running under A/UX 56
Availability of the Macintosh Operating System under AjUX 57
Programming Techniques for AjUX Compatibility 59
System 7-Aware Applications 59
Conclusion 61
6. The PPC Toolbox, High-Level Events, and Apple Events 63
Introduction 63
The PPC Toolbox 63
PPC Terminology 64
Naming PCC Ports 64
When to Use the PPC Toolbox, When to Use Apple Events 65
Compatibility and the PPC Toolbox 65
Managing PPC Services 65
Calling the PPC Toolbox 66
An Example of Using the PPC Toolbox 69
Using High-Level Events 71
Types of Events 71
Low-Level Events 71
Operating-System Events 72
High-Level Events 73
Describing High-Level Events 73
Calling High-Level Event Martager Routines 74
The 'SIZE' Resource 75
Apple Events 76
Compatibility and Apple Events 77
Important Data Structures of tlze Apple Event Manager 77
Using Apple Event Dispatch Tables 80
Extracting Data from an Apple Event 81
Sending an Apple Event 82
Where Are We Headed? 84
Conclusion 85
7. The Edition Manager 87
Introduction 87
The User's View of Publishing and Subscribing 88
Displaying Publishers and Subscribers 92
~ Contents xi
Changes to the Edit Menu 92
Supporting the Edition Manager from Various Types of
Applications 93
The Edition File 94
Saving Documents That Contain Sections 94
Using the Edition Manager 94
Compatibility and the Edition Manager 95
Starting the Edition Manager 95
The Section Record 95
Working with Section Records 95
Creating a Publisher 96
Creating a Subscriber 97
Format Marks 98
Subscribing to Files Rather Than Editions 99
Apple Events and the Edition Manager 99
Implementing Edition Manager Support 100
Conclusion 100
8. Fonts and TrueT ype 103
Introduction 103
Macintosh Fonts: Then and Now 103
The First Fonts: 'FONT Resources 104
PostScript Arrives 105
New Font Resources: 'NFNT Resources 107
TrueType Emerges 108
The PostScript Controversy 110
TrueType Font Technology 110
Taking Full Advantage of TrueType 115
Using the Font Manager 115
How the Font Manager Chooses a Font 115
Compatibility and the Font Manager 116
Using the New Font Manager Calls 116
Conclusion 118
9. TextEdit and International Services 121
Introduction 121
Why the Script Manager? 121
Improvements in TextEdit 122
Compatibility and TextEdit 123
Script Manager Support in TextEdit 123
Using the New TextEdit Routines 124
Improvements in the Script Manager 128
Using the Script Manager 132