Mac Mania 2/MacMania 2.toast/Demo's/Tools&Utilities/Programming/MacStarter Pascal 1.0/READ ME

Text File | 1993-12-11 | 5.7 KB | 138 lines | [TEXT/ttxt]

MacStarter_Pascal, Version 1.0,
                   released December 1993.

by:  David J. Eck
     Department of Mathematics
     Hobart and William Smith Colleges
     Geneva, NY   14456

     E-mail: [e-mail]



This READ ME file is part of MacStarter_Pascal, an
application shell for writing Macintosh applications
ranging from very quick-and-dirty to moderately
complex, using THINK Pascal 4.0.  It uses the
object-oriented features of THINK Pascal to
implement windows with the standard Macintosh
behavior.  The windows can contain "decorations"
such as buttons and text-input boxes.  A lot of
comments are included in the source files, and the
source code for several simple applications is
included. Also included (and usable separately from
the rest of the shell) is a sophisticated unit for
working with mathmatical expressions such as "x^2+7"
and "sin(2*x)"; the unit includes procedures for
parsing and evaluating such expresssions.  One of
the sample applications shows how this unit can be
used in a function-graphing application.

Of course, THINK Pascal comes with a very
sophisticated application shell, the THINK Class
Library, but that is hard to learn and is really not
appropriate for small, short projects that don't
need all the bells and whistles. I wrote
MacStarter_Pascal for my own use and have used it to
write about a half-dozen reasonably serious programs
and to knock off a few small utility programs. It is
not perfect, and I expected to do more work on it
before giving it away to other programmers, but
circumstances are forcing me to switch (unwillingly)
a lot of my programming to C and C++, and I don't
expect that I will ever get around to making major
revisions. Furthermore, two other people have used
it and encouraged me to circulate it more widely.
So, here it is.  I would be happy to receive and
respond to any comments.

By the way, the name I use for my basic window
class, xWindow, was chosen befor I ever heard of
X Windows, and has nothing to do with it.  (It's a
weak wordplay on "Eck's Window".)


--------------------------------------------------------

Here is what you get in the MacStarter_Pascal
package:

(1) generic.π is a THINK Pascal 4.0 project file
    that you can use as a starting point for your
    applications.  It uses the Pascal source file
    applicationProcs.p, the resource file generic.rsrc,
    and several source files from the folder "xWindows
    definitions files".  A good place to start would be
    to open this project, run the program, and start
    reading some of the source files it includes.
    The first thing to read is applicationProcs.p;
    this file includes some instructions for creating
    applications.  (Other sample applicationProcs
    files contain more instructions and hints.)

(2) applicationsProcs.p and noCommentsProcs.p are two
    versions of the same UNIT, one with lots of comments
    and one with all the comments removed (because they
    quickly get annoying).  For small, quick-and-dirty
    programs, all you will do is modify one of these
    files (saving a copy of the original, of course),
    and use it with generic.π and generic.rsrc.
    For more sophisticated programs, you will probably
    want to add units and modify resources.  In that case,
    you should probably create a new project folder and
    start by copying generic.π, generic.rsrc and
    noCommentsProcs.p into that folder.  (Or, copy
    an existing folder like "Text Window starter".)

(3) generic.rsrs is the resource file for use with the
    project generic.π

(4) Text Window starter is a project folder for a simple
    text-editing application.  It can save, open and
    print text files.  This can be a starting point for
    interesting applications.  (I have written several.
    If you want to use file types and icons with your
    program, you will have to modify the resource file
    and also create a custom version of the file
    xTextFileWindow.p to work with your file type.)

(5) applicationProcs.calc is a modified version of the
    file noCommentProcs.p for a very simple calculator
    program.  The file includes instructions for how to
    use it with generic.π.  This illustrates use of
    text windows, radio button groups, default buttons
    and text-input boxes.

(6) TextReaderExample ƒ is a project folder that provides
    another sample program, including the use of a
    TextReader class that can be used to get convenient
    access to the text in a text window.

(7) simpleGraph example ƒ is the last sample project
    folder.  This one illustrates the use of the
    "expresssion" unit for parsing and evaluating
    mathematical expressions.  It also illustrates the
    definition of a new decoration type, this one for
    displaying the graph of a function.

(8) The folder "xWindows definitions files" contains all
    the source files used in the generic application
    project and in the other sample projects (plus one,
    xListDecoration.p, that isn't used in any of the
    samples).  The most fundamental files are:  xWindow.p,
    xControlDecoration.p, xInputDecoration.p, xTextWindow,
    xTextFileWindow.p, TextPrint.p and StandardMain.p.
    All these files have been used in a number of programs
    and should be reasonably well debugged.  The files
    xFigureDecoration.p, xScaledGraphicsDecoration.p,
    xExpression.p, xExpressionInput.p, xListDecoration.p,
    TextReader.p and "Main w/ suspend.p" were written
    for specific purposes, for which they work; but some
    of them were written with lots of extra bells and whistles
    that have not been adequately tested.  All thes files have
    a lot of comments.  (Only the interface sections of
    the UNITS are commented; you shouldn't ever need
    to look at the implementation sections.)