What is Macintosh Application Development Essentials?
MADE is a tiny package of C/C++ code which provides all the lowest-level needs for a Macintosh application. It contains basic routines for dealing with errors, memory, menus, events, linked lists, AppleEvents and Drag-and-Drop.
MADE is used extensively at Sig Software for our own programs. Analog Helper, Cross Platform and Email Effects for Mac are built entirely on the MADE framework, while Email Merge and NameCleaner use parts of it.
If you purchase MADE, you will receive extra code for string manipulation, opening URLs, threading, dealing with memory and file buffers, dialog box items and opening and saving files with the new Navigation Services. All of these features are documented with comments in the code.
How will MADE help me write good software?
MADE includes several features specifically designed to help the development process, allowing potential crashes to be caught before testing and various methods to turn intermittent errors into ones that happen every time. These are :
• Assertions, which are checks that can be removed in final builds.
• Memory trashing so code that accesses uninitialised memory always fails.
• Memory block moving so code that just hopes memory won't move always fails.
These features are based on a book by Steve Maguire, published by Microsoft Press, entitled "Writing Solid Code - Microsoft's Techniques for Developing Bug-Free C Programs".
What other documentation is in this package?
• Feature List. The features of the registered and unregistered MADE packages, with the file they are implemented in.
• Getting Started. How to create a project using the MADE source code.
• Purchasing Information. How to purchase MADE to obtain the full source code package.
• Upgrading Information. How to upgrade projects created with earlier versions of MADE.
Any distribution of MADE must include this file. No responsibility about MADE's functionality or integrity is implied. This document and MADE are copyright of the author. Other trademarks are copyright of their respective owners.
Version 1.4.0 — 26th May 1998
• Added error contexts and hiding and linked-list routines.
• Added threading and Navigation Services/Standard File support to registered code package.
• Rearranged files and documentation for easier customization and simplicity.
Version 1.2.0 — 20th November 1998
• Added support for Open Application, suspend and resume events.
• Changed example user code to something more sensible.
• Added registered code package with code for buffers, dialogs, strings and URLs.
Version 1.1.1 — 19th June 1998
• Added cast within memory initialization routine due to CodeWarrior warning.
Version 1.1.0 — 29th January 1998
• Added optional support for modeless dialog boxes.
• Updates function names for new Mac OS headers.
Version 1.0.1 — 4th June 1997
• Fixed macro names for updated CodeWarrior environment.
• Drag tracking handler now resets port correctly.
