The 411Maker application is designed to provide a more pleasant interface for creating and modifying MPW 411 help files. Here's how it works.
The main '411 Maker' dialog provides a set of controls for entering all of the parameters which are normally displayed in an MPW 411 entry. Clicking on any of the three shadowed boxes in the framed '411 Text' area opens a window which lets you enter up to 32000 characters of text. Closing the window will display the first 50 or so characters of the text in the shadowed box.
Below this framed area are a set of controls which let you specify whether the call moves memory, which set of interfaces it is part of, which actual .a, .p, or .h file it is included in, and any other references to the call in Inside Mac, the Tech Notes, etc.
On the right are two lists which let you enter key words which 411 uses to locate entries of interest. You can add an entry to the list by clicking on the '+' button, typing the entry's text in the text field below the list, and then clicking the '√' button to accept the change. You can edit an entry by clicking on it, modifying it's text, and then clicking the '√' button. To delete an item from the list, select it and press the '-' button. (I know this isn't a standard interface, it's just something I was experimenting with at the time).
When you have finished entering the parameters for the 411 Entry, select the "Generate" menu item in the "Transform" menu. 411Maker will open the "Parse/Generate" window and process the parameters you entered to produce something like the following:
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æKY Dialogs
æFc Dialogs.h
æT FUNCTION
æTN $0xA97D
æD pascal DialogPtr NewDialog(void *wStorage,const Rect *boundsRect,
NewDialog creates a dialog and returns a DialogPtr for use in subsequent Dialog Manager fucntions. The dialog window is created as with NewWindow. The GetNewDialog function is used more often since it also sets up the item list.
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This text can be copied from the "Parse/Generate" window into a file containing many other 411 entries; sorry, the utility doesn't support reading and writing entire files yet. If there is enough interest, perhaps I will add it in the future.
If you want to modify a 411 entry in an existing file, you can copy the text of the item from the file into the "Parse/Generate" window and then choose the "Parse" option in the "Transform" menu. (As an experiment, you might want to test this with the above text). 411Maker will scan through the text, breaking it down into the appropriate sections and filling in the 411 Maker dialog. If it encounters an error, it will notify you and the parse will be aborted. Once you have made the desired changes, simply use "Generate" to generate the new text and copy it back into the original file.
NOTE: The "Parse/Generate" window is essentially a scratch window; all of the text which it contains is cleared when a new entry is generated.
What else? Oh yes; Selecting "New" from the "File" menu clears all of the parameters in the dialog so that you can start over from scratch. Another thing - the "Undo" option is included for completeness, but doesn't currently do anything. I will add support for it if there is enough interest to warrant the time investment. Until then, type with care! ;)
