This document contains summarized information on the following topics:
• What is Tools Plus?
• What you get in Tools Plus
• How do you program with Tools Plus?
• Your existing applications and Tools Plus
• Tools Plus’ future
• Why an “Evaluation Kit” instead of a demo?
• Minimum requirements to develop applications using Tools Plus
• Minimum requirements to run applications written with
Tools Plus
• About the Tools Plus user manual
• How to get started programming <-----
I m p o r t a n t !
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Please read the “Evaluation License & Legal Info” document. It grants you specific rights and defines the legal limits of use for this Evaluation Kit. When you buy Tools Plus, you get full commercial rights with unlimited royalty-free distribution.
Also, please read the User Manual. Glancing through it doesn’t count.
What is “Tools Plus”
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Tools Plus is the building blocks you need to easily create a polished, commercial quality application. Its founding principle is to let you create any part of your user interface with a single line of simple C, C++ or Pascal code. Once you create it, that element works without the need for support code or resource templates.
Buttons click. Pop-up menus pop. Scroll bars scroll. The Edit menu edits. Floating palettes float. It all works as soon as you create it, and it gets created with a single line of code!
Tools Plus has been dubbed “the toolbox as it _should_ have been written,” but it’s more accurate to say that it lets you get away from having to deal with the toolbox to a great degree. Only 170 core routines (with a total of about 370) give you full control over all aspects of Tools Plus. Compare this to the thousands of Macintosh toolbox routines and you begin to see how Tools Plus simplifies your life.
Each Tools Plus routine equates to dozens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of lines of conventional code. Source code that you no longer need to write or maintain. It’s an attractive alternative to code generators or massive class libraries because in the end, your application is smaller, simpler, and more manageable.
A tremendous benefit offered by Tools Plus is that it simplifies coding unlike any other “productivity” tools. A code generator can quickly assemble an application framework, but after that initial burst of speed, you’ll be back to the drudgery of working with low-level code as though you had taken over someone else’s project. Class libraries, although potentially powerful, are large and complex, and they require that you invest your time and effort in learning them.
In spite of its power and robust features, Tools Plus is easy to learn and easy to use making it an ideal choice for novices, intermediate developers, and experts alike. Using Tools Plus simplifies your programming and accelerates development. You’ll create applications:
√ in less time
√ with much less source code
√ with far fewer bugs, and
√ with more features
than if you had used ordinary C/C++ or Pascal. Indeed, Tools Plus delivers extraordinary results with ordinary C/C++ or Pascal.
Tools Plus libraries can be compiled into applications intended for any model Macintosh (512KE or higher including Power Macintosh in emulated and/or native mode). These applications can run on any system version (System 5 and 6 using Finder or MultiFinder, and System 7 or later).
This evaluation kit contains everything you need to start creating applications with Tools Plus. When you buy Tools Plus, you receive these special benefits:
√ License to continue using Tools Plus after the thirty day
evaluation period has expired
√ Even more Tools Plus routines
√ The latest version of Tools Plus on a disk
√ Libraries that are more compact and more memory-efficient
√ A printed 370+ page User Manual -- It has pictures,
illustrations, programming tips, and an index that were not
included in this condensed documentation. The printed manual
is also much easier to use than a set of text files.
√ Free PROMPT technical support
√ Free software updates
√ Major software upgrades at reduced prices
√ License to distribute the programs you create with Tools Plus
(royalty free, unlimited number of apps, unlimited copies)
You also get these additional features absolutely FREE:
+ SuperCDEFs (an $89 value) -- World-class controls for the
discerning developer. Dozens (over 1.2 MB) of professional CDEFs
created to give your application a commercial finish…
* variety of 3D buttons easily replace standard Apple
buttons or can be used in conjunction with them
* check box with custom icon inside the box
* progress thermometer, “busy” thermometer state
* a variety of “tab” controls with 3D body and/or 3D title
* a variety of sliders (3D and flat)
+ A floating palette WDEF that features a full color drag bar (just
If you already know how to program in C, C++, or Pascal, you are well on your way to programming with Tools Plus. Tools Plus lets you build on what you already know instead of starting over again.
If you are just learning how to program, Tools Plus fits easily into C, C++, or Pascal, and makes Macintosh programming a quantum leap easier than learning all the intricacies of the Macintosh’s toolbox, then having to constantly use them.
Instead of using a multitude of Macintosh toolbox routines to create your user interface, you’ll use relatively few Tools Plus routines. The difference between Tools Plus and other tools becomes very apparent when you want to make your application’s user interface work. With Tools Plus, this happens _automatically_, saving you programming and debugging time and hassles.
To finish things off, your application’s event handling logic is reduced to a simple premise: Tools Plus tells me what happened, and I do it. For example, when your application asks Tools Plus for an event, it may reply with the following information:
doPopUpMenu user selected a pop-up menu
Window = 5 in the “Format Text” window
Menu = 3 pop-up menu #3 was selected (“Fonts”)
Item = 15 15th item was selected (“Geneva” font)
Your application would simply do whatever is appropriate for that user-oriented action.
All this time, Tools Plus is making your application’s user interface work, so you don’t have to bother with intercepting and processing low-level events, or managing your GUI. You also won’t have to deal with cryptic commands and data structures, complex processes, or convoluted work-arounds.
Important Things to Remember:
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Tools Plus IS:
√ Small, efficient, quick and flexible
√ Easy to learn and easy to use
√ A great way to get more done with a lot less work
Tools Plus is
- NOT a code generator, shell program, or class library
- NOT an assembly of custom resources
Your Existing Applications and Tools Plus
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The following is an excerpt from an e-mail sent to us by a new Tools Plus developer:
“I converted a fairly large C program to use ToolsPlus. It took
me a couple of days. I was able to eliminate hundreds of lines of
source code and greatly simplify my event processing and window
handling...
I’m a former Apple employee (Mac DTS) [Macintosh Developer
Technical Support] and I’ve seen lots of half-baked applications
frameworks and “class libraries.” I applaud the consistency,
simplicity, and adherence to the Mac interface that ToolsPlus
gives to Mac programmers.”
Even your existing applications can take advantage of Tools Plus libraries. Your apps will have more features, they’ll be easier to maintain and easier to modify. You get more results with less effort.
Tools Plus’ Future
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Tools Plus is constantly being enhanced to add more features and to make the current feature set even more robust. Our future is being built upon what we are doing today:
√ Continuous enhancements of Tools Plus libraries means more
(and better) features.
√ We are working on our “screen builder” project which will let
you design your application’s user interface with a MacDraw-
like tool, then generate the appropriate C or Pascal code that
makes calls to Tools Plus libraries. Unlike other code-
generators, our “screen builder” promises to create a _small_
amount of _simple_ source code, due entirely to the power of
Tools Plus libraries.
Nobody else gives you both the power and simplicity of Tools Plus.
Evaluating Tools Plus
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This richly reatures featured Tools Plus Evaluation Kit is distributed at no cost as EVALUATION SOFTWARE. The purpose of this is to allow you to EVALUATE Tools Plus before buying it. There are, however, terms and conditions to using this copy of Tools Plus, even for the purpose of evaluation.
For full details, please read the “Evaluation License & Legal Info” document included with this kit.
Why an “Evaluation Kit” instead of a demo?
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The Tools Plus Evaluation Kit is a method of software distribution that gives you an opportunity to try Tools Plus before buying it. Demos, on the other hand, offer limited functionality or they are crippled in some way. We believe the best way to evaluate Tools Plus is to try it for yourself in real-life situations. You can’t do that with an ordinary demo.
You should always buy software that suits your requirements and budget. This Evaluation Kit makes it easier to determine if Tools Plus suits your needs, because you can try it before you buy it. We give you the ultimate money-back guarantee: if you don’t use Tools Plus, you don’t pay for it!
You may use Tools Plus to develop and create applications for your own exclusive use for a period of thirty (30) days, but you may NOT under any circumstances distribute applications written with Tools Plus. Please read the “Evaluation License & Legal Info” document for full details on conditions and terms.
Tools Plus is COMMERCIAL software. Copyright laws apply, and Water’s Edge Software (the copyright holder) retains all rights with a few exceptions as specifically stated.
MINIMUM Requirements to Develop Applications using Tools Plus
*Tools Plus takes advantage of System 7’s features, but doesn’t
depend on them. You can compile Tools Plus libraries into
applications intended to run on System 5, 6 and System 7.
Tools Plus User Manual
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The User Manual that is included in this Evaluation Kit is extensive, well organized, and easy to follow. It has, however, been edited to (a) reduce its size to facilitate electronic transfer, and (b) allow you to read the files regardless of your brand and version of word processor. As a result, the User Manual included with this kit does not include pictures, illustrations, programming tips, or an index. When you buy Tools Plus, you get a beautifully illustrated, indexed and bound 370+ page Tools Plus User Manual.
For the best viewing results, please open the Tools Plus User Manual documents by first launching your word processor, then use the File menu’s Open command to open the desired document. Display the document using a monospaced font (Monaco 9pt is recommended). As a last resort, if you do not have a word processor, you can double-click any of the documents and TeachText (a free application from Apple that comes with each set of System-7 disks) will display them.
TeachText has a file limit of 32k (as do some low-end text processors), so chapters that exceed that limit have been split into several smaller files, each one suffixed with “1 of 2” and “2 of 2” etc.
How to Get Started with Tools Plus
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Tools Plus does a lot of things, but remember, it is not important to know everything about Tools Plus before you start using it. Here’s a quick way of getting started with Tools Plus:
1 Read the “Introduction to Tools Plus” chapter
2 Install Tools Plus (there is a small chapter dedicated to this).
3 Read the “Designing Your Application” chapter for some basic
guidelines on designing your application.
4 Take a look at our demo application for some BASIC ideas.
Remember… your don’t have to do everything at once, so don’t
bother reading the entire demo app to “learn” it.
5 Run through all the tutorials included on your Tools Plus disk.
6 Create a simple application that:
- creates pull-down menus
- has a main event loop
Play with it and get familiar with the basic functionality. You
can use the “Hello World” tutorial as a model for you application.
7 Expand your application to open a single window, and update your
event loop to respond to events related to windows (doRefresh and
doGoAway). Play with the application and get comfortable with
it.
8 Add a few buttons and update your event loop to respond to button
events (doButton). Again, get a feel for the application by playing
around with it.
9 Add more GUI elements. Do one type of element at a time, like
list boxes first then pop-up menus later. Each time you add a new
type of GUI element, update your event loop to account for the new
GUI elements and familiarize yourself with the growing
application.
10 Add a second window and get a feel for how Tools Plus makes
multiple window’s work. Update your event loop to respond to
doChgWindow events (a request by the user to activate another
window).
11 Create a floating palette which is just another type of window,
and notice how Tools Plus takes care of making it behave like a
palette.
12 Add a tool bar (again, just a specific type of window), and
experience how Tools Plus keeps it all working perfectly.
As a general rule, start with a very simple application, then incrementally add features while building your familiarity with Tools Plus.
Feedback
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In the interest of providing you with the best possible tools, we invite you to tell us your thoughts about Tools Plus, even if you decide not to get it. We reply promptly (and personally) to all queries.
Tell us what you like, what you don’t like, and let us know what features you would like to see in future releases. Please send your comments to any of the following:
Water’s Edge Software
2441 Lakeshore Road West, Box 70022
Oakville, Ontario
Canada, L6L 6M9
Voice: 1-416-219-5628
Fax: 1-905-847-1638
Internet: WaterEdgSW@aol.com (preferred)
AOL: WaterEdgSW
CompuServe: 73424,2507
73424.2507@CompuServe.com
We reply promptly to email queries.
NOTE: If you are using AppleLink or other e-mail system, you can likely send email to us through Internet. Please check your e-mail User Manual, or contact your e-mail Customer Service representative for information on sending email to Internet accounts. AppleLink users, for example, can reach us at:
