The PartMeister developer utility helps you create OpenDoc source code for parts. It automates the creation of new parts based on templates. Sample templates are provided however, since you may be changing the templates based on your needs, verify the generated source code with the OpenDoc recipes. The generated source code can be compiled with the following compilers:
Select Settings on the Part menu to display the Settings notebook.
The Copyright tab provides the following fields to indicate the copyright information for the header area in your generated source files. Enter the appropriate information.
Author | Your name. |
Company | The name of your company. |
Years | The year or years to be used in a standard copyright notice. Note that a multiple year copyright can be used by specifying the first year followed by a hyphen followed by the last year for example, 1994-1996. |
The Directory tab specifies the output directory where the files are generated which is used in the make file generation. Enter the appropriate information in the following fields.
Runtime | The target directory, used in the makefile, where the DLL is placed on a successful build of the part. |
Public | The include path, used in the makefile, for the SOM compiler (sc.exe) and the C++ compiler (icc.exe). Only one path is allowed. This can be a common directory for all files that are shared by parts including IDL, header, and library files. The recommended setup is that this directory is a subdirectory public containing the base parts. For example, \pmeister\public. Base parts and frameworks are examples of parts that would be kept in the base parts directory. |
Output | The \pmeister subdirectory where generated files are placed. For example, \pmeister\output\mypart where mypart is the directory name for your part. The directory name is specified by the Short name on the Part page. The recommended setup is that this directory contains the derived parts directories. You can modify the generated make files and other files to correct errors. |
When you open PartMeister the PartMeister notebook is displayed. Once you've completed the Part Settings you are ready to create a part. See "Settings Notebook" for details on the settings.
The Template tab contains a drop-down list of templates that are available. When you select a template the description is displayed. Select the template that is most appropriate to the task you wish the new part to perform. The selected template will be used to generate your new part. For more information on PartMeister templates see "PartMeister Templates".
The Part tab contains the following fields.
Class name | The name of the SOM class that is generated. This is also the part handler name. Note: Only use single byte character set (SBCS) characters in this field. If you use double-byte character set (DBCS) characters your compile will fail. |
Short name | An eight character name to be used for the directory where the files are generated and for the base name of the files. Note: Only use single byte character set (SBCS) characters in this field. If you use double-byte character set (DBCS) characters your compile will fail. |
Desktop display name | The name of the icon that is displayed. It should be a meaningful name and may contain spaces for example, Stock Ticker. |
Category | A list of categories is supplied, based on the list maintained by CI Labs. Select the category. If the data type for your part does not match any of the specified categories, fill in the name of your choice. |
Category display name | The name of the category that is displayed on the screen. See "User Strings" for more information. |
Kind | The name of your part kind. A common naming convention is to use your company name followed by a colon followed by the class name for example, IBM:MyPart. Note: Only use single byte character set (SBCS) characters in this field. If you use double-byte character set (DBCS) characters your compile will fail. |
Kind display name | The name of your part kind that is displayed on the screen. See "User Strings" for more information. |
The Symbols tab contains a drop-down list of replaceable values. A description of each symbol is displayed in the Value field. You can change the description if you like by typing text in the Value field.
When the pages are completed, go to the Part Menu and select Generate. When the generation completion message is displayed, the generated files are in the output directory that you specified in the Settings notebook. If no changes are desired you can run the NMAKE tool provided by your compiler to compile and link the new part. The resulting DLL file is copied to the Runtime directory that you specified in the Settings notebook.
Note:
You must register your part before you can use it. See "Registering a Part Handler" for information on registering part handlers.
To add a new template, copy the .TPL file and its associated generation files to the \pmeister directory. The next time PartMeister is started the new template will be loaded. The template file is a plain text file with the following convention:
To create a new file, it is recommended that an existing file be copied
and changed.
The following are the types and requirements for each line.
Table 14. Template Types and Requirements
| Type | Description | Path |
|---|---|---|
| ToolName | IBM PartMeister | publicpath |
| FileType | Template Definition File | publicpath |
| Version | Version Release Modification | publicpath |
| Template | Name to place in template list | publicpath |
| TemplateType | Code generation parser | publicpath |
| Description | Displayed when template selected | publicpath |
| ParentClass | Name of parent class | publicpath |
| ParentFileName | File name of parent class | publicpath |
| Category | Default category of derived part | publicpath |
| Platforms | List of platforms supported | publicpath |
| File | Generator source/target files | publicpath |
| Symbol | User defined symbols, default value | publicpath |
All types except File and Symbol can be used only once. File and Symbol may be used multiple times, with each line requiring the type followed by a colon.
The templates used by PartMeister are plain text files that support replaceable values and a few simple functions that operate on the replaceable values. A replaceable value is surrounded by dollar sign ($) delimiters. A function is indicated by placing a colon (:) after the replaceable value and following it with the name of the function. Replaceable values are not case sensitive.
The following are the predefined replaceable values.
| Replaceable Value | Description |
|---|---|
| partname | name of the IDL interface (class name) |
| filename | file name for the new components files |
| parentname | IDL interface name of parent |
| parentfilename | file name of parent files |
| author | name of component author |
| company | company holding copyright |
| years | year(s) for copyright notice |
| category | OpenDoc part category |
| categorynq | OpenDoc part category (no quotes) |
| kind | OpenDoc part kind |
| kindnq | OpenDoc part kind (no quotes) |
| displayname | display name |
| displaynamenq | display name (no quotes) |
| kinddisplayname | kind display name |
| kinddisplaynamenq | kind display name (no quotes) |
| categorydisplayname | category display name |
| categorydisplaynamenq | category display name (no quotes) |
| runtimepath | OpenDoc runtime directory |
| publicpath | public files directory |
| outputpath | target path for generation |
| toolname | Name of tool generating files |
| toolversion | Version number of tool generating files |
The following are predefined functions, with an example of each
Table 16. Predefined Functions
| Function | Description | Path |
|---|---|---|
| toupper | change replaceable value to upper case | publicpath |
| tolower | change replaceable value to lower case | publicpath |