This technical note discusses changes and corrections in the next generation of the Mac OS Operating System, Mac OS 8. This new system follows Mac OS 7.6.1 and contains several new and revised features. Mac OS 8 offers improvements and/or new features in the following areas:
Mac OS 8 can be installed on any Mac OS compatible computer that has either a PowerPC or a 68040 processor (including 68040 machines with a PowerPC upgrade card). PowerPC cards installed in 68030 computers are not supported, and Mac OS 8 does not support machines upgraded with either a 68030 or a 68040 upgrade card.
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Install Mac OS 8 |
This is an upgraded version of the Install Mac OS application provided with Mac OS 7.6. The new Install Mac OS application provides an enhanced user experience guiding the user through all of the steps required to install the new system software. Install Mac OS requires System 7.0 or later.
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Finder 8 |
Finder 8 is replacement of the System 7 Finder offering a multi-threaded interface that allows users to proceed with many file oriented tasks simultaneously. As well, many of the new user interface elements, such as Contextual Menus, present in Mac OS 8 are utilized by the new Finder. Other additions to the user interface experience provided by the Finder are:
Other more technical changes are discussed in the following sections.
Re-open Application Apple event
The Finder now sends a 're-open application' Apple event ('rapp') to applications when the application is already running and it is opened from one of the Finder's windows (either by a double click or by selecting the application and choosing the Open command). Applications receiving a 'rapp' event (when they do not have any windows open) should open a new untitled document just as it would when processing an 'oapp' event.
Determining Screen Location Contents
Finder 8.0 supports a new Apple event allowing clients to access the icon or window at a particular global coordinate. To access this facility, ask the Finder for the desired type (icon or window) with formAbsolutePosition and keyData of typeAEList containing the x and y global coordinates (as separate integer values). In cases where requests for typeWildCard (instead of a window or an item) are made, the Finder will provide an object specifier for an icon if there is one at the point, or a window (or the desktop).
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: This event is not present in the Finder's AETE dictionary and as such it is not officially supported by the Finder and may not be present in future versions of the Finder.
Intercepting Documents
Before the Finder opens one or more documents using an application, it sends a 'fopn' Apple event from the Finder event suite (kAEFinderEventSuite 'fndr'). Developers wishing to override the Finder's normal document handling facilities can install a global Apple event handler to intercept these events and direct the Finder to discontinue processing the open command. The Finder event 'fopn' contains the following parameters:
- A parameter with keySelection and keyData of object specifier for the selected item or an AERecord of object specifiers for the selected items (if more than one item is in the selection being opened).
- An optional parameter with the key 'APPL' and keyData containing an object specifier for the application the Finder plans to use to open the documents. There are two different cases where this optional parameter will be present. First, when documents are dropped directly into an application, the application will appear in this parameter and the Finder will send the 'fopn' Apple event only once. And second, if one or more documents are double-clicked or opened from the file menu, then the Finder will send the 'fopn' event twice for the selection (once without the 'APPL' parameter and once with the 'APPL' parameter once the application it plans to use has been determined).
Developers wishing to override the Finder's normal document handling behavior, must install a global Apple event handler for the ' fopn' Apple event. Once installed, the handler can distinguish between the files it wishes to process and the files the Finder should process normally by returning a Boolean value in the reply event. A value of true in a keyAEData parameter tells the Finder to discontinue all processing of the open request, and a value of false tells the Finder to continue processing the open request as it normally would.
If there are several documents in the selection being opened by the Finder, it is possible that the documents will not be all of the same type. As such, the entire group may not be appropriate for use in one particular application. In these cases, the Finder groups the documents by type and sends each group separately (first without the 'APPL' parameter, and once with the 'APPL' parameter). For example, if a selection contains both a SimpleText document and a MoviePlayer document, then the Finder first sends a 'fopn' event with the SimpleText document followed by a 'fopn' event with both the SimpleText document and the 'APPL' parameter referring to the application ' SimpleText'. After that, it would repeat the same process for the MoviePlayer document using the MoviePlayer application in the 'APPL' parameter. This behavior of the 'fopn' Apple event allows your handler to override the processing of particular document types while allowing the Finder to open other documents in the normal way.
NOTE: since the Finder discontinues all processing of documents if the global Apple event handler for the ' fopn' Apple event returns a Boolean value of true any such handler should provide appropriate user feedback for any exceptional circumstances that may arise while attempting to open the files (failed opens, insufficient memory, etc...).
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: This event is not present in the Finder's AETE dictionary and as such it is not officially supported by the Finder and may not be present in future versions of the Finder.
SendToSelf Apple events
Beginning with Finder 8, all Apple events are handled in separate threads. When the Finder receives an Apple event (any high-level event including those sent via PostHighLevelEvent), it immediately suspends the event, creates a thread manager task where the event will be handled, and schedules the task for execution. Once the thread has completed execution and wishes to return a value, it resumes the Apple event.
Products patching the system and sending Apple events to the Finder with the send mode kSendToSelf while the Finder is the current process, may require revision. In this case, AESend will return the error errAEEventTimeout which requires special handling. Here, the caller should handle this error by periodically attempting to extract data from the reply event. Also, the caller should be sure to yield time to the System so the Finder can run and process the event. When the Finder completes processing of the event, the reply will contain the requested data.
The AppleScript facilities provided by the Finder have changed. All of the scripting services formerly provided by the Finder are still present in the operating system; however, some of the facilities provided by the Finder have been moved to the appropriate control panels.
Network Commands Moved to control panels
The Finder no longer handles creation or manipulation of network users or groups, nor can the Finder be asked to retrieve information about connected users or file sharing activity. These scripting features are now handled by their respective control panels which can be targeted by scripts. Developers who have created scripts that instruct the Finder to either create or modify Users or Groups or query the Finder about file sharing details require modification for compatibility with Mac OS 8. In most cases, such modification will only require a change in the target application from the Finder to either the File Sharing control panel or the Users & Groups control panel.
NOTE: For compatibility with the majority of scripts utilizing the network facilities once provided by the Finder, the Finder continues to support commands for turning on and off file sharing.
Revised property values
In order to correct an incompatibility with the 'info for' OSAX, the Finder has changed the values of several properties. Specifically, the values of the properties 'folder', 'creation date', 'modification date', 'locked', and 'file type' have changed. Compiled scripts compiled under Finder 7 will continue to run without requiring recompilation. However, if these same scripts are opened with the ScriptEditor under Finder 8, all former references to these properties will have the text '(obsolete)' appended to the property name. In this case, the text '(obsolete)' must be removed before the script can be compiled with Finder 8.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: Scripts utilizing these properties that have been compiled under Finder 8 will not run with Finder 7 as the new property values will not be recognized by Finder 7. To create a script that will run with both Finder 7 and Finder 8, compile and save the script as either a compiled script or a run-only application.
Application Processes
Under Finder 7, requests for 'application processes' result in a collection of 'applications' which is actually data of type typeProcessSerialNumber. For example, under Finder 7 'application processes' might return {application "Script Editor", application "DragThing"} and 'first application process" might return 'application "Script Editor "'.
Under Finder 8 the behavior of 'application processes', 'desk accessory processes', and 'processes' has changed to always return a list of processes. For example, the same script under Finder 8 still returns {application "Script Editor", application "DragThing"} because AppleScript is asking for the items as typeProcessSerialNumber. However, in this case, 'first application process' under Finder 8, will return 'process "Script Editor"' which is a different data type. Developers wishing to obtain the same data type for both Finder 7 and Finder 8 should use the query ' first application process as «class psn »' in their scripts which will return the value 'application "Script Editor "' with both Finders.
Finder 8 introduces four new drag flavors ('fdtt', 'fntb','clnm' and 'clfn') for client applications who wish to support dragging to the Finder. The appearance of any of these new flavors attached to any drag item in a DragRef will direct the Finder to provide the following behaviors when accepting the drag:
Trash Only Drags
If adding the 'fdtt' flavor (with no data) to any item in a DragRef, tells the Finder not to accept the drag anywhere except to the Trash Icon. No other icons of windows will highlight. If the 'fdtt' flavor appears anywhere in a DragRef, then it applies to all of the items in the DragRef. The 'fdtt' flavor provides an opportunity for applications to utilize the 'drag to trash' model for, say, allowing users to delete selections by dragging them to the trash.
No Springing Drags
Adding the 'fntb' flavor (with no data) to any item in your DragRef, the Finder will temporarily disable Spring-loaded Folders for the duration of the drag. All windows and icons will highlight and accept drags as normal, but no spring-opening will occur. If the 'fntb' flavor appears anywhere in a DragRef, then it applies to all of the items in the DragRef.
Naming Clipping Files
The 'clnm' and 'clfn' flavors have been added to provide applications with better control over the naming of clipping files. These flavors are used by the Finder in the following steps that it uses to determine the name for a clipping file:
- If the item contains a 'clnm' flavor (flavorTypeClippingName), then this value (a Pascal string) is used in the template "^0 clipping" to name the file. This is the preferred method for new applications. Usually, the application should provide the name of the document from which the clipping was dragged.
- If the file name was not assigned in the above and the item contains a 'clfn' flavor, then this value (a Pascal string) is used as the complete file name.
- If the clipping file name was not established by either of the above methods, then the flavors are examined in order until a 'TEXT', 'PICT', or 'snd ' flavor is found. If one of these flavors is found, then the clipping file is named either "text clipping", "picture clipping", or "sound clipping" respectively.
- as a last resort, the name "untitled clipping" is used.
- If the name assigned by the above steps is already in use, then a number is appended to the name (or appended and incremented until a unique name is established). Also, if the resulting name is longer than 31 characters, the name is truncated in the middle and an ellipsis is added. For example, "A Very Long Doc... clipping 100".
NOTE: Developers utilizing the 'fdtt', 'fntb', 'clnm', and 'clfn' flavors are not required to create additional drag items to attach them to when including them in a DragRef. To request the behaviors defined for each of these flavors from the Finder, simply attach them to any drag item included in the DragRef. The Finder will provide the behaviors defined for each of the new flavors if they appear anywhere in the DragRef.
Related Materials:
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Inside the System file |
The system file contains routines and resources responsible for running the computer. This section describes new features and corrections built into the System file. These items are always present under Mac OS 8, even when shift key is held down at system startup.
The Alias Manager is the part of the operating system that communicates with the file system to maintain alias records that are used to keep track of file and folder locations. The Alias Manager itself does not create the alias files created by the Finder; however, the Finder creates these files and stores alias records created by the Alias Manager in them.
MatchAlias wasn't checking for off line volumes when kARMNoUI was specified among its flag parameters which could have lead to some 'please insert the disk' alerts when there shouldn't have been any. Here, the File Manager was displaying an alert when the Alias Manager attempted to access the volume information. The Alias Manager now disables the File Manager's "disk switch alert" when the kARMNoUI rule is specified.
Related Materials:
- The "Alias Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Files.
- The "The Alias Manager" section on page 2-64 of Inside Macintosh: QuickTime.
- Technote FL30, "Resolving Alias Files Quietly"
The Appearance Manager is a set of extensions and shared libraries that provide the Apple Platinum Appearance to all existing and new graphical elements of the Mac OS environment.
With the introduction of the Appearance Manager comes several extensions to the API's for both the Control Manager, the Menu Manager, and the Dialog Manager. Developers should refer to the Appearance Manager documentation and SDK regarding these new API's for further details.
Related Materials:
- The Appearance Manager documentation and SDK.
ATA stands for AT-Attachment, and is a bus protocol used by the Mac OS for communications with IDE devices such as Hard Disks, CD ROMs, and other IDE devices in some Mac OS compatible computer models. Machines with installed IDE harddrives or ATAPI CD ROM drives use the ATA Manager (this includes most Performas and PowerBooks).
The routine ATA_RegAccess function has been updated to work correctly on PowerBook 3400 machines.
The 68K Code Fragment Manager (CFM-68K) is the 68K implementation of the Code Fragment Manager originally designed for the PowerPC. The 68K Code Fragment Manager is the part of the Mac OS on 68K machines that loads 680x0 code fragments into memory and prepares them for execution.
Related Materials:
The Collection Manager provides a data storage and retrieval service usable from applications for the purposes of maintaining small collections of variable sized data elements. This facility has been moved from QuickDraw GX to being a part of the toolbox and it is now included as part of the system file. The Mac OS 8.0 version of the Collection Manager contains the following corrections:
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: Developers requiring the Collection Manager must link with CollectionsLib under Mac OS 8 as it will not be accessible via the QuickDraw GX library. The Mac OS 8.0 version of CollectionsLib includes glue for both CFM-68K and PowerPC CFM callers. In Mac OS 8, the gestaltCollectionMgrVersion selector returns version 1.1 (0x01108000).
Related Materials:
The Communications Tool Box provides an API for basic communications and connection services.
A problem in the StandardNBP routine where it was possible for a list structure exceeding 32k to be allocated when a large number of names were requested has been corrected.
Related Materials:
- Apple Computer, Inc. Inside the Macintosh Communications Toolbox. Addison Wesley.
The Control Manager provides facilities for drawing and processing user interaction with controls drawn on the screen.
The new Appearance Manager extends the functionality of the Control Manager. See the Appearance Manager documentation and SDK for further information.
Related Materials:
- The Appearance Manager documentation and SDK.
- The "Control Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials.
Contextual Menus is a new element of the Mac OS user interface experience providing menus associating a set of relevant commands with a particular location on the screen. Contextual menus are activated by a control-click.
Finder 8 utilizes the facilities provided by the Contextual Menu Manager.
See the Contextual Menu documentation and SDK for further information.
Related Materials:
- The Contextual Menus documentation and SDK.
- The "Menu Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials.
The Desktop Manager provides routines for accessing desktop database files on Mac OS volumes.
Related Materials:
The Device Manager provides a standard programming interface for communications between applications and code that is designed to communicate with particular hardware devices.
Related Materials:
The Dialog Manager provides automated user interface facilities for managing user interactions with Dialog windows.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: Developers drawing an outline around the default button in dialog windows using the older black and white FrameRoundRect method should modify their code for compatibility with the new Appearance facilities. To display a dark outline around the default button in a dialog box, call the routine SetDialogDefaultItem to ensure that the dark outline drawn around the default button has the proper appearance.
Related Materials:
The Disk Initialization Package provides formatting services for Mac OS formatted disks.
The Disk Initialization Package now has Platinum Appearance.
Related Materials:
- The Appearance Manager documentation and SDK.
- The "Disk Initialization Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Files.
FKEYS are executable code resources stored in the system file that are invoked by typing a command-shift-number combination, where the number is equal to the resource ID of the FKEY resource.
Under Mac OS 7.6 and Mac OS 7.6.1 the FKEY 3 & FKEY 4 routines would fail to capture the screen if At Ease was installed but inactive. This problem has been corrected.
Related Materials:
- The "Responding to Keyboard Events" section in the "Event Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Toolbox Essentials.
The File Manager provides services for storage and retrieval of disk based information on Mac OS-compatible computers.
There is a problem with the disk VolumeName. Some information may have been lost.
Check any recently-used files for data loss, and use a disk repair program on the disk.
Related Materials:
The File System Manager is the part of the Mac OS that manages the use of foreign file systems. The File System Manager provides a general means by which foreign file systems can be installed, identified, and interfaced to the Operating System.
Related Materials:
The Folder Manager provides facilities for developers to register their own special folders that can be accessed using the FindFolder routine. Also, facilities have been added so developers can direct future versions of the Finder to auto-route certain file types into directories they register with the Folder Manager. Interested developers should refer to the Folder Manager technote for more information. Facilities and changes provided in the Mac OS 8 implementation of the Folder Manager include:
The following folders are registered in Mac OS 8:
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Folder Name |
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Contents |
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System Folder |
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it is the blessed folder |
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System files and folders |
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Desktop Folder |
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in the root directory |
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The Desktop |
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Trash |
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in the root directory |
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The Trash |
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Network Trash Folder |
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in the root directory |
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The Trash on network volumes |
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PrintMonitor Documents |
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in 'System Folder' |
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PrintMonitor Documents |
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Startup Items |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Items opened at startup |
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Apple Menu Items |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Items in the Apple Menu |
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Control Panels |
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in 'System Folder' |
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control panels |
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Extensions |
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in 'System Folder' |
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System Extensions |
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Fonts |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Fonts and Font Suitcases |
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Preferences |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Preferences files |
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Temporary Items |
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in the root directory |
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Temporary files |
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Application Support |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Application specific files |
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Shutdown Items |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Items opened at shutdown |
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Extensions (Disabled) |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Disabled System Extensions |
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Control Panels (Disabled) |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Disabled control panels |
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System Extensions (Disabled) |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Disabled System Extensions |
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Startup Items (Disabled) |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Disabled Startup Items |
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Shutdown Items (Disabled) |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Disabled Shutdown Items |
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Applications |
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in the root directory |
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Application programs |
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Documents |
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in the root directory* |
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Data files created by the user |
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OpenDoc |
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in 'Editors' |
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OpenDoc related items |
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OpenDoc Shell Plug-Ins |
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in 'OpenDoc' |
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OpenDoc plug-ins |
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OpenDoc Libraries |
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in 'Extensions' |
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OpenDoc libraries |
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Editors |
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in 'System Folder' |
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OpenDoc Editors |
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Text Encodings |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Text encoding extensions |
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Stationery |
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in the root directory |
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OpenDoc Stationery |
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Internet Plug-Ins |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Internet related plug-in files |
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Control Strip Modules |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Control Strip Modules |
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Assistants |
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in the root directory |
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Configuration assistants |
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Utilities |
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in the root directory |
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Assorted utilities |
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Contextual Menu Items |
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in 'System Folder' |
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Contextual Menu Extensions |
Finder 8 only creates a subset of the above listed folders (namely, "Apple Menu Items", "Control Panels", "Extensions", "Fonts", "Preferences", "Shutdown Items", and "Startup Items"). Other folders are created as they are needed.
*On some machines, the Documents folder was created on the desktop. On those machines, the location of this folder has moved to the root directory.
Special new folders for developers:
The Internet Plug-Ins Folder. The new "Internet
Plug-Ins" folder (type 
) in the System Folder is designated as a
common location for the storage of Netscape-style plug-ins.
Related Materials:
The Font Manager provides system wide services for the retrieval of symbols and glyphs for display of textual information.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: The default system font has changed and the system font can be selected by the user. The original system font, Chicago, is still present in the system file, however Mac OS 8 installs with Charcoal as the system font. Developers shouldn't make any assumptions regarding the system font in their applications. Namely, don't assume that the system font contains a bitmap character set for a particular font size.
Related Materials:
- The "Font Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Text.
The Help Manager is responsible for the drawing and display of Help Balloons and the Help menu.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: To avoid displaying two menus entitled "Help" in the menu bar, developers should move any menu commands from their own help menus into the Help Manager's help menu.
Related Materials:
The List Manager is the part of the operating system providing standard user interface facilities for drawing and managing user interaction with lists of items.
Under some circumstances, calls to LSize could mistakenly validate a part of the window containing the list outside of the lists boundary rectangle resulting in incorrect drawing during the update event that following the call to LSize. This problem has been corrected.
Related Materials:
- The "List Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox.
The Memory Manager is the part of the operating system responsible for managing memory allocation requests.
Related Materials:
The Menu Manager is the part of the operating system responsible for drawing the menu bar and drawing menus and pop-up menus on the screen while the mouse is being held down.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: Developers displaying pop-up menus in applications should use the popup control rather than calling the menu manager directly to ensure their pop-up menus are displayed correctly when system-wide appearance is enabled.
Related Materials:
ObjectSupportLib provides routines for AppleScript extensions and applications providing AppleScript services.
Related Materials:
The Process Manager shares the processor among multiple applications. Mac OS 8 includes the following new features in the process manager:
Related Materials:
The Resource Manager is an operating system service used for storage and retrieval of information stored in the resource fork of any Mac OS file. Every Mac OS file can have a resource fork associated with it, and resource files are used to store many different types of information used by the system, system extensions, and applications programs.
AddResource was returning an error when passed an empty handle. AddResource no longer returns an error in this case.
Related Materials:
- The "Resource Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox.
The Script Manager provides facilities for display and retrieval of number, date, time, and other information in a language-independent way.
And few more PowerPC implementations of the routines CharacterByteType, CharacterType, TransliterateText, and FillParseTable have been added.
Related Materials:
- The "Script Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Text.
The SCSI Manager is the part of the operating system responsible for communications with connected SCSI devices.
A problem where large volumes (greater than 4GB) were not being mounted correctly at startup has been corrected. Some of these volumes were taking too long to spin up during the first scan of the SCSI bus and were not being recognized by the system. The system now scans the bus again later in the boot cycle looking for volumes that missed the first scan.
Related Materials:
- The "SCSI Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Devices.
- The "SCSI 4.3 Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Devices.
- Technote DV24, "Fear No SCSI"
The Serial Driver provides serial communications services for either the printer port or the modem port using the Device Manager API. The Mac OS 8 Serial Driver includes the following changes:
Related Materials:
The Sound Manager provides facilities for playback and recording of digitized sounds.
Related Materials:
StdCLib is a shared library located in the ROM on all PowerPC-based Mac OS compatible computers providing functionality for programs compiled using the C language. StdCLib has been present on all PowerPC models and prior to System 7.6 updates were provided via the StdCLibInit system extension. Mac OS 8 includes a new version of the StdCLib in the System file's data fork containing the following corrections:
Related Materials:
The Virtual Memory manager provides virtual memory services for the Mac OS. The following changes have been made in the Virtual Memory Manager:
Related Materials:
The Window Manager is part of the Mac OS providing facilities for drawing and maintaining windows on the screen.
When Appearance is turned on, the Window Manager now ignores all entries in custom window color table ('wctb') resources except for the content color entry.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: Developers should not make any assumptions regarding the shape or size of a window's structure region. Also, your application should not assume that the content region of a window has no border. To determine the shape and size of a window's border, calculate the difference between the content region and the structure region. For example, to calculate the height of the title bar for a window, following routine could be used:
/* TitleBarHeight -- height of the window's topmost border */ OSErr TitleBarHeight(WindowPtr theWindow, short *height) { RgnHandle structure, content; structure = content = NULL; if ((structure = NewRgn()) == NULL) goto bail; if ((content = NewRgn()) == NULL) goto bail; GetWindowStructureRgn(theWindow, structure); GetWindowContentRgn(theWindow, content); *height = (**content).rgnBBox.top - (**structure).rgnBBox.top; DisposeRgn(structure); DisposeRgn(content); return noErr; bail: if (structure != NULL) DisposeRgn(structure); if (content != NULL) DisposeRgn(content); return memFullErr; }Related Materials:
- The Appearance Manager documentation and SDK.
- The "Window Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials.
The Worldscript Power Adaptor provides language specific text services for the Mac OS.
The Worldscript Power Adaptor has been moved to the System file. It is no longer provided as a separate extension. If the extension is found in the extensions folder it will be moved to the "Extensions (disabled)" folder at system startup time.
Related Materials:
- The "WorldScript I" section in Appendix A - Built-in Script Support" of Inside Macintosh: Text.
- The "WorldScript II" section in Appendix A - Built-in Script Support" of Inside Macintosh: Text.
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Apple Menu Items |
Items and files in the Apple Menu Items folder appear in the Apple Menu. Application files of type 'APPD' are auto-routed to the Apple Menu Items folder when they are dropped into the System Folder's icon.
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Apple System Profiler 1.2 |
The Apple System Profiler provides simple to access information regarding the current system configuration. Information provided by the Profiler is useful for customer support representatives in assisting users.
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Connect To... 1.0 |
Connect To... is a new small AppleScript Applet allowing for quick access to an internet URL. URLs are dispatched through the Internet Config extension.
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Stickies 1.0.3 |
A new version of the Stickies utility featuring a few cosmetic and implementation improvements.
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SimpleSound 1.0 |
A new addition to the Apple Menu Items folder. SimpleSound allows for simple convenient access to sounds installed in the System file.
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Control Panels |
Control Panels provide user interface facilities for custom configuration of components of the operating system and for third party system extensions. Application files of type APPC are auto-routed to the Control Panels folder when they are dropped into the System Folder's icon. Also, starting with System 7.6 files of type APPC may contain INIT resources that will be executed at system startup time.
Many of the standard control panels have been revised to support the new Apple Platinum appearance, and some of the file types and creator types for control panels have been changed.
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Appearance 1.0 |
The Appearance control panel provides user interface configuration facilities for the appearance of graphical user interface elements throughout the system. It replaces both the older Color and WindowShade control panels and provides a super set of the features that were provided by these items.
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Apple Menu Options 1.1.3 |
The Apple Menu Options control panel provides user interface configuration facilities for the appearance and behavior of the Apple Menu. There are some corrections present in this implementation of the Apple Menu Options control panel.
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AutoRemounter 1.2.5 |
The AutoRemounter control panel provides facilities for re-mounting network volumes on portable Mac OS compatible computers after waking the machine from sleep state.
This version has been updated to support changes in AppleShare authentication techniques.
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Desktop Pictures 1.0 |
Desktop Pictures replaces the Desktop Patterns control panel. Desktop Pictures allows the user to configure the desktop to be drawn using an image stored in a picture file. Unlike the older Desktop Patterns control panel, Desktop Pictures uses stand-alone image files to retrieve image data rather than resources.
enum {
/* the 'dkpx' selector is installed by
the Desktop Pictures APPC/INIT */
gestaltDesktopPicturesAttr = 'dkpx',
/* bit zero -> control panel is installed */
gestaltDesktopPicturesInstalled = 0,
/* bit one -> a picture is currently displayed */
gestaltDesktopPicturesDisplayed = 1
}
For example, to set the default Desktop Pictures display settings for a picture as 'original size, aligned with the top right corner of the screen', the picture's associated 'dkpx'=0 resource would contain the following (in hex): 0x00000002 and 0x00000060.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: The first time Desktop Pictures runs it reads in any existing Desktop Patterns from the Desktop Patterns control panel's preferences file (if this file exists in the preferences folder). After saving the original patterns in it's own preferences file, Desktop Pictures moves the old preferences file to the trash.
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Extensions Manager 4.0.1 |
The new Extensions Manager control panel provides user interface facilities for users to configure components of the system software that are installed at system startup time. The following have been corrected in the Extensions Manager control panel:
Related Materials:
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File Sharing 8.0 |
This control panel allows for the configuration of various settings related to sharing files over a network. The new File Sharing control panel replaces both the older Sharing Setup and File Sharing Monitor control panels. The new File Sharing control panel has the following features:
enum {
/* the 'fsue' selector is installed by
the File Sharing APPC/INIT */
gestaltFileSharingAttr = 'fsue',
/* bit zero -> File Sharing control panel is installed */
gestaltFileSharingCPPresent = 0,
/* bit one -> Users & Groups control panel is installed */
gestaltUsersAndGroupsCPPresent = 1
}
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*Starred entries in the table are entries that cannot be mapped accurately to the new set of access privileges. In these cases, the permissions are mapped to the most conservative permission corresponding to the original setting.
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General Controls 7.7 |
The General Controls control panel has been revised to support the new Appearance guidelines in both itself and the shutdown dialog.
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Keyboard 8.0 |
// an entry in the resource format
struct ConfigEntry {
SInt16 kchrID;
UInt16 flags;
};
typedef struct ConfigEntry ConfigEntry;
typedef ConfigEntry *ConfigEntryPtr;
// the resource format
struct KCHRConfig {
SInt32 version;
ConfigEntry kchrTable[kVariableLengthArray];
};
typedef struct KCHRConfig KCHRConfig;
typedef KCHRConfig *KCHRConfigPtr, **KCHRConfigHandle;
// bit numbers for the flags field
enum {
kKCHRInMenu = 1,
kDefaultKCHR = 2,
kKCHRValid = 4
};
- The prefs file name.
- The type of the prefs file.
- The creator of the prefs file.
- The type of resource to look for.
- The type of the keyboard control panel.
- The creator of the keyboard control panel.
From this resource we get the name creator and type of the Keyboard prefs file.
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Location Manager 1.0.2 |
Apple Location Manager is a toolbox extension that allows mobile users to save and restore sets of configurations ("Locations") under a single name. For example, a user can define a default printer, network settings, and extension set for one location, and a different group for another.
ALM is developer-extensible. Apple Location Manager modules appear in the "Location Manager Modules" folder in the system folder.
Version 1.0.2 corrects several problems found in the Location Manager.
Related Materials:
- The Location Manager web pages at <http://devworld.apple.com/dev/alm/>
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Mac OS Easy Open |
Mac OS Easy Open is a optional component of the operating system providing translation services for users opening documents in one application that have been created by other applications.
Related Materials:
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Memory 7.5.8 |
The Memory control panel provides user interface facilities for the configuration of virtual memory, RAM disk storage, and the size of the disk cache.
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Monitors & Sound 1.3 |
The Monitors & Sound control panel provides user interface services for configuring and adjusting various settings for AppleVision monitors attached to the computer. The Monitors &Sound control panel provides services formerly provided by the Monitors control panel and the Sound control panel.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: On systems where the video or sound device that cannot be accessed using the Monitors & Sound control panel, use the Monitors control panel, or the Sound control panel, instead. These older control panels are installed in the Apple Extras folder in the root directory. Unless these older control panels are specifically required, the new unified Monitors & Sound control panel should be used.
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Startup Disk 7.6.1 |
The Startup Disk control panel provides user interface facilities for choosing the disk that will be used to run the computer the next time it starts up.
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Users and Groups 8.0 |
This control panel provides facilities for the specification and configuration of user names and passwords for people who are able to establish network connections with the computer. The following changes are present in the Users and Groups control panel:
enum {
/* the 'fsue' selector is installed by
the File Sharing APPC/INIT */
gestaltFileSharingAttr = 'fsue',
/* bit zero -> File Sharing control panel is installed */
gestaltFileSharingCPPresent = 0,
/* bit one -> Users & Groups control panel is installed */
gestaltUsersAndGroupsCPPresent = 1
}
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Web Sharing 1.1 |
Web Sharing provides facilities for users to configure and set up the "Web Sharing" folder on their computer to act as a web site. Web Sharing allows users to publish documents on the Intra or Internet. Documents placed in the Web Sharing folder will be available to others by using any of the Web Browsers currently available on any platform. Web Sharing provides the following facilities:
NOTE: Web Sharing is not recommended for use on computers connected to the Internet via PPP. It is intended for use on computers that have a static internet address.
Related Materials:
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System Extensions |
System Extensions are located in the Extension's folder inside of the System Folder. For a system extension to be active, it must be located in the extensions folder when the system starts up. Extensions are not loaded if the shift key is held down while the system is starting up.
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Appearance Extension |
The Appearance Extension extends the facilities provided by the Control Manager, the Dialog Manager, the Menu Manager, and the Window Manager.
IMPORTANT: The Appearance Extension will be loaded at system startup if it is in the Extensions (Disabled) folder. Mac OS 8 will not boot correctly if this file is removed from the System Folder.
Related Materials:
- Appearance Manager documentation and SDK.
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Apple CD-ROM 5.4 |
The Apple CD-ROM driver contains some enhancements for support of new Apple products and corrects some problems found in previous versions of the driver.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: Non-Apple CD drives are no longer supported by the Apple CD-ROM driver.
Related Materials:
 |
Apple Guide 2.2.1 |
Apple Guide provides system wide instructional, online help services for nearly every aspect of the Mac OS user experience. It is extensible in many ways so developers are able to provide guide help files for their own applications and utilities.
This release of AppleGuide delivers speed improvements and corrections over previous versions. Changes and notes of interest to developers are as follows:
Related Materials:
 |
AppleScript 1.1.2 |
AppleScript is a component of the operating system that provides a scripting interface for users to automate actions that would normally require use of the menus and keyboard. As described below, this new version of AppleScript includes some corrections and enhancements that improve its operation with Mac OS 8.
- "desktop applications", "desktop applications folder"
- "application support", "application support folder"
- "control strip modules", "control strip modules folder"
- "desktop documents", "desktop documents folder"
- "editors", "editors folder"
- "help", "help folder"
- "modem scripts", "modem scripts folder"
- "plug-ins", "internet plug-ins, "internet plug-ins folder"
- "printer descriptions", "printer descriptions folder"
- "printer drivers", "printer drivers folder"
- "scripting additions," "scripting additions folder"
- "shared libraries", "shared libraries folder"
- "stationery", "stationery folder"
- "shutdown items", "shutdown items folder"
- "voices", "voices folder"
NOTE: These keywords return an error at runtime if executed on a version of Mac OS earlier than Mac OS 8.
Other Enhancements:
Corrections:
Related Materials:
 |
AppleShare Workstation Client 3.7.1 |
AppleShare Workstation Client provides file sharing services for the Finder and applications on Mac OS-compatible computers networked with file servers.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: AppleShare Workstation Client 3.7.1 can be used with versions of Mac OS including 7.5.3 and later.
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Color Picker 2.1 |
The Color Picker Extension provides standard user interface facilities for selecting colors. The new ColorPicker offers the following new features and corrections:
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: ColorPicker 2.1 is compatible with System Software versions 7.5 and later.
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Mac OS Runtime for Java™ 1.0.2 |
Mac OS Runtime for Java™ (MRJ) is Apple's implementation of the Java runtime environment. MRJ allows Java functionality to be embedded in Mac OS applications, and applications using MRJ's JManager API will be able to run Java applets and applications.
Related Materials:
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OpenDoc™ 1.2.1 |
OpenDoc is Mac OS's implementation of the OpenDoc open, multi-platform architecture for component software.
Related Materials:
 |
Open Transport 1.2 |
OpenTransport is the only supported networking technology for Mac OS 8.
Some Important changes and enhancements in OpenTransport 1.2 include:
For more information about changes, corrections, and new features present in Open Transport 1.2, developers should consult the OpenTransport release notes and Developer notes found in the OpenTransport SDK.
Related Materials:
|
|
Open Transport/PPP 1.0.1 |
Open Transport/PPP provides Point to Point Protocol connection services for users connecting to the internet via telephone.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: Open Transport/PPP configuration information is stored in the file "Remote Access Connections" in the folder "...System Folder:Preferences:Remote Access:". Persons transferring configuration files from older system installations will want to copy this file.
WARNING: ARA Client 2.1 must not be installed over the Open Transport/PPP (OT/PPP) installation included with Mac OS 8. Installing the ARA Client 2.1 after installing OT/PPP will replace the OT/PPP Modem Files which can cause connection problems for Open Transport/PPP. However, it is perfectly safe to install OT/PPP after having installed the ARA Client 2.1.
Related Materials:
 |
QuickTime™ 2.5 |
QuickTime provides various Multimedia services for the Mac OS including the ability to display movies and facilities for the translation and display of various audio and visual data file formats.
Related Materials:
 |
QuickTime™ MPEG Extension 1.0 |
This extension provides MPEG media handling services for QuickTime.
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QuickTime™ Musical Instruments Extension 2.5 |
This extension provides a selection of Musical Instrument synthesizers available for use in QuickTime.
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QuickTime™ VR 2.0 |
QuickTimeVR provides standard components and API entry points usable for the display and management of QuickTimeVR images
Related Materials:
 |
QuickDraw 3D 1.5 1 |
QuickDraw 3D provides 3D drawing services for the Mac OS.
Related Materials:
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QuickDraw GX 1.1.6 |
QuickDraw GX provides advanced graphics and typographic services for the Mac OS.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: GX printing and GX printer drivers are no longer supported in Mac OS 8. GX Printing or older versions of GX will be removed during installation.
Related Materials:
 |
Speech Manager 1.5 |
The Speech Manager provides services for the translation of text into audible speech.
Related Materials:
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Text Encoding Converter 1.2 |
Mac OS 8 installation ships with Text Encoding Converter 1.2. Text Encoding Converter 1.2 will run on any Mac OS PowerPC machine or on any 68K machine supporting CFM-68K.
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Cyberdog 2.0 |
Cyberdog is an application and a set of OpenDoc components which provide access to Internet and Intranet services including the World Wide Web, e-mail, file servers and more. Updated software developer packages and documents describing Cyberdog features available to developers are available at the CyberDog web site.
Related Materials:
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Apple Remote Access Client 2.1 |
The Apple Remote Access (ARA) Client allows users to dial in and connect to AppleTalk networks from remote locations.
Mac OS 8 ships with Apple Remote Access Client 2.1.
WARNING: ARA Client 2.1 must not be installed over the Open Transport/PPP (OT/PPP) installation included with Mac OS 8. Installing the ARA Client 2.1 after installing OT/PPP will replace the OT/PPP Modem Files which can cause connection problems for Open Transport/PPP. However, it is perfectly safe to install OT/PPP after having installed the ARA Client 2.1.
Related Materials:
- The Apple Remote Access API SDK
- The Apple Remote Access Modem SDK
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Assistants |
The Assistants folder, located at the root level on the system disk, contains assistant applications used to assist the user in configuring software.
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Mac OS Setup Assistant 1.0 |
Mac OS Setup Assistant is an addition to the Mac OS installation/startup user experience designed to unify the various options and preferences making system configuration easier by presenting these options in the form of an interview. During installation an alias to the Mac OS Setup Assistant application is placed inside the Startup Items folder so that it will launch the first time the Mac OS is booted after a Mac OS installation. This alias is deleted once Mac OS Setup Assistant is run for the fist time. The assistant helps the user through several aspects of configuration, all of which can be accomplished (or overridden) through various control panels and standard system configuration dialogs.
The following is a list of the areas Mac OS Setup Assistant configures:
With the exception of Regional Preferences and Date/Time/DST, no changes are made until the user selects "Go Ahead" at the end of the interview. Any port change made during the network printer search is undone if the user quits the assistant prior to selecting "Go Ahead". If AppleTalk is turned on during the interview but no AppleTalk dependent options are selected in the interview, AppleTalk will be turned off after the interview is completed and serial port connections will be unaffected.
Mac OS 8 requires updated copies of the following Apple Developer Utilities:
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MacsBug 6.5.4 |
MacsBug is Apple's low level debugger providing interface facilities for the dissasembly and perusal of assembler and machine level instructions.
COMPATIBILITY NOTE: MacsBug 6.5.4 or later should be used with Mac OS 8. Versions of MacsBug earlier than 6.5.4a will not work with Mac OS 8.
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System Picker 1.1 |
System Picker is an Apple utility providing facilities for switching the active system between different system folders installed on a Mac OS compatible computer.
Related Materials:
The Color control panel has been removed from the control panels folder as its functionality has been replaced by the Appearance control panel (see above).
The Desktop Patterns control panel has been removed from the control panels folder as its functionality has been replaced by the Desktop Pictures control panel (see above). The utility patterns feature of the Desktop Patterns control panel is no longer supported ( In Mac OS 7.5.x and 7.6.x holding down the option key in the Desktop Patterns control panel would allow you to set the pattern used in in utilities such as the Calculator desk accessory, or the Key Caps utility, et al.).
Functionality formerly found in this control panel has been moved to the File Sharing control panel.
Files known as "Finder Extensions" are no longer supported. These items include: the Network Extension, the Clipping Extension, the Catalogs Extension, the Mailbox Extension, the Mail Folders Extension, the Finder Scripting Extension, the PC Card Extension, and the Desktop Printer Extension. The functionality found in most of these extensions has been built directly into the new Finder.
GX Printing is no longer supported. No GX Printer drivers or printing extensions will work with OS 8.
The Labels control panel has been removed. Its functionality has been incorporated into the Finder's preferences dialog.
Functionality formerly found in this control panel has been moved to the File Sharing control panel.
The Views control panel has been removed. Its functionality has been incorporated into the new "Finder Preferences" and "View Options" dialogs in Finder 8.0.
The Window Shade control panel has been removed. Its functionality has been incorporated into the Appearance Manager. Configuration facilities formerly provided by this control panel are now provided by the Appearance control panel.
Special thanks to Robert T Bowers, Pete Gontier, Arno Gourdol, Tim Holmes, Jim Luther, Tim Maroney, Tom Maughan, Patrick McClaughry, Eric Schlegel, and Tim Swihart.
And, thanks to Sharon Autrey, Mark Day, Sherman Dickman, Mike Dilts, Kathryn Donahue, Cameron Esfahani, Chris Espinosa, Sharon Everson, Steve Falkenburg, Mark Fernandes, Peri Frantz, Nitin Ganatra, Kory Hansen, C.K. Haun, Siobhan Hearne, Brad Hochberg, Hidetomo Katsura, Ingrid Kelly, Nick Kledzik, Michael J. Kobb, Kevin Kono, Barry Langdon-Lassagne, Xavier De Leon, Alan Lillich, Greg Loose, Peter Lowe, Dave Lyons, Kieran McKeown, Martin Minow, Rob Neville, Andy Nicholas, Tanya Okmyansky, Guillermo A. Ortiz, Greg Robbins, Jim Rodden, Stuart Russell, Joseph Sickel, Keith Stattenfield, Bob Wambaugh, Jason Watts, and Karen Wenzel.