Gold Fish 2/goldfish_vol2_cd1.bin/files/dev/gui/triton/readme

Text File | 1994-07-14 | 11.4 KB | 282 lines

                **********************************************

                    triton.library

                    The object oriented GUI creation system.

                    Release 1.1

                    (c) 1993-1994 Stefan Zeiger

                **********************************************


    Be  sure  to  read  the  file 'Distribution', too!  It contains important
information about registering Triton and using Triton for your own products!

    If you have suggestions or remarks about Triton, or if you find any bugs,
please let me know.

    Contacting the author:

        EMail:      [e-mail]

        Z-Netz:     [e-mail]
                    [e-mail]

        FidoNet:    Stefan Zeiger 2:244/6302.15

        Mail:       Stefan Zeiger
                    Seligenstädter Weg 24
                    D-63796 Kahl
                    Germany

        Voice:      [phone] (after 6:00 PM GMT/UT only!)

    Please use EMail/Z-Netz/FidoNet if possible.  This is more convenient for
me and your chance of getting a reply quickly is much better.

    There  have  been  some problems lately with EMail delivery from Internet
sites  to ADSP sites.  If an EMail to wwsp.adsp.sub.org bounces, please try a
FidoNet  gateway  ([e-mail])  or my Z-Netz
address ([e-mail]).

    Note  that  even  when  you are able to reach me that way, I might not be
able  to  reply  to your mail.  I know that a lot of people are still waiting
for  answers  to their mail about Triton.  As soon as I've got a working mail
link again, I'll try to reply.


Contents
========

1. Introduction

2. Installation

3. Using triton.library

4. Astronomy Lesson

5. Library history

6. Credits


1. Introduction
===============

    triton.library is a standard Amiga shared, runtime library.  Triton makes
it  much  easier to create good-looking graphical user interfaces (GUIs) than
GadTools, BOOPSI or other systems.

    The most important features are:

    - Object oriented system
    - Automatically font sensitive, font adaptive
    - Automatic keyboard shortcuts for default window actions
    - *Really* easy to use
    - Beautiful customizable OS2.x/3.x look
    - Comes as a freely distributable shared library
    - Size! Though Triton is very powerful, it is a shared library of less
      than 50KB. You don't need any startup tools, BOOPSI classes or other
      things. It's the Triton among the minnows of GUI creation systems ;)
    - Resizeability of windows wherever applicable
    - A Preferences editor which allows you to customize the look and feel
      of all Triton GUIs

    By   using   Triton   you  don't  have  to  worry  about  otherwise  very
time-consuming   things  like  font-sensitivity  and  resizeability  of  your
windows.  What is even more important is that you can easily change your user
interfaces  later without having to rearrange display objects.  Simply add an
object to a group and the whole GUI will adapt to make room for it.

    The  usage  of a Triton GUI should be pretty clear.  All windows have two
additional   keyboard   shortcuts   (if   not   explicitly  disabled  by  the
application):   'Esc'  will simulate the 'close window' gadget and 'Del' will
simulate  the  'resize  window'  gadget.   In  palette,  slider, scroller and
similar  gadgets with an up/down facility you can use the shifted shortcut to
decrease the value.


2. Installation
===============

    First  of  all, Triton requires at least OS2.04.  If you're still running
1.2 or 1.3, you have to upgrade to OS2.04 or better.

    To  install  triton.library  copy it to your Libs:  directory by hand, or
run  the  installation script which corresponds to your system (OS2.0, OS2.1+
with different languages) by double-clicking its icon.

    Two  versions  of  triton.library are included in this distribution.  The
one  in libs37 requires OS2.04 or better, the one in libs39 requires OS3.0 or
better  and  is  optimized  for  OS3.0+,  so  that it is shorter and will run
slightly  faster  than  the  OS2.04  version on an OS3.0+ system.  The OS3.0+
version cannot be used with OS2.0/2.1.


3. Using triton.library
=======================

    If  you  are  a  C  programmer  all you need to do is include the correct
header  ('libraries/triton.h')  and  open triton.library.  After that you can
use  the  functions  in  the  library  as  if they were C functions.  If your
program  quits  it  must of course close the library again.  You may also use
the  support functions in the Triton linker library which make it even easier
to use Triton.  See 'demo.c' for an example.

    The FD (function description) file is included for the case that you want
to  write glue code for other compilers/languages.  If you do so, please send
it to me for inclusion in the next Triton distribution.

    Functions  allowing  a variable number of arguments can't be called using
pragmas  (in-line library calls; no glue code required).  So if you use these
you  must  always  link  with LIB:triton.lib (for SAS/C, or with the specific
libraries  for  your compiler/language).  All library functions are explained
in the autodoc file 'triton.doc'.

                                                Live long and prosper!


4. Astronomy Lesson
===================

                        Triton - A moon of Neptune

    Triton  is  a quaint little moon, in that it is one of the very few moons
to  be  known to have retrograd orbits around their host.  Triton is believed
to  be a 3-6000 km large world of mostly liquid nitrogen oceans, perhaps with
a  thin  methane atmosphere as well, but noone knows for sure since either of
the Voyager twins ever got close enough to take convincing snapshots.

    Neptune  itself  is also quite strange in that it has an almost 90 degree
tilted  inclination,  so  that it "rolls" through space, unlike Earth and the
other planets (minus Venus), which all spin like tops in their orbits.  Noone
can  tell  for sure why Neptune has such an excentric inclination, but it has
been  suggested  that  it  was  caused  by  a gigantic collision of some sort
(probably with a large asteroid).  In the process Neptune also lost its third
moon,   which  at  the  time  was  none  other  than  Pluto.   The  collision
accellerated  Pluto  to  the  point  where it had enough momentum to actually
leave  its  orbit  and shoot into space on its own.  As it did so it probably
passed  below  the Roche' radius of Neptune, causing it to break up in two or
more bodies under the influence of the massive tidal forces of Neptune.  This
would certainly account for Charon, which is in itself too large to have been
"captured" by an object as small as Pluto.

Okay, end of today's astronomy lesson :-)


5. Library History
==================

*****************************************************************************
RELEASE 1.0 (Library version 1.138)

    First release.

*****************************************************************************
RELEASE 1.1 (Library version 2.54)

    Preferences editor added.
    Image class added.
    The Triton C support code is now compatible with SAS/C, DICE and gcc.
    Linker libraries for gcc added.
    AmigaOberon support added.
    Minimum AmigaE and Assembler support added.
    Triton is now localized for OS2.1+. German and swedish catalogs are
      included.
    The shared library triton.library is now single-based. You may use it
      from within other libraries and resident code and even patch
      triton.library functions with SetFunction(). Other benefits include
      smaller code size, less run-time memory requirements and faster
      startup of triton.library.
    Screen locking functions added.
    Bug fixed: Added TR_Message.trm_App to avoid dereferencing already freed
      TR_Message.trm_Project fields in order to get the TR_App of a message.
    Bug fixed: Now TREZ_Return also works for ID 0.
    Bug fixed: class_Scroller and class_Slider objects had problems with
      filled backgrounds.
    Now all class_Listview objects report double clicks.
    It is now possible to put independant lines/columns into arrays. These
      lines/columns will not be aligned like all other array elements. This
      is especially useful for separator bars in arrays. See Triton demo
      (window 'Groups') for an example.
    TRCY_MX added. Cycle gadgets may now as an alternative be displayed as
      mutually exclusive gadgets.
    Object backfill inheriting added.
    Named class_FrameBox objects added.
    Texts created with class_Text may now be right-aligned.
    It is now possible to avoid ugly gaps below listview objects. Instead
      the gap will move to the end of the vertical group in which the
      listview gadget is embedded. The listview creation macros in the C
      includes for Triton have been changed to behave that way as default.
    Bug fixed: class_Listview had problems with backfill patterns under
      OS versions < 39 (OS3.0).
    Bug fixed: In OS versions < 39 setting a new list in a listview caused
      GadTools not to select any item of the list even though it was a
      ListSS gadget which should *always* have a selected item. Now the
      last selected item of the old list becomes selected in the new list
      when you change the list entries (as in OS3.0+).
    Bug fixed: All texts in TR_EasyRequest() now have TRTX_NOUNDERSCORE set.
    Help support added.
    Obsolete TR_AddClass() prototype removed.
    Bug fixed: Changing the string in a string gadget didn't work.
    Enhancement: When the TRAT_Disabled flag of an object is reset to its
      current state, no refresh will be done.
    Bug fixed: After attaching a list to an empty ListSS gadget, there was
      no selected entry. In this case the last selected entry will now
      become selected again after attaching a new list.
    Bug fixed: TR_EasyRequest() mis-aligned gadgets in requesters with more
      than one gadget.
    TR_OpenTriton() allows to set the screen title.
    Both window and screen title can be modified after opening the window.
    Bug fixed: Pressing down a button and then disabling it caused the
      disabled button to stay pressed down.
    Bug fixed: Text in selected gadgets is now using the correct color.
    Bug fixed: Objects in framing boxes were not disposed correctly.
    Some new Triton demos added.

*****************************************************************************


6. Credits
==========

Thanks must go to:

    - Nico François for his suggestions, beta-testing and helping me with
      some very weird problems in Triton

    - Carsten Raufuß for beta-testing, suggestions and nagging ('When will
      you finally implement listviews? I do really need them for my GUI!' ;)

    - Kai Iske for his BOOPSI class sources

    - Michael Berg for the 'Astronomy Lesson' and beta-testing

    - Gunther Nikl for the gcc support

    - Magnus Holmgren for the swedish translation and DICE support

    - Klaus Melchior for the DICE support

    - Peter Fröhlich for the AmigaOberon support

    - All the unmentioned guys on SPOT.BETA for beta-testing and suggestions

    - Philipp Lonke, Marco Frischkorn and Patrick Ohly for beta-testing

    - Danny Schrod and Chris Reichert (SysOps of 'Plus' and 'Publishers
      Treff') for support

    - SAS Institute for their great C compiler. With SAS/C it was
      possible to develop Triton without a single line of assembly.

    - Commodore for the Amiga

                  __
               __///
               \\\/...if(2B|!2B) user->prefs.shakespeare=TRUE;