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1991-02-11
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Introduction
"Objects underneath this T-shirt are larger than they appear!"
1990 T-Shirt
What is the Object Toolkit?
TechnoJock's Object Toolkit (or simply the Toolkit) is a library of
objects, procedures and functions for Pascal programmers. While writing
a PC program, most people spend 80% or more of their time writing the
program's user interface, and only 20% on the "meat" of the applica-
tion. The Toolkit is designed to provide a wealth of professional user
interface tools which can eliminate up to 80% of your development work.
For example, to display a sorted directory listing in a moveable window
takes a mere three lines of code.
The interface tools include such features as efficient screen writing,
window management, menu management, full screen user input, list dis-
playing, directory listing and much more. These tools give programs a
truly professional appearance, and use the latest interface style with
pop-up dialog boxes, scroll-bars and malleable windows, all with full
mouse and keyboard support.
As well as needing a user interface, many programs have to manipulate
strings, access files, check attached hardware, and the like. The Tool-
kit also provides a rich set of routines to help with these common
tasks.
If you are new to object oriented programming, you are in luck, for the
Toolkit provides a great way for you to learn this powerful facility
without requiring that you be a rocket scientist!
Required Software & Hardware
The Toolkit is designed to work with v5.5 (or later) of Borland Inter-
national's Turbo Pascal compiler for the IBM PC. To compile programs
developed using the Toolkit, you will need Turbo Pascal v5.5 or later
(or a 100% compatible Pascal compiler), and MS/PC-DOS (version 2.0 or
later).
Programs developed with the Toolkit will function on the same hardware
as specified in the Turbo Pascal compiler documentation, i.e. IBM PC,
XT, AT, PS/2, along with all true IBM-compatibles. A 640k memory mini-
mum is recommended. Any of the standard display adapters are supported,
including the monochrome, CGA, EGA and VGA. Software written with the
Toolkit automatically supports the Microsoft (two button) and Logitech
(three button) mice. Most other PC mice are compatible with these two
1-2 User's Guide
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
industry leaders. If the system does not have a mouse, no problem, the
mouse features are ignored. In other words, if you develop a program
using the Toolkit, it can be run on machines with or without a mouse.
Royalties
Many Toolkit users develop commercial programs specifically to sell for
profit. TechnoJock Software, Inc. neither expects nor requires a roy-
alty fee on such programs. The major restrictions are that you may not
distribute the Toolkit files with your program, and that the program is
itself not a Toolkit, i.e. a library of programmer's utilities.
Refer to the License Agreement at the front of the manual for more
information.
Using the Documentation
In two words: READ IT! The documentation is organized into three main
parts:
Part 1 User's Guide
Describes the main components of the Toolkit and illustrates
in a tutorial-like way how to use every unit.
Part 2 Extending the Toolkit
Good though it is, the Toolkit may not meet your exact
needs. One of the real strengths of object oriented
libraries is that the library can be extended and modified
without making any changes to the original library source
code. This part of the documentation provides guidance on
how to extend and tailor the Toolkit to meet your specific
needs. A basic knowledge of object oriented Pascal is
required.
Part 3 Flash Cards
Small is beautiful. This part is a condensed reference
designed for the experienced Toolkit user who wants a
not-too-quick Quick Reference.
Support
TechnoJock Software, Inc. strives to support its users. If you have
problems that you are unable to resolve:
Introduction 1-3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
q send a diskette containing the problematic software, together
with details about the problem to:
TechnoJock Software, Inc.
PO Box 820927
Houston TX 77282-0927
USA
q transmit an electronic message on to one of the following IDs:
CompuServe: 74017,227
MCI Mail: TECHNOJOCK
q FAX the problem to (713) 493-5872
q call us at (713) 493-6354
Be sure to identify the following: the version of the Toolkit, the DOS
version, the contents of the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, and a
description of the hardware. Try to distill the problem down into a
small program - it can take many hours to sift through a huge and
unfamiliar program.
Acknowledgements
In this documentation, references are made to several products:
Turbo Pascal is a registered trademark of Borland International. IBM is
a registered trademark and PC, XT, AT, PS/2 and PC-DOS are trademarks
of International Business Machines Corporation. MS-DOS is a trademark
of Microsoft Corporation. Brief is a registered trademark of Underware,
Inc. CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe Information
Service, Inc. Pagemaker is a registered trademark of Aldus Corporation.
CorelDRAW! is a registered trademark of Corel Systems Corporation. MCI
Mail is a registered trademark of MCI Communications Corporation. Lotus
1-2-3 and Lotus Manuscript are registered trademarks of Lotus Develop-
ment Corporation. Norton Utilities is a trademark of Peter Norton Com-
puting, Inc. PC Tools is a trademark of Central Point Software. Deskpro
is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation. Toshiba is a
registered trademark of Toshiba Corporation. Postscript is a registered
trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
For those who may be interested, the Toolkit was developed on three
computers: a Compaq Deskpro 286 8 MHz, a Compaq Deskpro 386 33 MHz, and
a Toshiba T3100SX laptop. The editors used for code development were
Brief 3.0 from Solution Systems, Inc., and Sage Professional Editor
from Sage Software, Inc. The documentation was produced with Lotus
Manuscript, Aldus Pagemaker, CorelDRAW!, Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.1, and
was printed on a Postscript printer.
Enough preliminaries ... let's get busy!