Introduction to OpenDoc (OD PG)

Inside Macintosh: OpenDoc Programmer's Guide / Part 1 - Basics

Chapter 1 - Introduction to OpenDoc
OpenDoc is a revolutionary technology that brings a new class of applications and documents to the Windows™, Mac OS, OS/2, UNIX®, and other personal-
computer platforms. With OpenDoc, hardware and software developers can deliver new software technologies to individual users, better server integration to corporate users, and enhanced multimedia content to all users.
OpenDoc enables the creation of a new kind of software. This cooperative component software supports compound documents, can be customized, can be used collaboratively across networks, and is available on multiple platforms. In doing so, OpenDoc fundamentally changes the nature of software develop-
ment for personal computers.
This chapter starts with a review of the reasons why OpenDoc was created, followed by an overview of OpenDoc concepts: how OpenDoc documents are structured, how OpenDoc software handles events and user interaction, how to extend OpenDoc's capabilities, and how to ensure cross-platform compatibility for your OpenDoc software. Each of these topics is developed more fully in subsequent chapters.

Chapter Contents

Why OpenDoc?

What OpenDoc Is

Parts

Documents, Parts, and Embedding

Parts and the User

Part Editors

Other Software Components

Frames and Embedding

Part Data Types

Part Kind

Part Category

Embedding Versus Incorporating

Changing Part Editors

Translation

Displaying Parts

Drawing Structures

Presentation

View Type

Document Windows and Part Windows

Frame Negotiation

Event Handling

The Document Shell and the Dispatcher

Handling User Commands

Activation and Selection

Menus

Undo

Storage and Data Transfer

Storage Basics

Document Drafts

Stationery

Data Transfer

Clipboard

Drag and Drop

Linking

Extensibility

Scripting Support

Other Extensions

Cross-Platform Consistency and CI Labs