January 2000


CarbonLib Porting Guide
This guide is for Mac OS 9 developers who want to port their applications to use the Carbon API. The "CarbonLib Porting Guide" provides an overview of the Carbon interface, guidelines for converting your application, and specific information on how to build Carbon applications. Note that this document is a subset of the "Carbon Porting Guide" document, which additionally covers aspects of Mac OS X beyond CarbonLib and is available to registered developers. The "CarbonLib Porting Guide" is currently available in PDF format only.

Carbon Specification
In an exhaustive listing, the "Carbon Specification" describes for every Mac OS 8 and 9 manager whether each of its functions is fully supported in Carbon; is supported but modified in some way from how it is used in previous versions of the Mac OS; is supported but not recommended--that is, you can use the function, but it may not be supported in the future; or is unsupported. For many of the functions that aren't fully supported in Carbon, the "Carbon Specification" also describes how to modify your code to use fully compatible functions.

Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging Reference
This document describes the Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (ATSUI) programming interface and is updated for ATSUI 1.2. New features in ATSUI 1.2 include a linguistically based breakline and added tab character handling. The document features an appendix covering various API elements from the Script Manager, Unicode Utilities, and Apple Advanced Typography which are used by ATSUI. This document is currently available in PDF format only.


November 1999

Unicode Utilities Preliminary Documentation
This preliminary document describes the Unicode Utilities functionality introduced in Mac OS 8.6 and 9.0. Mac OS 8.6 introduced support for locale-sensitive Unicode collation (comparing Unicode strings); this support is enhanced in Mac OS 9.0. Mac OS 8.6 also introduced support for locale-insensitive Unicode collation. Mac OS 9.0 introduces support for locale-sensitive Unicode text boundary location to determine the boundaries of characters, clusters (for cursor movement) or words, and to determine potential line break locations. Mac OS 9.0 also introduces support for obtaining the properties of a Unicode character, which is not a locale-sensitive operation.

Locales Preliminary Documentation
This preliminary document describes the Locales protocols and API for Mac OS 8.6 and 9.0. You should read this document if you need to understand how to specify the language and/or region for a locale-sensitive text operation or if you need to obtain, for a specified language and/or region, the locale data that will enable the text operation to behave appropriately.

Carbon Overview
This document provides a brief overview of Carbon's present (CarbonLib 1.0) and future (Carbon on Mac OS X) direction.

Carbon Printing Manager
This document provides preliminary information about the Carbon printing interface to help you convert your existing Mac OS 8 applications to Carbon. It offers code samples, detailed comparisons between the original Printing Manager and the new Carbon Printing Manager, and a complete Carbon Printing Manager API reference.

Carbon Menu Manager Preliminary API Documentation
This preliminary document describes the changes to the Menu Manager introduced in CarbonLib1.0 with Mac OS 9.0. Topics discussed include changes to your application with Carbon, new Apple menu behavior, accessing opaque menu data, accessing menu item data using universal command IDs, writing a Carbon MDEF, working with menu and menu item attributes, and enabling and disabling menu items.

Carbon Window Manager Preliminary API Documentation
This preliminary document discusses the Window Manager features introduced in CarbonLib 1.0 with Mac OS 9.0. The CarbonLib 1.0 Window Manager API includes new functions for window classes and layering, changing window attributes, window scrolling, creating windows with custom structure regions, and erasing the window's content region.

Base Services
This document describes the base types and the polymorphic functions of Base Services and explains details of using and customizing memory allocators.

Bundle Services
This document describes what a bundle is and shows how you can use Bundle Services to find localized resources and dynamically load code into your program.

Collection Services
This document explains the characteristics of collections and describes how to use specific kinds: arrays, dictionaries, sets, bags, and trees. It also describes Core Foundation's data object (CFData).

Core Foundation Overview
This document summaries the benefits of Core Foundation and explains some of the key concepts, such as opaque types, references counting, and memory management.

Property List Services
This document describes how to convert between XML property lists and objects of compatible Core Foundation types

String Services
This document describes how the Unicode storage of character data is optimized. It also shows how to convert strings between encodings and perform other operations with string objects.

Display Manager
This document describes the application programming interface for the Display Manager. It provides a complete reference, as well as conceptual material and programming examples. Topics discussed include handling events in response to Display Manager changes, determining the characteristics of video devices, and setting the configurations and display modes for video devices.


October 1999

HTML Rendering Library Preliminary Documentation
This preliminary document describes the version of the HTML Rendering Library available in Mac OS 9. It discusses the standard HTML Rendering Library functions and data types that allow you to manage the drawing environment, as well as the callbacks you can use to provide such additional services as event management, link tracking, and link redirection.

Adding Multitasking Capability to Applications Using Multiprocessing Services
This document describes the Multiprocessing Services application programming interface through Multiprocessing Services 2.1. It contains conceptual information, programming examples, and a complete API reference. New features in version 2.1 include support for kernel notifications and gestalt selectors to determine the presence of preemptive task-safe system software functions.

Apple Help
Apple Help is an enhanced version of Apple Guide, designed to give your application several ways to provide user assistance, including HTML pages, Apple Guide coach sequences, QuickTime movies, and AppleScripts.

Configuring Game Input Devices with InputSprocket
This preliminary document describes version 1.7 of the InputSprocket programming interface, which simplifies the configuration of game input devices such as joysticks or gamepads. This document is currently available only in PDF format.

Date & Time API Documentation
This preliminary document describes the Date & Time functionality introduced with Mac OS 9. Beginning with Mac OS 9, by default, dates are now displayed and entered in the Date & Time control panel using four-digit rather than two-digit centuries. Other Mac OS 9 functionality discussed includes changes to the date range that allow the system clock to break the 2040 barrier, support for higher system clock precision, and functions for conversion between UTC ("Coordinated Universal Time") and Macintosh local time.

File Manager for Mac OS 9
This preliminary document describes the File Manager application programming interfaces introduced in Mac OS 9. These interfaces allow your application to access files larger than 2GB and use long Unicode filenames. The Mac OS 9 File Manager programming interfaces are emulated for volume formats that don't support these interfaces directly.

Font Management for Carbon 1.0 and Mac OS 9
This preliminary document describes the Font Management API that has been added to the Font Manager with Mac OS 9 and Carbon 1.0. Features discussed include support for enumerating fonts and font families, accessing information about fonts and font families, accessing font data, creating and managing a basic font menu, activating and deactivating fonts, and notifying clients of changes in the font database.

FontSync 1.0
This preliminary document describes FontSync 1.0 functionality. Features discussed include font references; FontSync profiles; functions for iterating, identifying, and matching fonts on a host system; and functions for building font menus and other font selection human interface parts.

Manipulating Displays Using DrawSprocket
This preliminary document describes version 1.7 of the DrawSprocket programming interface, which simplifies display manipulations such as fading, blanking, selecting displays, and buffering. This document is currently available only in PDF format.

Multilingual Text Editor
Multilingual Text Editor (MLTE) supplies a programming interface for creating and editing Unicode text documents. This preliminary document describes MLTE functionality through version 1.1.

Network Services Location Manager Developer's Kit
This document describes the NSL Manager through version 1.1. It provides an overview of the NSL architecture, information about the NSL plug-ins that locate services, reference material for calling the NSL Manager functions, and guidelines for writing an NSL plug-in.

Programming With Navigation Services
This document describes Navigation Services through Navigation Services 2.0. It features an overview of Navigation Services, tutorials with sample code, and a complete reference chapter.

Programming with the Text Encoding Conversion Manager
This document describes the Text Encoding Conversion Manager through version 1.5. You will find it helpful to read "Programming With the Text Encoding Conversion Manager" if you develop Internet applications, such as Web browsers or e-mail applications; applications that transfer text across different platforms; or applications based in Unicode. This document is currently available only in PDF format.

Obtaining and Using Icons With Icon Services
This document describes the application programming interface for Icon Services, a Carbon-compliant replacement for the Icon Utilities API, and discusses how to create custom icons that are ready to use with Icon Services.

Simplifying Networked Gaming Using NetSprocket
This preliminary document describes version 1.7 of NetSprocket, which provides a simple programming interface for hosting or joining a networked game as well as for communicating with other networked players. This document is currently available only in PDF format.


September 1999

Thread Manager
This document was previously unavailable online. It describes how to create cooperative threads in your application using the Thread Manager. It contains conceptual information, programming examples, and a complete API reference.


May 1999

Function Index
The Function Index now includes HTML links for Mac OS APIs posted on this site through May 1999.

Adding Multitasking to Applications Using Multiprocessing Services
This document describes how to create preemptive tasks in your application using Multiprocessing Services. It contains conceptual information, programming examples, and a complete API reference.

Applescript Language Guide
This document is the definitive description of the AppleScript scripting language. It is an essential reference for anyone using AppleScript to modify existing scripts or write new ones. The Language Guide has been revised to cover new features through AppleScript 1.3.7, to include examples from the Mac OS and the Finder, to improve formatting for online viewing, and to correct errors.

Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging Reference
This preliminary document describes the Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (ATSUI) programming interface and is updated for ATSUI 1.1. New features in ATSUI 1.1 include the ability to track fonts, control memory allocation, manipulate fallback fonts, obtain glyph bounds, clear the layout cache, and manipulate text layout attributes of a single line.

Transferring Files With the URL Access Manager
This document describes the application programming interface for the URL Access Manager and discusses related programming topics, including downloading data from multiple URLs and using the URL Access Manager with AppleScript.


April 1999

Programming With the Appearance Manager
This document describes the Appearance Manager application programming interface, through Appearance Manager 1.1, and discusses programming topics related to making your application theme-compliant.


March 1999

Programming With the Mac OS 8.5 Window Manager
This document describes the Window Manager application programming interface introduced in Mac OS 8.5 and discusses related programming topics such as window proxy icons and floating window support.

Rendering Unicode Text Using Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (ATSUI)
This document describes a complete API reference for version 1.0 of the Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (ATSUI). Conceptual material and sample code will be included as soon as they become available.


January 1999

Mac OS 8.5 Dialog Manager Reference
This document describes the Dialog Manager application programming interface introduced in Mac OS 8.5.

Mac OS 8.5 Menu Manager Reference
This document describes the Menu Manager application programming interface introduced in Mac OS 8.5.

Programming With the Mac OS 8.5 Control Manager
This document describes the Control Manager application programming interface introduced in Mac OS 8.5 and discusses related programming topics.


Prior New and Updated Documentation