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1992-07-07
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THINK Back 1.1
Copyright © 1991,1992 Phil Shapiro
All Rights Reserved
Description
This Extension enables you to compile in the background using THINK C or
THINK Pascal under System 7.0. If a compile finishes when the compiler is
in the background, the Notification Manager will be used to tell you that it's
done.
Installation and Use
Drop THINK Back in your Extensions folder and restart. To start a
backgroundable compile, hold down the shift key when choosing any THINK C
or THINK Pascal action that will cause a source file to be compiled. THINK
Back will change the compiler's progress dialog to a movable modal dialog
box if it was proprly activated.
For example, if you bring up the THINK C Make dialog box and hold down the
shift key while clicking on the Make button, THINK Back will be activated. It
will also be activated if you press command-shift-U instead of just
command-U. In Pascal, press command-shift-B, "Bring Up to Date". You can
use command-period to cancel a compile as usual. THINK Back will refuse to
install itself if any of its needed resources are missing, or if you try to use
it under System 6.
Customizing
There's no Control Panel interface for this yet, so you'll have to use ResEdit
if you want to customize THINK Back's behavior. You can edit the PREF
resource using the template provided. You can change:
• The number of ticks that THINK C or THINK Pascal passes to
WaitNextEvent when it's in the foreground or background. Using this, you
can fine-tune it's performance on your machine. The default settings (5
ticks in the foreground, 15 in the background) should provide good
performance on a IIsi.
• If THINK Back is on or off by default. If it's on by default, then you
can disable it by holding down the shift key when starting a compile. If
it's off by default, then THINK Back will not be activated unless you hold
down the shift key when starting a compile. The default setting is off by
default.
• The level of notification. There are four settings:
0 - no notification at all
1 - mark the compiler in the Application menu with a diamond
2 - mark the compiler and display a rotating icon in the Application
menu
3 - mark the compiler, display a rotating icon, and present an alert to
let you know that it's finished compiling
The default setting is level 2.
• The number of milliseconds between calls to WaitNextEvent. The default
setting is 400ms; you can use this number to make THINK C or Pascal as
multi-finder friendly or unfriendly as you like.
If you change the PREF resource, changes will take effect the next time you
boot your Macintosh.
How it works
At INIT time, THINK Back installs a global head patch on the _GetNewDialog
trap. This trap watches each call to GetNewDialog and looks for the THINK C
or THINK Pascal Progress dialog box. When it sees this dialog, it installs a
number of other patches local to the compler's heap, one of which calls
WaitNextEvent. When the compile is finished, all of the installed patches
are removed (except the one on _GetNewDialog). The code is loaded low in
the System heap, and it plus its data take up less than 3K.
Bugs/Odd Features
Since the same dialog is used for different things in THINK C, this patch
will also background Multi-File Search, Precompile, Check Syntax,
Disassemble and Preprocess. The same is true for THINK Pascal and its
Multi-File Search dialog.
Credits
ShowIconFamily by Patrick C. Beard
StartupError by joe holt
Version History
1.1 - supports both THINK C and THINK Pascal (!)
- uses a Time Manager task to schedule when to call WaitNextEvent.
This allows for much better control of performance. (Idea courtesy
Juri Munkki.)
- icon manager calls are used for notification icons; now the notify
icon will be in color.
1.0.1 - calls WaitNextEvent less often when THINK C is in the foreground.
When it's placed in the background, WaitNextEvent is called as often
as before.
- disallows reentrant use (you can't background two compiles at the
same time)
- disables CMaster's menu (if present) during compiles
- uses a much more reliable method to tell if THINK C is in the
background or not. This fixes the bug where THINK C would hang after
switching it in & out.
- multi-file searches are backgroundable now as well.
1.0 - finalized 12/18/91; identical to version 1.0b4
Future enhancements
• Save the Progress window's position between compiles and between
launches
• Custom sound when a compile is finished
• Customize toggle key modifiers
• Control Panel interface for preferences
Please contact me if you find any bugs, or have any suggestions for
improvement. Thanks for all the positive feedback that I've gotten!
Phil Shapiro
Internet: phils@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu
AOL: PhilShap
Postal:
70 Simpson Ave.
Somerville, MA 02144