CD Highlights: System Software / SDK Editions, April 1997
While we continue to reexamine the most timely and usable way to get your system software (hope you're enjoying that Mac OS 7.6 CD, by the way) for this particular month, we are shipping you the regularly scheduled System Software edition so that you have a number of localized versions of 7.5.3 and 7.5.5. (We'll get you the localized versions of Mac OS 7.6 as soon as they become available.)
On this month's edition of the System Software CD, you will find U.S. and Worldwide versions of System Software 7.5.3 for Power Macintosh 4400/200 and PowerBook 1400 computers, along with 7.5.5 for Power Macintosh 7300, 7600, 8600, and 9600 computers, and versions of the Mac OS 7.6 universal installer for international English and U.S. English.
In addition to the new system software, you can find the new and revised SDKs described in this article in the "What's New" folder on SDK discs 1 and 2. All other new and revised content (like the Sample Code and Snippets updates) are in the "What's New" folder of the System Software CD. (We've divided things up in this manner to best utilize space.) You'll also notice that the Utilities folder on SDK disc 1 is an alias to the Utilities folder on SDK disc 2; again to make more room for all the great stuff. Check it out!
Apple Location Manager
The Apple Location Manager (ALM) software makes it easy for users to move from one location to another without having to spend a lot of time manually reconfiguring their computer with every move.
The Apple Location Manager software is developer extensible, so if your software has settings or preferences that might change as the user moves from place to place, the ALM SDK can give you the tools you need to write an ALM module for your software. The simplest modules can be created using nothing more than ResEdit.
The ALM software also provides APIs that a developer can use to set the current location or to register to be notified when the location changes.
The ALM SDK contains everything you need to write a Location Manager module, including a working sample, CodeWarrior and Symantec projects, and an MPW Makefile (your choice). Also included is ALM 1.0.1b1, both debug and nondebug builds.
ColorSync
The ColorSync® 2.1.2 software is a second-generation color management system that offers prepress-quality color matching and separations. ColorSync 2.1.2 offers substantial benefits for developers. Now there’s a standard architecture and profile format for color matching on the desktop that delivers the solution that users have asked for. No more decisions about which application programming interface (API) and profile format to use, and no more time wasted on writing custom routines. The ColorSync 2.1.2 API provides the most powerful “plumbing” for color management.
The features of the ColorSync 2.1.2 API are as follows:
Developer Notes give descriptions of new hardware and software features, comparisons with existing CPUs, and expansion card design information. This month’s System Software CD features a new developer note that describes the Power Macintosh 4400 computer, which is a new Macintosh model that uses a logic board based on the Apple Logic Board Design LPX-40.
Disk Copy 6.1 GM
The Disk Copy 6.1 GM application will mount disk images on your desktop, make exact copies of floppy disks from a disk image, convert disk images from one format to another, and create a disk image from a mounted volume or individual folder. Using DiskScripts and AppleScript scripts, you can use Disk Copy 6.1 GM to automate software installations and disk image manipulation.
Disk Copy 6.1 GM features extensive Balloon Help and supports Drag and Drop (which requires System Software 7.5 or later), AppleScript, PlainTalk Text-to-Speech, and DigiSign digital signature software.
Disk Copy 6.1 GM requires System Software 7.0.1 or later and is a "fat binary" for both PowerPC and 68K-based Mac OS-compatible computers; A/UX and Macintosh Application Environment (MAE) are not supported.
For more information, see the Disk Copy 6.1 Manual or Quick Reference documents included with this package.
Installer SDK Cornucopia Version 1.0.2
As before, the goal of the Installer SDK Cornucopia software is to provide the latest and greatest Installer tools and helpful utilities as well as to provide a look at where we're headed with the tools and the Installer itself. The new SDK update, version 1.0.2, contains some tool updates and bug fixes. In addition, it includes all the regular great stuff—updated contents from the previous SDKs, in addition to tools and tidbits, a prerelease version of the Installer Engine 4.1 software, and the final version of the Installer 4.0.6 software.
The features of this SDK update are as follows:
• Installer application: released and prerelease versions
• Installer tools: compression and Installer scripting tools
• Tidbits: Nifty stuff for Installer script development
• Up-to-date Installer developer interfaces
• Many Installer script examples
QuickTime 2.5
The QuickTime system software extension enables you to integrate video, graphics, sound, sprites, text, music, and animation into documents. By providing a standard way for all Macintosh programs to control these multimedia elements, QuickTime makes them easier to use. This package is an updated version of all developer information for QuickTime 2.5. In addition, Windows documentation is included, as well as the recent releases of SWMPEG for Macintosh and PLug-In for Macintosh.
Features:
• New Software and Interfaces
• New Sample Code
• Archived information from earlier versions
• New QuickTIme Products (SWMPEG, Plug-In)
Review the Read Me files included with the various products for detailed information.
More information on QuickTime can be found on Apple Computer’s QuickTime site on the World Wide Web. The address is: http://quicktime.apple.com.
Sample Code Update 2/97
The Sample Code Update 2/97 package includes the following sample code examples, which will be rolled into the Sample Code folder on the May '97 Tool Chest edition.
• CPUGestalt—a sample code that illustrates the way to determine the processor type of the Macintosh you're running on.
• EditTextCDev—a sample Control Panel device (cdev) that demonstrates how to use the edit-related messages and how to implement an editText item in a cdev.
• OTDumpPortRegistry—a very simple sample that dumps a text version of the Open Transport port registry to stdout. The compiled executable also makes a handy debugging tool.
• SillyBalls—a very simple sample program that demonstrates how to use the Color QuickDraw software. Consisting of about two pages of code, it does nothing more than open a color window and draw randomly colored ovals in the window.
Word Services SDK 1.0.8
The Word Services SDK 1.0.8 allows any application to link to a spelling checker, grammar checker, or other text service as if it were a built-in menu item. This SDK is a public protocol; no license fee or nondisclosure is required for using it.
The Word Services SDK includes the complete protocol specification, tutorial documents, and the source code to Writeswell Jr., a simple Word Services word processor. Also available from the Word Services web page http://www.wordservices.org/Developers/ is the source to WSI NewsWatcher, a version of NewsWatcher that allows you to spellcheck your posts.
The HyperCard application supports the Word Services SDK, so you can spellcheck stacks as you develop them, and allow your users to spellcheck text that they enter themselves. A simple XCMD, which is provided by the web page, is needed to initiate the spellchecking session.
The updated SDK includes bug fixes to Writeswell Jr.'s scrolling, plus the Spellswell Plus 2.1 Demo.
A list of client (word processor) and server (spelling and grammar checker) applications is available at: http://www.wordservices.org.
