CD Highlights: Reference Library Edition, March 1997
The content of the Developer CD Series has expanded greatly since the first Developer CD was launched at the 1989 Worldwide Developer’s Conference. (You may remember Phil and Dave’s Excellent CD!). The content has increased so much, in fact, that I find myself acting as content juggler, removing material or moving it around to make room for more stuff. For instance, I did have to temporarily pull the QuickDraw GX Library from this edition to free some space; however, keep in mind that you can view the books in HTML or download Adobe Acrobat files directly from the web at http://devworld.apple.com/dev/techsupport/insidemac/.
Now that I’ve completed one rotation of the series (SDK, System Software, Tool Chest, and, now, Reference Library edition), it’s quite clear that I must embark on a mission for more space so that we can include all of the incredible material we have around here for developers. Now let’s take a look at the new and revised packages for the March 1997 Reference Library CD. . . .
Apple Game Sprockets
Apple Game Sprockets are Apple’s solution for developers writing games on the Macintosh. They include NetSprocket, for network games; InputSprocket, for joysticks and other game devices; DrawSprocket, which provides access to page flipping and double buffering in a single API (application programming interface); SoundSprocket, for 3D sound; and RAVE, a low-level layer for 3D game developers interested in hardware acceleration.
This Game Sprockets package has a new version of InputSprocket (1.1), DrawSprocket (1.1GM), and NetSprocket (1.0.3). All other sprockets are unchanged.
Note: The current versions of these sprockets run only on PowerPC processor-based computers.
ATA Demoƒ
This ATA Manager sample scans the ATA (AT-Attachment) bus and gathers info on ATA devices, such as ATA hard disk drives (sometimes referred to as integrated drive electronics drives or or IDE drives) and ATAPI (ATA Packet Interface) devices.
develop Issue 29
This is the electronic version of develop, The Apple Technical Journal. For highlights of articles in Issue 29, see “develop Issue 29: QD3D, TSM, ACGIs, and NIE” on page XX.
Developer Notes Update
This folder contains descriptions of new hardware and software features, comparisons with existing computer models, and information on expansion card design. This month, Developer Notes Update features the following new notes:
• ATA Software Guide. This developer note describes the system software that controls ATA (AT-Attachment) devices, such as ATA hard disk drives (sometimes referred to as integrated drive electronics drives, or IDE drives) installed in a Macintosh computer. This note also provides information for ATAPI (ATA Packet Interface) CD-ROM and PCMCIA devices.
• Macintosh PowerBook 3400. This note provides a concise description of the Macintosh PowerBook 3400 computer, with emphasis on the features that are new or different from those of the Macintosh PowerBook 5300 computer.
• PowerMac 5500 & 6500 Computers. This note describes the main logic board used in the Power Macintosh 5500 and 6500 computers and emphasizes features that are new or different from those of previous Power Macintosh models.
• PowerMac 7300,7600,8600,9600. This note describes the new Power Macintosh 7300, 7600, 8600, and 9600 models—but only the changes that make the new models different from their earlier counterparts.
Installer SDK Cornucopia 1.0.1
Installer 4.0.6 is now released and licensable. As before, the goal of this SDK (software development kit) is to provide the latest and greatest Installer tools and helpful utilities, as well as to provide a look at where Apple is headed with the tools and the Installer itself. This SDK update includes all the regular great stuff—updated contents from the previous SDKs—in addition to tools and tidbits, a prerelease version of Installer Engine 4.1, and the final version of Installer 4.0.6. Here are some of the update’s features:
• Installer application—released and prerelease versions
• Tidbits: nifty stuff for Installer script development
• Up-to-date Installer Developer Interfaces
• Many Installer script examples
Note: Because some items are prerelease versions, they may have some bugs. Prerelease versions are clearly marked as such.
MoreFiles 1.4.5
MoreFiles is a collection of high-level routines written over the last couple of years to answer File Manager questions from developers.
The routines in MoreFiles have been tested (but not stress-tested), documented, and code-reviewed by Apple.
MoreFiles provides the following:
• High-level and FSSpec-style routines for parameter-block-only File Manager calls and for Desktop Manager calls
• Useful utility routines that perform many common File Manager–related operations
• A robust file-copy routine
• A recursive directory-copy routine
• Catalog-searching routines
• Routines for dealing with pathnames
See the file !MoreFiles Read Me for a description of fixes and improvements in version 1.4.5.
OT Server Sample 1.0.1
The Virtual Server is an attempt to provide sample code that uses the native Open Transport API and is complex enough to demonstrate real issues an application developer needs to deal with. It also demonstrates the speed that Open Transport, when used properly, is capable of.
This version of the Virtual Server simply opens a listening endpoint and as many accepting endpoints as you want using TCP. It waits for an inbound connection request, accepts the connection, and hands it off to an accepting endpoint. The accepting endpoint waits for a 128-byte “request” packet, then returns a predefined amount of data from memory to the client. Virtual Server then does an orderly release and puts the endpoint back into its idle queue.
And it’s fast. Running on Open Transport 1.1.1, a Power Macintosh 7100/80 on a 10-Mbit Ethernet LAN using 8K downloads almost reaches the connection’s capacity. If a 200-MHz Power Macintosh is used on the same network with 1K downloads, the server sustains more than 300 connections per second.
OT/PPP Control Strip Sample
OT PPP Control Strip Sample is a CodeWarrior 10 project that demonstrates how to interact with the OpenTransport PPP control point. The control strip sample shows how to determine whether OT/PPP exists and whether it has loaded. This example will set up a PPP control point notifier.
Note that this sample is not complete—it will not issue a connect or disconnect. This capability is planned for the next version.
This sample requires OpenTransport 1.1.2 and OpenTransport PPP built with OT 1.1.2 includes and libraries.
PC Card Manager v3.0 SDK
The PC Card Manager 3.0 SDK is a comprehensive development environment that describes how the PCMCIA expansion card interface is implemented in the PowerBook 3400 computer (code-named Hooper).
This SDK is the future architecture for upcoming PowerBook 3400 products. If you want to produce PC Cards for the PowerBook 190, 5300, and 1400 series of computers, refer to the PC Card Manager 2.0 SDK. The support offered by the PC Card Manager 3.0 SDK includes system interfaces, a PowerPC library, documentation, and sample code; the SDK requires Macintosh System 7.5.3 or later.
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Don’t hesitate to send comments or suggestions for the Developer CD to me at mbest@apple.com.
