PartMaker Pro now uses compressed archives as Template files. You will not be able to use your old template files with the new version of PartMaker, but updating your templates will only take several minutes.
Note: PartMaker Pro now requires StuffIt Expander™ version 4 or later to be installed on your computer before you launch PartMaker Pro.
Note: If you get an error in the expand script on the first time you try to use PartMaker, try quiting and reloading. Usually, this will work. Make sure that the StuffIt Expander™ application is open the first time you try to generate a part.
What Is PartMaker Pro?
PartMaker Pro is an application that generates OpenDoc part editor source code (and projects, and makefiles too) for you. Think of it as stationery for developing editors. There are a lot of pieces to put together to build a part editor — source files, .xih files, 'nmap' resources, you name it — and PartMaker makes sure they're all set up before you start coding.
PartMaker lets you choose an existing PartMaker Template to use as a basis for your new OpenDoc part. It then allows you to customize your part by specifying different names for your part, company, etc. Finally, it generates your new OpenDoc part by creating a new folder containing your new Part Project. This new folder contains all the files necessary for you to build a new OpenDoc part editor containing all of the functionality of the Template upon which it is based. However, all the necessary changes will be made for you to use this as a basis for your own part, as all the files will be changed (both file names and contents) to reflect the new part and company names.
Using PartMaker
The first step will be to choose a PartMaker Template. When you start up, you will be shown a screen containing a list of the templates you can choose from. Simply click on any of the items in the list to be given a description of the part the template represents. As soon as you choose the template you want to use as a base for your new part, click on the "Customize Part…" button to continue.
Your copy of PartMaker Pro should come in a folder with the application and a folder called "Part Templates." If you have other templates stored in a different location, you can click on the "Switch Location of Templates…" button in order to choose the folder containing your other templates. You can also just double-click on any template file to open PartMaker Pro and automatically select that template.
Customizing your new OpenDoc Part
You may now choose to customize your part. If you just want to extract the original part from the template, you can skip this screen and go on to the next screen by clicking on the "Generate Part…" button. Otherwise, you can choose to change the name of the part, specify your company name, change the name of the fragment (if allowed for this template), and may be given the option of changing up to two additional names within this template. When this screen is first loaded, you will be shown the original names for this part's name, the company name, and the fragment name for this part.
There may also be two additional strings below this which specify additional objects within this template. If you can modify the fragment name, or rename the additional objects, the boxes will be outlined and you will be able to select them and choose the new names. Otherwise, the text may be there, but you will not be able to change it.
In general, you will just need to modify the part name, and you can modify the company name. Because the part names are used inside many of the filenames in the project, you will find that you can not make the part name too long. You will be able to type in a new name at least as long as the original names, but in many case, you will not be able to extend the new name beyond the size of the original name. In addition, the names can not contain spaces.
As an example, if you choose the ScriptRunner template, you will notice that the Part Name is filled in as ScriptRunner, the Company Name as SampleCode, the Fragment Name as ScriptRunner, and then you will be shown that OSAPlugIn can be renamed to something else. You will not be able to modify the fragment name (as it is the same as the part name and will be changed to reflect your new part name automatically). You will be able change OSAPlugIn to something else, however.
Technical Note: The part name is used as the name of the C++ class, initialization routines, termination names, etc. The fragment name is the name of the SOM class for your part, and the name of the library fragment. The company name is used as the SOM module for your part's SOM class. The other strings will vary in what they represent. In the case of ScriptRunner, there are actually two seperate OpenDoc objects, an editor called "ScriptRunner" and a PlugIn called "OSAPlugIn."
Generating your new OpenDoc Part
The final step is to actually generate your new OpenDoc Part, using the information gathered in the previous steps.
You can choose the destination and name of the new folder which PartMaker will generate for you. The default destination is the same directory as PartMaker, but you can change this to another destination. The default name of your new folder is the usually just the name of the new part ("ExamplePart") but you can change it to anything else you would like. If you pick a destination and name which already represents an exisitng folder, you will be prompted to choose another name.
You can also choose which Projects you want to have PartMaker generate for you. You will need to have those development environments installed before you try to generate their projects. Currently, PartMaker will only support the generation of CodeWarrior 68k and PPC projects. Furthermore, you need to be using CodeWarrior IDE 1.6 or later, along with its associated prefences panels.
Finally, click on the "Create Part" button to have PartMaker generate your new OpenDoc Part. When you are done, you can click on the left arrow with a line in front to go back and choose a different template, or just click on the left arrow to recustomize the current template.
Creating PartMaker Pro Templates
There is a seperate read-me file on creating PartMaker Pro Templates. The read-me file, as well as some associated applets are in the "Creating Templates" folder.
