This is the 4th alpha version of Ad Lib 3.0. This particular version is more stable than previous alpha versions, but when using it to build views, be sure to save frequently, just in case.
Please send comments and bug reports to us via the MacApp Bug Submission web page for which you can find a link at http://developer.apple.com/dev/tools/macapp/. (If you do not have access to a browser you may send these comments and bug report in an e-mail message to mabugs@devtools.apple.com but this is not the preferred method of communication.)
Installation
Copy the Ad Lib 3.0a4 application to your hard disk. Copy the folder "Ad Lib 3.0 Preferences" to your Preferences folder. Note that the name of this folder has been changed so that you don't have to remove an older version of Ad Lib preferences from your disk.
Pedigree
This version of Ad Lib 3.0 was built using MacApp R13 update 3 (with minor modifications).
Caveats
The views you create with Ad Lib 3.0 have a different format (kMARelease13ViewsTemplateVersion) than those created with older versions of Ad Lib. Ad Lib 3.0 can read the old format (kMAThreeOhTemplateVersion) view resources, but they will be saved in the new format. You cannot use Ad Lib 2.6.4 to edit views written by Ad Lib 3.0.
Some features in Ad Lib 3.0 have not been tested or tried out, such as external resource files and Apple Events.
New Features
The alpha 4 release provides an automated way to convert old format documents to the new format. See the file "Converting Old Views" for more information.
View documents written with Ad Lib 3.0a4 now have 'vers' (1) resources.
The "New View by Name" item in the Object menu lets you create a view by typing in its name. The new view is always a subview of the window being edited. This feature has not been tested for every view type, and for some views the default settings may not be appropriate.
The "Add Behavior" item in the Object menu is a hierarchical menu containing some common behaviors. Choosing an item from this menu adds the behavior to the currently selected view. This new feature is an experiment - let me know if you like it.
Changes from Ad Lib 2.6
So many behaviors and adorners were added that the "Behaviors & Adorners" palette was divided into two separate palettes, "Behaviors" and "Adorners". The generic Drawing Environment item is on the "Adorners" palette.
The "Views" palette contains the same view items it had before. But since this palette is so long, I put a few additional views in the "More Views" palette:
TChasingArrows
TCluster (for old times' sake)
TSeparator - horizontal and vertical versions
TSlider - horizontal and vertical versions
You can find additional palettes by selecting the "Objects" menu item found under the "Window" menu.
Known Problems
• User Interface
- There are glitches in highlighting selected items in outline lists.
- Not all window types are drawn correctly in OS8. It gets even worse if you turn on the preference for "Use System 7.5 Floating WDEF".
- Under 8.5, window titles are drawn as garbage, and the frames are not drawn correctly either.
- Sometimes the application target is not what you expect, so that menu items are disabled when they should be enabled.
- Red selection handles don't show up for TPopup and TIconPopup.
• Font and Style changes for Cluster views don't appear until you close/save the document and re-open it.
