The Atari Compendium/The Atari Compendium (Toad Computers) (1994).iso/files/umich/utils/mkrsc.arc/MKRSC.DOC

Text File | 1990-04-30 | 19KB | 328 lines

            MKRSC   Documentation

                      J. Charlton
           30 Prescot Rd, Winnipeg, Manitoba
            Canada   R3T 3X5
               Tel [phone]
             E-mail  [e-mail]

    MKRSC copyright Jim Charlton 1989.  MKRSC is freely distributable
provided that this file is distributed with the source and executable
code.  No-one may charge a fee for the executable or source code, nor for
distribution of this code.

    Version 1.0 is the first release of this program and all reports of
problems, bugs or suggestions for improvements should be forwarded to the
address given above.

    No guarantees, written or implied are made as to the suitability of
this program for any particular purpose.  Anyone who uses it, does so at
their own risk.

This documentation is NOT a manual for GEM programming using a Resource
Construction Program (RCP).  It is a description of how to use MKRSC
to create resource files to use in GEM programming.

MKRSC is a simple GEM resource construction program (RCP) suitable for the
creation of dialog boxes and menus.  The purpose in writing this program
was to provide a utility for those interested in GEM programming on the
Atari ST/MEGA computers, but not having access to a commercial resource
builder.  Version 1.0 of the program has no facility for the creation of
icons or bit mapped images.  Neither is the program useful for editing
existing resource files, even those containing only dialog boxes and menus.
It is only useful for the creation of new resource files and their
associated C header files.  The program should work in either monochrome
or colour although it has been more extensively tested on monochrome systems.

MKRSC was written using the Laser C compiler sold by Megamax Inc.
Laser C is an excellent commercial C compiler for the Atari ST/MEGA and
I recommend it to anyone contemplating buying a C compiler.  It comes
with a very good RCP and an optional debugger (that is absolutely
essential, if you are doing any serious programming).  I am able to
develop relatively large applications using only a 1040ST with a single
double-sided drive.  I have no connection whatsoever with Megamax other
than as a satisfied customer.

The source code has also been modified by Jwahar Bammi to allow compilation
with the gcc compiler.  A separate Makefile (Makefile.gcc) as well as an
additional gcc support file (gnu.c) are included in the sources.

MKRSC was written without the benefit of any documentation other than what
could be gleaned from the Laser C manual.  There are many strange things
about resource files that I do not understand at all, some of which I mention
as part of the documentation in the source code.  I would be very glad
to hear about any problems encountered while using the program.  I will
try to fix bugs and post new versions in a timely manner.

How to use the program should be fairly obvious but I will try to generally
explain the items on the menu bar.

NEW- This starts the creation of a new resource by opening up a window
on the right side of the screen.  You can open up as many as seven of these
windows after which you should get a message saying that no more windows are
available.  Each window will have a different title which will change when
you save the resource.  You can rotate through the open windows by using
the 'rotate windows' command at the right end of the menu bar.

Having opened a window you may now drag the icons from the left hand side
of the screen to the right hand window.  You do this clicking on an icon
(left button, hold down) and dragging it into the window.  Anywhere in the
window is fine.  A namer dialog will pop up that will enable you to change
the name of this 'resource tree' (You can rename it later if you choose to
accept the default name by clicking on OK).  You should only drag either
dialog or menu icons into the window.  Do not use the 'unknown' icon.  If
you do, it will be treated exactly as a dialog icon.

Once you have one or more icons in the right hand window you can 'open' a
resource tree by double clicking on one of the icons.  Try a dialog box
first.  A dialog box opens with a simple outlined box in the window on the
right.  Note that the icons on the left hand side of the screen change as
you open the dialog box.  You may now 'drag' objects from the left hand side
of the screen into the window on the right.  They will be positioned at the
place you release the mouse.  You may reposition them by clicking on them
and dragging them to a new position.  NOTE.. If you drag an object or even
do a sustained click on an object, it will make it the top object in its
list of siblings.  This means that if you have overlapping objects, the one
that is top will be drawn on top.  By sequentially doing a sustained click
on a list of siblings (objects at the same level.. all having the same parent),
you can 'order' the list.  You can also 'order' or sort the list by using
the 'SORT' function (see below).  All objects can also be resized by
clicking near their lower right corner and dragging the corner to make a
new size.  Simply single clicking an object will cause it to be 'selected'
which will be useful for things to be described later.  If you double click
an object, a dialog box will open which will allow you to change the
characteristics of of the object.
  NOTE...  If you hold down the control key while clicking, dragging or
resizing an object, you will select the 'parent' of the top object
(usually the object under the top object).  If you hold down the left-shift
key while doing a sustained click on an object, a copy of the object will
be copied to the cut buffer.  The cursor will change to a pointing finger
and you can now paste a copy of the object by just clicking somewhere
else.  You can copy objects within a dialog or whole trees at the resource
level.

SNAP-  Objects can be placed at any position and sized to any size if
snapping is turned off by clicking on SNAP (it can be turned back
on by clicking SNAP again).  If SNAP is on (the default) then object
positions and sizes will be snapped to the nearest character boundary/size.
Making 'unsnapped' resources may cause objects to be positioned
slightly differently at different resolutions.  You can also snap all
objects in the current dialog box (Snap all) or snap a selected object
(Snap selected).  Menu resources are always 'snapped'.

If you are working on a monochrome system, remember that only colors
0 and 1 have any significance.  Many of the object characteristics
affect their use in GEM programs and their use may not be obvious to
you until you become familiar with GEM.

Once you have put the objects that you desire into a dialog box you can close
the tree by clicking on the close box of the window (upper left) or by
selecting 'close' from the menu bar.  This will return you to the 'resource'
level from the single 'tree' level.  Now try dragging in and double clicking
a menu icon.  On double clicking the menu icon a menu bar opens up.  It
begins with a minimum set of items on the bar.  While you can edit the titles
and strings on the menu bar you should never 'erase' the 'desk' or 'file'
title.  You can examine the drop down menus under each title by 'selecting'
(single clicking) a title.  The drop down menu box and the entries in the
boxes can be resized by dragging their lower right corner.  You will have
to first reduce the size of the last menu box entry before you can get
access to the menubox itself for resizing, or use control/click to access
the menu box under the entry.  You can only resize menuboxes,
not reposition them.  Titles can be resized and even repositioned.  Their
corresponding menuboxes (with contents) will be repositioned automatically.
Tiles on the menu bar will always be end to end, left justified so that
repositioning will only change their order.  New tiles can be dragged only to
the title region of the menu bar.  A new menubox is automatically created
when you insert a new title.  New entries to a menubox can be dragged to an
open menu box.  T