Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!apple!daveo
From: daveo@Apple.COM (David M. O'Rourke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: The Mac's resource fork: does Win 3 have one?
Message-ID: <42649@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 5 Jul 90 06:36:56 GMT
References: <2322.268f7cca@csc.anu.oz> <2964@gmdzi.UUCP> <7705@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> <2966@gmdzi.UUCP> <23070@boulder.Colorado.EDU> <2987@gmdzi.UUCP>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 46

strobl@gmdzi.UUCP (Wolfgang Strobl) writes:
>This includes Windows Programmers, too. There seems to be NO DIFFERENCE
>between MS Windows and the Macintosh OS, here. Both separate
>programs into a user interface part (icons, bitmaps, menues, keyboard
>accelerators, string constants, dialog boxes, ...) and the algorithmic
>part. Both do not need a recompilation for changing the user interface.

  Real Questions:

  Can you change the resources "in-place" in the file, change their sizes,
attributes and possibly add resources, or delete them, with out re-linking??

  As I understand Window's resource concept it's a nice way to separate
data from the code, but it's not a resource management system that allows you
to change, modify, delete, and resize existing resources "in-place" in the
file without re-building the file through some linking process.

  Can programs add, delete, change, resize resources at run time to any file??
And if they can is there OS support for this operation, or do you have to
implement the routines yourself??

  Can you "search" for a particular type of resource, providing a simple form
of dynamic linking

  Now on to Mac related topics of resources:

  In addition when you recall a resource on the Macintosh it "searches" all
open resource files to attempt to find the resource.  This allows Apple to
put standard dialogs and such in the system file, which is always open, and
they can be used by programs, and OS routines.  But if a programmer places
a resource of the idential type/id in his application it will override the
system based resource and use the one it finds in the Application, and if you
do it right you can even subsitute your own data {dialog, icon, bitmap, etc.}
and still use the OS routine that uses it.  There by reusing the OS code, but
changing the interface by the simple addition of a resource to your Application.

  From talking to a friend of mine who's a competent programmer in both
enviroments he seems to feel that MS Windows resource management is a step
forward for the separation of Data and Code, but it's not as dynamic and the
Mac's resource manager and lacks some of it's functionality.  But I'm willing
to listen to arguments about how MS Windows is just as functional...

-- 
daveo@apple.com                                               David M. O'Rourke
_______________________________________________________________________________
I do not speak for Apple in *ANY* official capacity.