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From: ml27192@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (lanett mark)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: C++ Programming Under Mpw - Advice So
Message-ID: <1991Jan5.202010.5674@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 5 Jan 91 20:20:10 GMT
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Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
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Jim.Lynch@f444.n161.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Lynch) writes:
>> I am trying to use C++ under MPW and would welcome some
>> advice and help.  The C++ language creates no problem
>> since I have used it in other environments.  The problem
>> comes when I try to find out about the MacApp classes and
>> their methods.  
>> 
>> Where do I look for a clear description?  
>> 
>> Do I need to acquire and read all the volumes of
>> Inside Macintosh?

>******** YES!YES!YES! ***********

No No No! Inside Mac describes the Toolbox. It _is_ very usefull to have
around, but is _not_ a reference for MacApp! The only reference I am aware
of for MacApp is the pair of HC stacks: MacApp Reference and Methods. The
descriptions are rather useless, though. In fact in all the the MacApp doc's
there is really no description concerning the TGridView and its ancestors
like TTextListView. You must examine the Calc code and other examples that
have font-picker views to determine how they work. I am very disappointed
with the quality of the MacApp references in general (as opposed to their
tutorial, which _are_ helpfull, if only initially).

>> Is there a class browser to enable me to find out, quickly
>> and easily what classes are available to inherit and what
>> member functions they contain?

Yes, it's included. It may be called Mouser or MacBrowse. It is limited in that
in cannot create new methods or fields, but is overall a better editing
environ than MPW for object oriented source code. You should use it to parse
the entire MacApp source, which I've found to be the best way to learn MacApp.
First parse (in Pascal) the PInterfaces and then Libraries. Then create a C++
parse for the CInterfaces. (the browser saves method file-location info in
"parse" files).

>> In the APDAlog I note the publications:
>> C++ Programming with MacApp by David Wilson, Larry Rosenstein
>>   and Dan Shafer
>> Elements of C++ Macintosh Programming by Dan Weston

I have both but honestly don't use them much. I tend to stick to reference 
manuals. They make good reading but I wouldn't think of following _their_
tutorials. Just use them for theory. One of these (I forget which) describes
MacApp 1.0, and is therefore not good as a reference.

Luck!
-----------
Mark Lanett