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From: bart@reed.UUCP (Bart Massey)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac
Subject: ResEdit is *already* customizedable (Re: Ten Challenges)
Message-ID: <3342@reed.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 9-May-86 15:48:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: reed.3342
Posted: Fri May  9 15:48:46 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 14-May-86 06:03:58 EDT
References: <21100039@orstcs.UUCP>
Reply-To: bart@reed.UUCP (Bart Massey)
Organization: Reed College, Portland, Oregon
Lines: 53


In article <21100039@orstcs.UUCP> nathan@orstcs.UUCP (nathan) writes:
> Ten Challenges:
> ...
> Myers Challenge #7:
>      Apple's resource editor is huge, cumbersome, non-expandable,
> and unreliable.  The only thing to say in its favor is that it's
> indispensable.  (This is not to criticize the authors: it had to be
> written before its problems could be understood.)  But it's not
> irreplaceable.

Huge, yes.  We'll see why in a moment.  Cumbersome?  Why?  I think the
user interface is rather painless, considering what it's doing.  Unexpandable,
no.  We'll see why in a moment.  Unreliable?  As far as I'm concerned, for
1.0D4, at least, this *just isn't true*.  I've done many, many things with
it with nary a problem.  If you don't have at least 1.0D4, though, you
should get it...

>      I propose a core program which itself is little more than a
> resource mover.  It would load an edit module for each resource
> type, as needed, from a separate file identified by the resource
> name.  The interface for such modules could be very similar to
> that for DA's, so existing compilers could be used to create
> the edit modules.  Supporting a new resource type would require
> *no* changes to the core program.  Bugs would be easily localized.
> The core program would be small enough to be a DA.

Gee, what a coincidence!  That's exactly how *ResEdit works now*!  The
reason that ResEdit is so large is that (a) the core program just plain
needs to be a lot more complicated than the average DA, and (b) there
are a bunch of editors in there already!  There's even a facility for
writing a resource description template, so that one doesn't have to
write a custom editor for every new resource type!  

>      If the interface for the edit modules were published, Apple
> would be rid of a big maintenance headache, and "the rest of us"
> programmers wouldn't have to be so paranoid about our resource
> editor wiping out our new programs.  Further, anyone could write
> an editor for "his" resource type, and not have to wait for Apple
> to get around to it.  

For more information on how to write your own custom editors, pickers,
and resource templates for ResEdit, see the appropriate Apple technical 
notes.

> Even Andy Herzfeld will thank you for
> tackling this one, and Gassee will invite you to lunch.

Thank you, Steve Pope and Ronny Sebok!  ResEdit sure makes my life
easier...

					Bart Massey
					..tektronix!reed!bart