Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!claris!clay
From: clay@claris.UUCP (Clay Maeckel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Regions in PICT resources?
Keywords: MacDraw doesn't know what to do with 'em
Message-ID: <5071@claris.UUCP>
Date: 1 Sep 88 16:34:59 GMT
References: <381@uvabick.UUCP>
Reply-To: clay@claris.UUCP (Clay Maeckel)
Organization: Claris Corporation, Mountain View CA
Lines: 34

In article <381@uvabick.UUCP> thomas@uvabick.UUCP (Thomas Fruin) writes:
>I suppose it _is_ logical once you start thinking about it ... but MacDraw
>does NOT understand the complete PICT format!  I mean, it knows how to handle
>all those fancy PICT Comments, but it IGNORES regions!?

[Time to get my foot inserted]

There are a couple of reasons why regions have not been supported in MacDraw.

1.  Regions are ignored by the QuickDraw to PostScript print drivers. (See
TechNote #72)

2.  MacDraw wasn't designed as a PICT editor, it inserts many of its own
PICT comments and strips out comments that it does not know about.

3.  Apple doesn't publish the region's internal format and reserves the right
to change it at anytime.  This is importart because when MacDraw reads in a
PICT, it converts each object into its own internal data structures.  I am not
sure of anyway to decompose a region back into it's orginal QuickDraw calls.

There are some technical ways around these problems, such as converting regions
into bitmaps (poor printing on high resolutions devices, lose information when
converting back to regions) or trying to generate polygons from the region
(depends on the regions internal data structure).

It would be nice if someone would develop a PICT editor and it would even be
better if it was put into ResEdit.  But this product would only be of
interest to developers, students, and hobbiest.  Sounds like something
Apple's development tools group should do.


-- 
 Clay Maeckel         *   UUCP: {ames,apple,portal,sun,voder}!claris!clay
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