Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!vsi1!apple!keith From: keith@Apple.COM (Keith Rollin) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: Apple IIgs future Message-ID: <25074@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 31 Jan 89 18:01:55 GMT References: <8901291814.aa20287@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> <9547@smoke.BRL.MIL> Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA Lines: 37 In article <9547@smoke.BRL.MIL> gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) ) writes: >In article <8901291814.aa20287@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET ("David A. Lyons") writes: >>(resource manager coming to multiply the fun and >>flexibility of programming the GS by a large positive number!). > >How about explaining this. I don't have a "resource manager" on >my REAL computers and haven't felt the need for one. What does it >buy you (other than a cheap, inelegant way to support multiple >natural language messages)? The main reason for the Resource Manager on the Macintosh was for "localization". This is where we translate system software to support other languages, like you suspected. However, it has also become a way for easy customization of software in other ways. For instance, some programs base what they can do on the kinds of resources they find in their resource fork. As an example, I am writing a BlackJack card counting program that gets its card counting systems from resources. By simply adding another resource, I can get the program to play different systems without having to recompile my program. It is also possible to override certain characteristics of the System. On the Macintosh, the layout used by the Finder is stored in a resource. By changing certain values, I can display names in different fonts, have new folders created with different defaults, or choose they way the icons are layed out. I also was able to replace the standard control defintion for the scrollbar on the Mac with one that looks like the GS scrollbar (which I like much better). By changing that one resource in my System File, I was able to change the scrollbars in ALL of my applications! Keith Rollin --- Apple Computer, Inc. --- Developer Technical Support INTERNET: keith@apple.com UUCP: {decwrl, hoptoad, nsc, sun, amdahl}!apple!keith "You can do what you want to me, but leave my computer alone!"