Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!husc6!xait!dee
From: dee@XAIT.Xerox.COM (Donald Eastlake)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Need some MF help
Message-ID: <43549@XAIT.Xerox.COM>
Date: 7 Apr 89 20:34:15 GMT
References: <1562@neoucom.UUCP> <28399@apple.Apple.COM> <43464@XAIT.Xerox.COM> <1227@internal.Apple.COM>
Reply-To: dee@XAIT.Xerox.COM (Donald Eastlake)
Distribution: na
Organization: Xerox Advanced Information Technology, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 48

In article <1227@internal.Apple.COM> lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) writes:
>In article <43464@XAIT.Xerox.COM> dee@XAIT.Xerox.COM (Donald Eastlake) writes:
>> The way I try to guess if MultiFinder is running is by checking for the
>> temporary memory assignment traps.  
>This is probably the best technique known to man.  ...
>> dynamicly generate windows in my application with stepped locations and
>> I don't want to cover the volume, etc., Icons that MF likes to put down
>> the right edge of the screen.  I also have a "cover sheet" feature to
>As people pointed out, this is not needed with the latest MultiFinder that 
>includes Set Aside.  ...

What is this Set Aside feature and is it really easier than just being able
to click on the icons??

>Checking for MultiFinder is not the right thing to do in any case.  What 
>you want to know is whether there are things on the desktop.  A future 
>version of MultiFinder might provide a way to access the desktop, and then 
>you have this extra code in your program that isn't necessary, your users 
>have to widen their windows manually, etc.

I suppose but users want convenient software RIGHT NOW and I am not going
to make my product inferior because of edicts from the thought police.
Even when wonderful new MultiFinders do come out, there will be enclaves
of people running the old version for YEARS.  These users would otherwise
get to manually narrow their windows etc.

I started out ignoring Switcher.  Too bad my first Beta test site uses
it on most of their Macs.  I quickly got my program to tolerate Switcher
at least although I only do background stuff under MultiFinder.

>> While I am sending this message, I'd like to put in my vote for a couple
>> of new traps:
>>         TrapExist ( trapnumber ) or the like would do the obvious thing
>The code to do this is relatively easy, but you're right it should be put 
>into a library.  The problem with making it a trap is that how do you test 
>whether that trap exists?  If the glue code does this, then you might as 
>well put the full code for TrapExist in there as well.

Well, if people are supposed to do various things re MultiFinder because
there will be a hypothecial new MF/System sometime in the future, why not
put this in because, taking the same point of view, real soon now all
MACs will have the nifty AD 1990 ROM with this built in and the glue
code will be trivial to non-existent.

-- 
	+1 617-969-9570		Donald E. Eastlake, III
	ARPA: dee@XAIT.Xerox.COM    usenet:  {cbosg,decvax,linus}!cca!dee
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