Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!farrier
From: farrier@Apple.COM (Cary Farrier)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Resource Forks
Message-ID: <32199@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 2 Jun 89 14:53:58 GMT
References: <8906020837.AA22047@crash.cts.com>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 30

In article <8906020837.AA22047@crash.cts.com> pnet01!pro-sol!pro-newfrontier!pro-freedom!cdm@nosc.mil writes:
>Network Comment: to #4714 by unknown
>
>Well lets see what kind of hash I can make of this.  On the Macintosh the
>resource forks are usually used to store anything that goes on the screen,
>such as text, dialog boxes, etc. 

	Actually, *anything* can be a resource.  Your program is actually
	a resource of type CODE, usually id 0.

>because the Mac toolbox allows access to the resource fork, such as a tool
>that draws a dialog box on the screen from the resource ID you give it. The
>big advantage to this is that if you want to change the appearence of the
>screen, say for example to make a French or German version of the software,
>you make the changes and not have to change or recompile any source code.

	The GS toolsets now support this type of operation, also.  For example
	there is a new version of NewWindow() called NewWindow2() which will
	accept a variety of inputs, including resource id's.

>
>As for the implimentation on the GS, I understand that the file itself will
>still be the same, it will just have some header information giving the
>offsets to the begining of the data and resource forks.

	Possibly, but that is on the block level of the disk only. No one
	except the person who wrote the ProDOS FST has to worry about
	that.

Cary Farrier