Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hoptoad!tim
From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: MacsBug dcmd's in ThinkC
Message-ID: <10293@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 17 Feb 90 00:54:38 GMT
References: <6650@internal.Apple.COM> <2933@draken.nada.kth.se> <10246@hoptoad.uucp> <2952@draken.nada.kth.se>
Reply-To: tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney)
Organization: Eclectic Software, San Francisco
Lines: 64

In article <2933@draken.nada.kth.se> d88-jwa@nada.kth.se (Jon W{tte) writes:
>>>THINK C is better than MPW in handling standalone code reources...

In article <10246@hoptoad.uucp> tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney) writes:
>>I *definitely* don't agree with that...

In article <2952@draken.nada.kth.se> d85-jem@nada.kth.se (Jan-Erik M}ngs)
writes:
>You are right on most points, but I don't think that was what Jon
>ment.  In THINK C 3.x and 4.0 you can write code resources with
>globals without the need of anything like "MakeA5World" described in
>TN 256 (THINK C uses A4).

I guess I've never really seen the difficulty.  I wrote several
global-using code resources in MPW C 1.0; actually, I think the first
one used the beta version.  It's not now and never has been a big deal
to do.  Now that Apple has told you how to do it and given example
code, it's as easy as it is in THINK C.

>In 4.0 you can also write segmented code
>resources and you can do them object-oriented.  How do you do that in
>MPW? As fas as I know, MPW C++ and Object Pascal can only be used for
>applications...

I tried to use THINK C's multi-segment resources.  I simply could not
get anything using function pointers to work.  In any case, MPW lets
you link code resources bigger than 32K, so who needs multiple
segments?  I think object-oriented programming is a fad, and I no
longer use it myself, but since you can have globals in MPW, you
can use C++ in code resources.  I believe Keith Rollin has spelled
out exactly how to do this here.

>>you've got to ResEdit the resources from one file to the next by
>>hand, a very tedious operation.
>
>THINK C 4.0 has a check box named "Merge" that you can use when you
>save your resource. No needs for ResEdit anymore...

That's nice; I assume this works similarly to "Rez -a" in MPW.  But you
omitted the other problem I mentioned.  You still have to do one build
operation per code resource, which involves closing a project, opening
a new project, giving a Make:Use Disk command (since cooperating code
resources usually share include files), waiting for that to complete,
then giving a Build Whatever command, then checking the destination
folder, then overriding the existing file, then waiting for the Build
to finish, then repeating for the next code resource.  Not only is
there a lot to do, but you have to watch the computer at every phase
waiting for your next action to come up.  The same operation might take
half again to two times as long in MPW, but you can leave the computer
while it's happening; all you have to do is give a single Build command
(Cmd-B, type name of target (usually "all"), hit return) and let it
fly.  The actual time elapsed may be somewhat longer, but all that time
is yours, whereas very little of it is free time in THINK C.  THINK C
is suffering from a false economy of time.

It's also giving you plenty more opportunities to shoot yourself in the
foot.  "Let's see, did I already rebuild the LDEF or not?  I better do
it again just to make sure."  No such problem with makefiles.
-- 
Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com

"`Truth' never set anyone free.  It is only *doubt* which will bring
 mental emancipation."
        -- Anton LaVey, quoted by Arthur Lyons, SATAN WANTS YOU