Tips & Tidbits

By Neil Ticktin, Editor-in-Chief

Tip of the Month

Sometimes there are times that you will want to hide the menu bar. You shouldn’t plan on doing this often, but in the proper situation (i.e., a presentation package displaying a slide on the screen), here’s an example of how it might be done.

/* 1 */

int        saveMBarHeight;
RgnHandle  saveGrayRgn;

HideMenuBar (void)
{
    RgnHandle  mBarRgn;
    RgnHandle  theGrayRgn;
   
    theGrayRgn = GetGrayRgn ();
    saveMBarHeight = MBarHeight;
    saveGrayRgn = NewRgn ();
    CopyRgn (theGrayRgn, saveGrayRgn);
    mBarRgn = NewRgn ();
    SetRectRgn (mBarRgn, screenBits.bounds.left, screenBits.bounds.top,
       screenBits.bounds.right, screenBits.bounds.top + saveMBarHeight);
    MBarHeight = 0;
    UnionRgn (theGrayRgn, mBarRgn, theGrayRgn);
    PaintBehind (FrontWindow (), mBarRgn);
    CalcVisBehind (FrontWindow (), mBarRgn);
    DisposeRgn (mBarRgn);
}

ShowMenuBar (void)
{
    MBarHeight = saveMBarHeight;
    CopyRgn (saveGrayRgn, GetGrayRgn ());
    DisposeRgn (saveGrayRgn);
    DrawMenuBar ();
}

- Steve Wagy, Spring, Texas

Compile options in THINK Pascal - saving Time

If you are using Think Pascal you may set your compiler variables using the Compile Options in the Project menu. Compile Options serve as directives for the compiler. For example, if qCompileOption = FALSE the expressions within the $IFC - $ENDC statement don't get compiled into your code.

{2}

{$IFC  qCompileOption}
 expression1; expression2; .........
{$ENDC}

Suppose you have several units in your project and only one of the units uses qCompileOption. At the time, qCompileOption = TRUE in the Compile Options. You are about to run your code and want to set qCompileOption = FALSE. Do you find yourself going to the Compile Options in the Project menu and setting qCompileOption = FALSE? If you do, you know the unpleasant side effect - every unit in the project, whether it uses qCompileOption or not, gets recompiled. What a time waster! There is an easier way to reset qCompileOption for a particular unit. In the unit where you want qCompileOption reset, write this statement at the top of the unit following the IMPLEMENTATION keyword:

{$SETC  qCompileOption = FALSE}

This resets qCompileOption for this unit only and only this unit gets recompiled.

- Marek Hajek, Reno, Nevada

Assembler Editing through Hex Editor

I picked up a copy of MacTech at the Developer's Conference. I meant to respond to an article entitled "The Secrets of the Machine" earlier, but didn't until now. The article mentioned ResEdit's CODE resource extension. In paragraph three of pg 53 it stated that the extension doesn't allow editing of Assembler. This is not strictly true. I use the extension in conjunction with the Hex Editor (under the Resource menu) all the time.

The strategy is to have both the extension and the hex editor open and in sync with one another (an option under the Hex Editor menu). Then select what you would like to edit in the far right hand side of the CODE extension window. With the selection enforced, bring the hex editor to the forefront, make your modification, then return to the CODE extension window for an up-to-date disassembly of the hex you've just entered. I've found this approach to be very viable indeed. The instantaneous feedback has allowed me to make small patches on-the-fly quickly and effectively.

At work I spend a great amount of time translating software via Echo Logic's FlashPort. The code extension simplifies this process by allowing patches as mentioned above, and by making it easier to distinguish between CODE and data, a common necessity in FlashPort. Sometimes disassemblies become out of sync around embedded data. Using the hex editor and CODE extension, one can make a fake CODE resource {just needs a segment loader header and to end with an RTS}, paste the questionable data into the new CODE resource's hex window, and suffix the listing with 4E75 {RTS}. Then, by removing a word at a time from the beginning of the listing in the hex window and switching to the corresponding CODE extension window to see the effect, one can gain valuable insight by noting when the remaining instructions make sense. This approach is great for finding embedded jump table information.

I hope you find this information useful. In summary, use the hex editor for all editing, and the CODE extension for all viewing.

- Marisano James, Sent via AppleLink

Double Click in THINK Pascal

In the Think Pascal environment, hold down the option key and double click on a function name anywhere in your project and Think Pascal will take you to the function definition.

- Lillian Thompson, Reno, Nevada

Mousepositioning

The user should be the only one to wield the mouse. The position of the mouse should not change by program control. In some cases however, it is might be necessary to do so. A user-interface macro program, for example, or for a practical joke

The code snippet below does the trick. It is a macro that sets the position of the mouse to a given point (the argument to SETMOUSE, is of type Point).

/* 3 */

extern Point MTemp :   0x0828 ;    /* some Low Memory Globals  */ extern 
Point RawMouse : 0x082C ;
extern Byte  CrsrNew : 0x08CE ;

#define SETMOUSE(_pt)  {   \
   MTemp = _pt ;   \
   RawMouse = _pt ;\
   CrsrNew = 0xFF ;}

- Jan Bruyndonckx, Wave Research, Belgium