TweetFollow Us on Twitter

May 94 Tips
Volume Number:10
Issue Number:5
Column Tag:Tips & Tidbits

Related Info: Font Manager Window Mgr

Tips & Tidbits

By Scott T Boyd, Editor

Note: Source code files accompanying article are located on MacTech CD-ROM or source code disks.

Tip Of The Month

Counting items in a directory

Here’s a piece of code which counts the number of items in a directory. It’s particularly useful if you are going to do something to every file in a directory (and its subdirectories) and want to show a progress bar. It counts both invisible and visible items, so if you don’t want invisibles counted, you’ll need to modify it. The CountGlobals structure is used to minimize the amount of stack space used when recursively calling GetLevelCount and to hold global information that might be needed at any time.

- Jim Luther, Cupertino, CA


/* 1 */
struct CountGlobals
{
 OSErr  result;  // temp holder of results - saves 2 bytes of stack at 
each level
 Str63  itemName;// the name of the current item
 CInfoPBRec myCPB; // the parameter block used for PBGetCatInfo calls 
 
 unsigned long files;// the number of files in the directory structure 

 unsigned long directories; // the number of directories in the directory 
structure
};
typedef struct CountGlobals CountGlobals;
typedef CountGlobals *CountGlobalsPtr;
// static prototypes
static void GetLevelCount(long currentDirID, 
 CountGlobalsPtr theGlobals);
void CountDirectoryItems(short srcVRefNum, long srcDirID,
 unsigned long *files, unsigned long *directories);


static void GetLevelCount(long currentDirID, 
 CountGlobalsPtr theGlobals)
{
short index = 1; 
do {
 theGlobals->myCPB.dirInfo.ioFDirIndex = index;
 // we need to do this every time through; GetCatInfo returns ioFlNum 
in this field
 theGlobals->myCPB.dirInfo.ioDrDirID = currentDirID;     

 theGlobals->result =
 PBGetCatInfoSync((CInfoPBPtr)&theGlobals->myCPB);
 if (theGlobals->result == noErr)
 {
 if ((theGlobals->myCPB.dirInfo.ioFlAttrib & ioDirMask) != 0)
 {
 // we have a directory
 ++(theGlobals->directories);

 GetLevelCount(  theGlobals->myCPB.dirInfo.ioDrDirID,
 theGlobals);  // recurse

 theGlobals->result = noErr;// clear error return on way back
 }
 else
 {
 // we have a file
 ++(theGlobals->files);
 }
 }
 ++index;
} while (theGlobals->result == noErr);
}


void CountDirectoryItems(short srcVRefNum, 
 long srcDirID,
 unsigned long *files,
 unsigned long *directories)
{
CountGlobals theGlobals;

 theGlobals.myCPB.dirInfo.ioNamePtr = theGlobals.itemName;
 theGlobals.myCPB.dirInfo.ioVRefNum = srcVRefNum;
 theGlobals.files = 0;
 theGlobals.directories = 0;

 GetLevelCount(srcDirID, &theGlobals);

 *files = theGlobals.files;
 *directories = theGlobals.directories;
}

Spread the word about things you know that others could benefit from knowing! Send

us your tips and tidbits, especially programming-related tips. We’re also looking for user tips particularly useful to programmers .

MacTech Magazine will pay $25 for every tip used, and $50 for the Tip of the Month. You can take your award in orders or subscriptions if you prefer.

To submit a tip, send it in by e-mail. (Please make sure your code compiles). See page two for our addresses.

Popup Menus Pop Up Again

In the February issue, Laurent Haas suggested a method of forcing pop-up menus to appear in a certain font and size. His method involved forcing the system to use a new system font. I used to use this method as well, since it was the method suggested in an Apple DTS Q&A stack. Unfortunately, it has two drawbacks:

(1) It is very slow because the system has to rebuild the cached font info every time the font manager sees that LastSPExtra (the global variable at 0x0B4C) is -1. (That is why the -1 is being stuffed in there in the first place - otherwise the other changes are ignored because of the caching).

(2) It doesn’t work - no kidding... if it works consistently on a particular machine, you are very lucky. Much of the time it simply does not have the desired effect - usually the font will change, but the size won't.

The method I use now is to patch _TextFont and _TextSize immediately before calling PopupMenuSelect and then unpatch them immediately afterwards (to minimize interference with anything else that uses these traps). My patches call the original routine but with a substituted argument for the font number or size. This works consistently and has no speed penalty to speak of. After unpatching, I also need to restore the font and size of the window manager port, since the menu defproc has explicitly set them by calling TextFont(0) and TextSize(0). Because of the patches, the WMgrPort now has a font and size different from the system font and size. I set the current port to the WMgrPort and do a TextFont and a TextSize to set them back to 0. On a colour Mac, this must also be done for the Colour Window manager port as well.

This method doesn’t use any low memory globals, so is less likely to break. It does, however, require tweaking the window manager port(s), which could possibly break but I doubt it.

- Rowan Daniell, Software Engineer, Cowie Associates Ltd

Moving Targets In Mpw

With the advent of the Universal C interfaces it is a pain switching back and forth between the CIncludes and PPCCIncludes folders. Adding the following three lines to your UserStartUp-<yourname> script will make life easier:


/* 2 */
AddMenu Tools 'Use Universal CIncludes' 
 'SET CIncludes "{MPW}Interfaces:PPCCIncludes:"'

AddMenu Tools 'Use Standard CIncludes' 
 'SET CIncludes "{MPW}Interfaces:CIncludes:"'

AddMenu Tools (- ''

Any menu can be specified, but I chose to add these commands to the top of my Tools menu (which is also why I added a dividing line beneath the two items). Selecting an item causes the shell variable {CIncludes} to be set to the appropriate path. This can make life much easier when jumping between older projects and new, PowerPC-savvy projects.

- Bryan Pietrzak, Softdisk Publishing

 
AAPL
$501.11
Apple Inc.
+2.43
MSFT
$34.64
Microsoft Corpora
+0.15
GOOG
$898.03
Google Inc.
+16.02

MacTech Search:
Community Search:

Software Updates via MacUpdate

CrossOver 12.5.1 - Run Windows apps on y...
CrossOver can get your Windows productivity applications and PC games up and running on your Mac quickly and easily. CrossOver runs the Windows software that you need on Mac at home, in the office,... Read more
Paperless 2.3.1 - Digital documents mana...
Paperless is a digital documents manager. Remember when everyone talked about how we would soon be a paperless society? Now it seems like we use paper more than ever. Let's face it - we need and we... Read more
Apple HP Printer Drivers 2.16.1 - For OS...
Apple HP Printer Drivers includes the latest HP printing and scanning software for Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8. For information about supported printer models, see this page.Version 2.16.1: This... Read more
Yep 3.5.1 - Organize and manage all your...
Yep is a document organization and management tool. Like iTunes for music or iPhoto for photos, Yep lets you search and view your documents in a comfortable interface, while offering the ability to... Read more
Apple Canon Laser Printer Drivers 2.11 -...
Apple Canon Laser Printer Drivers is the latest Canon Laser printing and scanning software for Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8. For information about supported printer models, see this page.Version 2.11... Read more
Apple Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 17 -...
Apple Java for Mac OS X 10.6 delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6.Version Update 17: Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 17 delivers improved security,... Read more
Arq 3.3 - Online backup (requires Amazon...
Arq is online backup for the Mac using Amazon S3 and Amazon Glacier. It backs-up and faithfully restores all the special metadata of Mac files that other products don't, including resource forks,... Read more
Apple Java 2013-005 - For OS X 10.7 and...
Apple Java for OS X 2013-005 delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_65. On systems that have not already installed Java for OS X 2012-006, this... Read more
DEVONthink Pro 2.7 - Knowledge base, inf...
Save 10% with our exclusive coupon code: MACUPDATE10 DEVONthink Pro is your essential assistant for today's world, where almost everything is digital. From shopping receipts to important research... Read more
VirtualBox 4.3.0 - x86 virtualization so...
VirtualBox is a family of powerful x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers... Read more

Briquid Gets Updated with New Undo Butto...
Briquid Gets Updated with New Undo Button, Achievements, and Leaderboards, on Sale for $0.99 Posted by Andrew Stevens on October 16th, 2013 [ | Read more »
Halloween – iLovecraft Brings Frightenin...
Halloween – iLovecraft Brings Frightening Stories From Author H.P. | Read more »
The Blockheads Creator David Frampton Gi...
The Blockheads Creator David Frampton Gives a Postmortem on the Creation Process of the Game Posted by Andrew Stevens on October 16th, 2013 [ permalink ] Hey, a | Read more »
Sorcery! Enhances the Gameplay in Latest...
Sorcery! | Read more »
It Came From Australia: Tiny Death Star
NimbleBit and Disney have teamed up to make Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, a Star Wars take on Tiny Tower. Right now, the game is in testing in Australia (you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy) but we were able to sneak past... | Read more »
FIST OF AWESOME Review
FIST OF AWESOME Review By Rob Rich on October 16th, 2013 Our Rating: :: TALK TO THE FISTUniversal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad A totalitarian society of bears is only the tip of the iceberg in this throwback brawler.   | Read more »
PROVERBidioms Paints English Sayings in...
PROVERBidioms Paints English Sayings in a Picture for Users to Find Posted by Andrew Stevens on October 16th, 2013 [ permalink ] | Read more »
OmniFocus 2 for iPhone Review
OmniFocus 2 for iPhone Review By Carter Dotson on October 16th, 2013 Our Rating: :: OMNIPOTENTiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad OmniFocus 2 for iPhone is a task management app for people who absolutely... | Read more »
Ingress – Google’s Augmented-Reality Gam...
Ingress – Google’s Augmented-Reality Game to Make its Way to iOS Next Year Posted by Andrew Stevens on October 16th, 2013 [ permalink ] | Read more »
CSR Classics is Full of Ridiculously Pre...
CSR Classics is Full of Ridiculously Pretty Classic Automobiles Posted by Rob Rich on October 16th, 2013 [ permalink ] | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Apple Store Canada offers refurbished 11-inch...
 The Apple Store Canada has Apple Certified Refurbished 2013 11″ MacBook Airs available starting at CDN$ 849. Save up to $180 off the cost of new models. An Apple one-year warranty is included with... Read more
Updated MacBook Price Trackers
We’ve updated our MacBook Price Trackers with the latest information on prices, bundles, and availability on MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, and the MacBook Pros with Retina Displays from Apple’s... Read more
13-inch Retina MacBook Pros on sale for up to...
B&H Photo has the 13″ 2.5GHz Retina MacBook Pro on sale for $1399 including free shipping. Their price is $100 off MSRP. They have the 13″ 2.6GHz Retina MacBook Pro on sale for $1580 which is $... Read more
AppleCare Protection Plans on sale for up to...
B&H Photo has 3-Year AppleCare Warranties on sale for up to $105 off MSRP including free shipping plus NY sales tax only: - Mac Laptops 15″ and Above: $244 $105 off MSRP - Mac Laptops 13″ and... Read more
Apple’s 64-bit A7 Processor: One Step Closer...
PC Pro’s Darien Graham-Smith reported that Canonical founder and Ubuntu Linux creator Mark Shuttleworth believes Apple intends to follow Ubuntu’s lead and merge its desktop and mobile operating... Read more
MacBook Pro First, Followed By iPad At The En...
French site Info MacG’s Florian Innocente says he has received availability dates and order of arrival for the next MacBook Pro and the iPad from the same contact who had warned hom of the arrival of... Read more
Chart: iPad Value Decline From NextWorth
With every announcement of a new Apple device, serial upgraders begin selling off their previous models – driving down the resale value. So, with the Oct. 22 Apple announcement date approaching,... Read more
SOASTA Survey: What App Do You Check First in...
SOASTA Inc., the leader in cloud and mobile testing announced the results of its recent survey showing which mobile apps are popular with smartphone owners in major American markets. SOASTA’s survey... Read more
Apple, Samsung Reportedly Both Developing 12-...
Digitimes’ Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai report that Apple and Samsung Electronics are said to both be planning to release 12-inch tablets, and that Apple is currently cooperating with Quanta Computer on... Read more
Apple’s 2011 MacBook Pro Lineup Suffering Fro...
Appleinsider’s Shane Cole says that owners of early-2011 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros are reporting issues with those models’ discrete AMD graphics processors, which in some cases results in the... Read more

Jobs Board

*Apple* Retail - Manager - Apple (United Sta...
Job SummaryKeeping an Apple Store thriving requires a diverse set of leadership skills, and as a Manager, youre a master of them all. In the stores fast-paced, dynamic Read more
*Apple* Support / *Apple* Technician / Mac...
Apple Support / Apple Technician / Mac Support / Mac Set up / Mac TechnicianMac Set up and Apple Support technicianThe person we are looking for will have worked Read more
Senior Mac / *Apple* Systems Engineer - 318...
318 Inc, a top provider of Apple solutions is seeking a new Senior Apple Systems Engineer to be based out of our Santa Monica, California location. We are a Read more
*Apple* Retail - Manager - Apple Inc. (Unite...
Job Summary Keeping an Apple Store thriving requires a diverse set of leadership skills, and as a Manager, you’re a master of them all. In the store’s fast-paced, Read more
*Apple* Solutions Consultant - Apple (United...
**Job Summary** Apple Solutions Consultant (ASC) - Retail Representatives Apple Solutions Consultants are trained by Apple on selling Apple -branded products Read more
All contents are Copyright 1984-2011 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.