Introduction to Upgrading to the Mac OS X HIToolbox
A porting guide for Carbon developers seeking to adopt Mac OS X HIToolbox features such as nib-based windows and HIViews.
Who Should Read This Document
This document is for Carbon developers who have older applications that would benefit from using modern HIToolbox technologies. You should consider upgrading if your application uses any of the following older Apple technologies:
Resource-based windows, controls, or menus
The Dialog Manager
Procedure pointer–based custom control definitions
QuickDraw
Event handling using WaitNextEvent , StillDown , WaitMouseUp , or Button .
An updated application will use nib-based windows and menus, with HIView-based controls (both standard and custom). All event handling is done through Carbon events, and all drawing in views is done using Quartz.
HIViews and compositing mode are supported in Mac OS X v10.2 and later. Carbon events (including Carbon event–based control definitions) and nib files are supported in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.
Even if you do not want to adopt all these technologies in your application right away, this document can guide you towards incremental changes that will make it easier to adopt new features.
Organization of This Document
This document is organized into the following chapters:
The Modern Advantage describes the benefits of adopting the modern HIToolbox in your application.
Porting Steps describes steps you should take to port your application to use the modern HIToolbox.
A Porting Example: Converting a User Item to a Custom View shows how you could convert an old dialog user item to a custom HIView.
See Also
In addition to this document, you may find the following documents useful:
Introducing HIView describes the concepts behind HIViews and explains how they differ from older user interface elements. It also contains numerous programming examples.
Technical Note TN2074, HIView APIs Vs. Control Manager APIs , clarifies the differences and similarities between HIView and Control Manager functions.
Carbon Event Manager Programming Guide provides an overview of the Carbon Event Manager and event handling in general for Carbon applications.
If you have not yet upgraded your application to Carbon and Mac OS X, the Carbon Porting Guide guides you through the steps required. It also contains information about how to move to the Carbon Event Manager from the classic WaitNextEvent model.
Next
Copyright © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Updated: 2004-06-28