rgoodman@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (Ron Carl Goodman) (01/06/87)
In order to get menu items and dialog boxes, ABACUS's Vol#3 (GEM reference) says you must use resource files (usually .RSC files). But how do you make these files? They are obviously not typeinable. I read somewhere about a resource file generating program that comes with the developers kit and one on the market for $50. Is there anything in the public domain? How are people doing this? Ron Goodman ----------- rgoodman@cit-vax.arpa rgoodman@cit-vax.bitnet rgoodman@cit-vax.uucp
terrell@OHIO-STATE.ARPA (Eric Terrell) (01/06/87)
.rsc files are not always necessary. I know that one can get menus and dialog boxes in OSS Pascal without them. Terrell
MCOHAN@UMass.BITNET (Michael Cohan, U of Mass/Amherst) (01/08/87)
rgoodman@csvax.caltech.edu (Ron Carl Goodman) writes: > In order to get menu items and dialog boxes, ABACUS's Vol#3 (GEM reference) > says you must use resource files (usually .RSC files). But how do you make > these files? They are obviously not typeinable. I read somewhere about a > resource file generating program that comes with the developers kit and one > on the market for $50. Is there anything in the public domain? How are peopl > doing this? You do not HAVE to use a resource file to get menus and dialog boxes and so forth. There are commands in GEM that let you build object trees (the data structures used to describe menus etc.) dynamically within your program. However, this is such a royal pain to program that a resource construction set is almost a requirement. Basically, it lets you lay out your dialogs, menus and so on on the screen, then generates a file containing the data structures GEM needs to display and use the objects. This is the resource file. The developers kit comes with such a program, as does Megamax C. If you just want a R.C.S. by itself (for use with Personal Pascal, for instance), there is one that I am aware of. It's listed in the catalog in the February issue of Antic for $50. It's called K-Resource, by Kuma Computers of the UK. I have never used this program. Does anyone out there have any experience with it? Is it any good? Michael P. Cohan MCOHAN@UMASS.BITNET Mikecohan on Delphi
pes@bath63.ux63.bath.ac.uk (Paul Smee) (01/09/87)
I've only played with K-Resource a bit, so if there are any obscure bugs I won't have noticed them. However, insofar as I have used it, my impression is that the software is fine, and fairly easy to use once you've sussed it out. The documentation (I use the word loosely) is fairly patchy and haphazard, so that some experimenting is required to work out how to do things initially -- though there is a step-by-step 'example' provided which covers the most common sort of cases. Experimenting isn't too hard, because the interface is primarily by windows, icons, and mouse, and so most things you'd want to do are fairly obvious, especially once you've found them once. It will make resource files and header/include files for your choice of 4 languages, which include FORTRAN and C -- I'm pretty sure the other two are Pascal and Modula-2, but not positive, so if you need something other than FORTRAN or C, check first before you buy. It does *not* produce a source-level form of the resource file itself, so that (for example) the 'rcsfix' technology posted some months ago for incorporating your RSC file into your program won't work. It produces an 'object' RSC file, the required include file, and allegedly a third file in a form such that it can be massaged by privately written tools, which I haven't puzzled out. (I have no connection with Kuma, other than wishing they'd buy themselves a qualified tech writer.)
silvert@dalcs.UUCP (Bill Silvert) (01/09/87)
In article <8701061803.AA03547@ohio-state.ARPA> terrell@OHIO-STATE.ARPA (Eric Terrell) writes: > >.rsc files are not always necessary. I know that one can get menus and >dialog boxes in OSS Pascal without them. There are ways of creating the .RSC files and then combining them into the .PRG program file. TDI/Modula-2 has this feature, and there exist various programs, some of which have been posted, which let you do this. All the variants I have seen work with the source code, but it appears that some users have been able to take binaries and still embed the RSC files in them -- clever trick, that!
manis@ubc-cs.UUCP (Vincent Manis) (01/14/87)
The only good reason for embedding a resource file in a program is when writing a DA. The resource manager apparently doesn't free memory properly when closing a resource file, so you're apparently advised not to load resources dynamically. I wouldn't know--I've never written a DA. However, embedded resources can't be easily changed; if you want to modify resources, you have to re-edit the resource file and re-embed. I can't see how it's worth the effort. In any case, separate .RSC files are a real win. You can easily distribute different RSC files for one program (thus supporting various monitor resolutions, or different languages for example).
ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu (Lee Dickey) (06/02/88)
I have noticed a few programs lately that have made use of ".rsc"
files. These programs sometimes have with them a second program which
is used to "CONFIGURE" the resource file.
Sometimes these resource files use a clever encoding scheme that
compresses an already small quantity of information into as few bits as
possible. Maybe even getting everything into a small number of bytes.
In some instances, this strikes me as ludicrous, since it seems that
every file takes a minimum of 1K anyway. Why not store the desired
information in "cleartext", perhaps even with a few keywords, and allow
the user use an editor to create and/or modify the input data file?
--
L. J. Dickey, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo.
ljdickey@WATDCS.UWaterloo.ca ljdickey@water.BITNET
ljdickey@water.UUCP ..!uunet!watmath!water!ljdickey
ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu wheels@mks.UUCP (Gerry Wheeler) (06/03/88)
In article <1609@water.waterloo.edu>, ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu (Lee Dickey) writes: > ... resource files use a clever encoding scheme that compresses an > already small quantity of information. This strikes me as ludicrous, > since it seems that every file takes a minimum of 1K anyway. Why not > store the desired information in "cleartext", perhaps even with a few > keywords, and allow the user use an editor to create and/or modify the > input data file? But, in many cases, these resource files are created with a resource editor, and the use has no control over the internal format. Although I haven't needed to create one, I believe there is a standard way to lay out a GEM resource file. It contains a tree structure describing the GEM data the program will used, such as dialogue boxes, menus, etc. -- Gerry Wheeler Phone: (519)884-2251 Mortice Kern Systems Inc. UUCP: uunet!watmath!mks!wheels 35 King St. North BIX: join mks Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2W9 CompuServe: 73260,1043