bdugan@teri.bio.uci.edu (Bill Dugan) (04/22/91)
Argument stopper on multitasking
From a document from Apple about Multifinder
Dated August 6, 1987 (did you realize Multifinder has been around that long?)
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[...]
This documentation is intended to outline the issues in writing a
successful background application for MultiFinder. The release of MultiFinder
1.0 will constitute the first step on the path to a true multi-tasking Macintosh
operating system. This release of MultiFinder will not significantly change the
programming model for the current set of applications; it will however, support
a limited form of background processing.
[...]
In MultiFinder, the programming model for background tasks is somewhat
constrained as arbitrary preemption is not provided. Unless the functionality
of your application would benefit greatly from background processing, it is
recommended that you wait until subsequent releases of MultiFinder that will
provide a complete preemptive model.
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Well, it's 4 years old, but at least it offers some help.
Attention is called to the second sentence of the first paragraph, to the
belittling "limited" in the last sentence of same, and to the definitive-
sounding "that will provide" in the second paragraph.
bill