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Apple Developer Connection: HIToolbox Shows the Way To OS X GUI

by , 9:00 AM EDT, June 25th, 2004

Programmers looking for instruction on how to set up a User Interface (UI) for an OS X application need look no further than the Human interface Toolbox (The HIToolbox), a set of programming tools. Apple has provided a thorough examination of the HIToolbox, complete with examples of code and small completed programs that illustrate how to use the tools. From the article:

The Human Interface Toolbox provides user interface elements (controls) for application developers to use in their programs. Mac OS X v10.2 Jaguar introduced HIObject, the base class in an object-oriented model within the Human Interface Toolbox. This model includes the HIView and HIToolbar subclasses. This article looks at HIView and its child classes, including their creation, event handling, and the derivation of custom classes. If you have pre-Carbon controls, you will find this material useful in planning and executing a move to the HIView model. If your application already uses Carbon controls, you will learn how to incorporate HIView and Control Manager objects.

The in-depth article is a must read for developers of OS X applications. You can find the full article at Apple's Developer Connection Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

This is exactly the sort of thing Apple needs to continue doing. Reaching out to developers by first providing the tools they need to create OS X apps, then showing them how to use the tools, is good for new and experienced programmers alike. Not that developers aren't smart enough to find tools on their own, but anything that makes programming apps for OS X easier directly benefits the platform.

The Benefits of HIToolbox: the Evolving Widget Set

Observer Comments

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Close Name:John F. Braun -   TMO Staff Posts: 233 Joined: 11 Jun 2001
Fri Jun 25, 2004 11:18 am Subject: Porting Win32 to OS X

Here's a nice part of the Apple web site that gives some guidance for those that would like to port their Win32 applications to OS X:

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Porting/Conceptual/win32porting/


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Close Name:Guest
Fri Jun 25, 2004 12:50 pm Subject: hmm, better off using Cocoa!!

I note that this is the Carbon/C++ interface - but Aqua and Quartz are really designed to be used from the Cocoa/Objective C environment!! They really shine in that context - it's easier to do more complicated things using less code! You can also use the Cocoa components from Java, although Java obviously offers lower performance and a more verbose syntax (and you lose "run anywhere" if you use Cocoa directly.)

That being said, it's nice that there is a C++ interface (and Carbon!) so that you can port legacy code (and C++ code), and also make programs that will work under both OS X and 9.x.


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