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Jack Jansena6308131996-03-18 13:38:52 +00001<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Macintosh Python crash course</TITLE></HEAD>
2<BODY>
3<H1><IMG SRC="html.icons/python.gif">Macintosh Python crash course</H1>
4<HR>
5
6This set of documents provides an introduction to various aspects of
7Python programming on the Mac. It is assumed that the reader is
8already familiar with Python and, to some extent, with MacOS Toolbox
9programming. Other readers may find something interesting here too,
10your mileage may vary. <p>
11
Jack Jansen5f962c21996-04-10 14:52:59 +000012There is a companion document <a href="using.html">Using Python on the Mac</a>
13which you should read before starting here: it explains the basics of using
14python on the Macintosh. <p>
15
Jack Jansena6308131996-03-18 13:38:52 +000016Another set of Macintosh-savvy examples, more aimed at beginners, is
17maintained by Joseph Strout, at <A
18HREF="http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/python/">
19http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/python/</A>.
20<P>
21
Jack Jansen3412c5d1997-08-27 14:08:22 +000022The <a href="http://www.python.org/doc/lib/Top.html">Python Library
23Reference</a> contains a section on <a
24href="http://www.python.org/doc/lib/Macintosh-Specific-Services.html">Macintosh-specific
25modules</a> that you should also read. Documentation is also available
26in PostScript and other forms, see the <a
27href="http://www.python.org/doc/">documentation</a> section on the
28webserver. <p>
Jack Jansen024a3871996-07-18 16:07:05 +000029
Jack Jansen3412c5d1997-08-27 14:08:22 +000030Some of these documents were actually written a long time ago and have seen
31little maintainance, so use with care. <p>
Jack Jansena6308131996-03-18 13:38:52 +000032
Jack Jansena6308131996-03-18 13:38:52 +000033<H2>Table of contents</H2>
34
35<UL>
36<LI>
Jack Jansen024a3871996-07-18 16:07:05 +000037<A HREF="example0.html">Using python to create Macintosh applications,
38part zero</A> whets your appetite by showing you how to ask the user
39for a filename, and how to display a message. It explains about end-of-line
40confusion while doing so.
41
42<LI>
Jack Jansena6308131996-03-18 13:38:52 +000043<A HREF="example1.html">Using python to create Macintosh applications,
44part one</A> explains how to create a simple modal-dialog application
45in Python. It also takes a glance at using the toolbox modules Res and
46Dlg, and EasyDialogs for simple question-dialogs.
47
48<LI>
49<A HREF="example2.html">Using python to create Macintosh applications,
50part two</A> turns the previous example program into a more complete
51mac application, using a modeless dialog, menus, etc. It also explains
52how to create applets, standalone applications written in Python.
53
54<LI>
Jack Jansen08365421996-04-19 15:56:08 +000055<A HREF="textedit.html">Using FrameWork and TextEdit</A> shows you
56how to use <code>FrameWork</code> application framework and the
57<code>TextEdit</code> toolbox to build a text editor.
58
59<LI>
60<A HREF="waste.html">Using WASTE</A> expands on this editor by using
61WASTE, an extended TextEdit replacement.
Jack Jansena6308131996-03-18 13:38:52 +000062
63<LI>
64<A HREF="plugins.html">Creating a C extension module on the Macintosh</A>
65is meant for the hardcore programmer, and shows how to create an
66extension module in C. It also handles using Modulator to create the
67boilerplate for your module, and creating dynamically-loadable modules
68on PowerPC Macs.
69
70<LI>
71<A HREF="applescript.html">Using Open Scripting Architecture from Python</A> explains
72how to create a Python module interfacing to a scriptable application,
73and how to use that module in your python program.
Jack Jansen41222161996-05-20 11:32:49 +000074
75<LI>
Jack Jansen09da2091996-09-09 01:48:03 +000076<A HREF="cgi.html">Using python to create CGI scripts</A> is a preliminary
77introduction to writing CGI scripts in Python and to writing scriptable applications
78in Python.
79
80<LI>
Jack Jansen36389351996-08-07 13:19:16 +000081<A HREF="building.html">Building Mac Python from source</A> explains
Jack Jansen41222161996-05-20 11:32:49 +000082how to build a PPC or 68K interpreter from a source distribution.
Jack Jansen6ad8d131997-01-15 16:53:37 +000083
84<LI>
85<A HREF="embed.html">Embedding Python on the Mac</A> is a minimal example of
86how to embed Python in other Mac applications.
87
Jack Jansena6308131996-03-18 13:38:52 +000088</UL>
89
Jack Jansen08365421996-04-19 15:56:08 +000090The Python distribution contains a few more examples, all unexplained:
91<UL>
92<LI>
93<I>PICTbrowse</I> is an application that locates PICT
94resources and displays them, it demonstrates some quickdraw and the
95resource and list managers.
96
97<LI>
98<I>Imgbrowse</I> displays image files in
99many different formats (gif, tiff, pbm, etc). It shows how to use the
100img modules on the mac.
101
102<LI>
103<I>Quicktime</I> has the standard <code>MovieInWindow</code> and
104<code>VerySimplePlayer</code> examples, re-coded in Python.
105
106<LI>
107<I>Resources</I>, <I>Sound</I> and <I>Speech</I> have some examples
108on using the respective managers.
109</UL>
110
Jack Jansena6308131996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000111At some point in the (possibly distant) future, I will add chapters on
112how to use bgen to create modules completely automatic and how to make
113your Python program scriptable, but that will have to wait. <p>
114
115<HR>
116
117Please let me know if you miss critical information in this
118document. I am quite sure that I will never find the time to turn it
119into a complete MacPython programmers guide (which would probably be a
120400-page book instead of 5 lousy html-files), but it should contain
121at least the information that is neither in the standard Python
122documentation nor in Inside Mac or other Mac programmers
123documentation. <p>
124
125<HR>
126<A HREF="http://www.cwi.nl/~jack">Jack Jansen</A>,
Jack Jansen3412c5d1997-08-27 14:08:22 +0000127<A HREF="mailto:jack@cwi.nl">jack@cwi.nl</A>, 27-Aug-97.
Jack Jansen024a3871996-07-18 16:07:05 +0000128</BODY></HTML>