Inside Macintosh: Advanced Color Imaging on the Mac OS /

Chapter 2 - Color Picker Manager

This chapter describes how your application can use the standard user interface for soliciting color choices from users. The Color Picker Manager supplies the functions that provide your application with this user interface. Your application can use these functions to display, respond to events within, and close a color picker dialog box. The Color Picker Manager provides standard color pickers (which allow users to select colors from ranges of colors) and a standard dialog box allowing users to interact with the color picker. This chapter also describes how your application can create its own color pickers and dialog boxes.

The Color Picker Manager version 2.0, described in this chapter, is available on all Macintosh computers using QuickDraw GX or system software version 7.5. Previous versions of system software supported an earlier version of the Color Picker Manager called the Color Picker Package. The Color Picker Manager is compatible with the older Color Picker Package.

Read this chapter if your application allows users to pick a color from a range of colors.

The Color Picker Manager supports ColorSync 1.0. For information about ColorSync 1.0, see the appendix "ColorSync Manager Backward Compatibility." Because the Color Picker Manager presents color pickers in a dialog box, you should be familiar with the information described in the chapter "Dialog Manager" in Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials. The Color Picker Manager uses the Component Manager to interact with color pickers; if you want to create your own color picker, you should be familiar with the information in the chapter "Component Manager" in Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox.

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Chapter Contents

About the Color Picker Manager

Color Picker Dialog Boxes

Color Pickers as Components

ColorSync Colors and the Color Picker Manager

Using the Color Picker Manager

Using the Standard Dialog Box for Color Pickers

Defining an Event Filter Function

Defining a Color-Changed Function

Using Customized Dialog Boxes for Color Pickers

Creating Dialog Boxes for Color Pickers

Setting Colors for and Getting Colors From the Color Picker

Handling Events in a Color Picker Dialog Box

Handling Events in the Edit Menu

Sending Event Forecasters to the Color Picker

Setting the Destination Profile

Controlling the Help Balloons for a Color Picker's Dialog Box

Writing Your Own Color Pickers

Creating a Component Resource for a Color Picker

Dispatching to Functions Defined by a Color Picker

Initializing Your Color Picker

Handling Events for Your Color Picker

Returning and Setting Color Picker Information

Summary of the Color Picker Manager

Constants and Data Types

Color Picker Manager Functions

Using the Standard Color Picker Dialog Box

Creating a Customized Color Picker Dialog Box

Handling Events in a Color Picker Dialog Box

Getting Colors From and Setting Colors for a Color Picker

Getting the Menu State and the Help Balloons for a Color Picker

Getting and Setting Color-Matching Profiles for a Color Picker

Converting Colors Among Color Models

Converting Between SmallFract and Fixed Values

Application-Defined Functions

Handling Application-Directed Events in a Color Picker

Changing Colors in a Document

Color Picker-Defined Functions

Responding to Creation and Initialization Requests

Responding to Requests to Return and Set Color Picker Information

Responding to Events in a Color Picker