Legacy Document

Inside Macintosh: Interapplication Communication /

Chapter 8 - Apple Event Terminology Resources / Reference to Apple Event Terminology Resources

Suite Data for an Apple Event Terminology Resource

Each item in the array of suites for an 'aeut' or 'aete' resource includes information about the suite ID, level, and version and four arrays that specify the events, object classes, comparison operators, and enumerations for that suite. Figure 8-3 shows the format of this suite data.

Figure 8-3 Structure of suite data in an 'aeut' or 'aete' resource

The data for each suite consists of the following items:

• The human-language name of the suite. This is a Pascal string that can include any characters, including uppercase and lowercase letters and spaces. If the 'aete' resource specifies the name as an empty string, the scripting component looks up, in its 'aeut' resource, the suite name and other suite data that correspond to the specified suite ID, suite level, and suite version. This strategy simplifies specification of an entire suite and facilitates localization, since the human-language name is provided by the 'aeut' resource.

  If the 'aete' resource specifies a name other than the name provided by the 'aeut' resource for the same suite ID, suite level, and suite version, the scripting component uses the new name with the same suite data from the 'aeut' resource. Unless you are defining a custom suite, you should specify an empty string for the name of a suite.

• A human-language description of the suite. This is a Pascal string that can include any characters. When the resource description is compiled, the resource compiler pads the string and aligns the next field on a word boundary.
• A four-character ID that distinguishes the suite from all other suites defined in either the 'aeut' or 'aete' resources. This value is normally the same as the event class for the Apple events in the suite.

  If the 'aete' resource specifies a standard suite name but a suite ID that is different from the suite ID for the standard suite of that name described in the 'aeut' resource, the scripting component uses the new suite ID with the standard suite data for the specified name. In general, you should use the standard suite ID for any standard suite that you support.

  If your application uses a custom suite, you should use your application's signature as the event class for the events in the suite and, in addition, as its suite ID. When you register your application's signature with Developer Technical Support, the corresponding event class is automatically registered for your application, and only you can register events that belong to that event class. For information about registering Apple events, contact the Apple Event Registrar.

• The level and version of the suite. For the first version of any suite, the level is usually 1 (indicating that it is the suite that contains the most basic definitions) and the version is 1 (the version of this suite level). More advanced suites (such as a suite for performing more sophisticated text manipulation than the current Text suite allows) will have level numbers greater than 1. All currently defined suites have a level of 1 and a version of 1.
• A count of the events defined for this suite and an array of event definitions.
• A count of the object classes defined for this suite and an array of class definitions.
• A count of the comparison operators defined for this suite and an array of comparison operator definitions.
• A count of the enumerations defined for this suite and an array of enumeration definitions.

---

Subtopics

Event Data

Object Class Data

Comparison Operator Data

Enumeration and Enumerator Data