Inside Macintosh: QuickDraw GX Environment and Utilities /

Chapter 5 - Collection Manager

This chapter describes the Collection Manager, which provides an abstract data type you can use to store collections of information. Read this chapter if you need to work with some advanced features of QuickDraw GX printing, including print dialog boxes, or if you want to create collections for purposes specific to your application.

Before reading this chapter, you might want to familiarize yourself with the information in the chapter "Resource Manager" in Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox. For some examples of how the Collection Manager is used by other parts of QuickDraw GX, you should read the chapter "Page Formatting and Dialog Box Customization" in Inside Macintosh: QuickDraw GX Printing.

This chapter introduces the collection object as an abstract data type and describes the properties of this object. It then shows how to use the functions provided by the Collection Manager to

• create and manipulate collection objects
• add information to a collection object
• retrieve information from a collection object
• store a collection object to disk and retrieve a collection object from disk

This chapter also contains reference information for all data types, functions, and resources associated with the Collection Manager.

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Chapter Contents

About the Collection Manager

Collection Objects

Collection Items

Collection Attributes

Methods of Identifying Collection Items

Using the Collection Manager

Determining Whether the Collection Manager Is Available

Creating or Disposing of a Collection

Cloning or Copying a Collection

Changing the Default Attributes of a Collection

Adding Items to a Collection

Determining the Collection Index of an Item

Determining the Tag and ID of an Item

Determining the Size of an Item's Variable-Length Data

Getting and Setting the Attributes of an Item

Replacing Items in a Collection

Removing Items From a Collection

Retrieving the Variable-Length Data From an Item

Examining the Collection Tags of a Collection

Flattening and Unflattening a Collection

Reading Collections From and Writing Collections to Disk

Reading a Collection From a Collection Resource

Installing an Exception Procedure

Collection Manager Reference

Data Types

Collection Objects

Collection Tags

Optional Return Value Constants

Attributes Masks

Attribute Bit Numbers

Attribute Bit Masks

Functions

Creating and Disposing of Collection Objects

Cloning and Copying Collection Objects

Getting and Setting the Exception Procedure for a Collection

Getting and Setting the Default Attributes for a Collection

Adding and Replacing Items in a Collection

Removing Items From a Collection

Counting Items in a Collection

Retrieving the Variable-Length Data From an Item

Getting Information About a Collection Item

Editing Item Attributes

Getting Information About Collection Tags

Flattening and Unflattening a Collection

Working With Macintosh Memory Manager Handles

Reading Collections From Resource Files

Application-Defined Functions

Resources

The Collection Resource

Summary of the Collection Manager

Data Types

Optional Return Value Constants

Attributes Masks

Attribute Bit Numbers

Attribute Bit Masks

Functions

Creating and Disposing of Collection Objects

Cloning and Copying Collection Objects

Getting and Setting the Exception Procedure for a Collection

Getting and Setting the Default Attributes for a Collection

Adding and Replacing Items in a Collection

Removing Items From a Collection

Counting Items in a Collection

Retrieving the Variable-Length Data From an Item

Getting Information About a Collection Item

Editing Item Attributes

Getting Information About Collection Tags

Flattening and Unflattening a Collection

Working With Macintosh Memory Manager Handles

Reading Collections From Resource Files

Application-Defined Functions

Resources

The Collection Resource