Inside Macintosh: Text /

Preface - About This Book

What to Read

Whatever your text needs are, you should first read the chapter "Introduction to Text on the Macintosh." It describes Macintosh text concepts, outlines the kinds of text features addressed by the system software, and describes the organization and workings of script systems--collections of resources that give the Macintosh its multiple-language text capabilities.

If your text-handling needs are minor, the only other chapter you may need to read is "TextEdit," which describes a simple, multiple-language text-processing service provided by Macintosh system software. TextEdit is used by the system software to present text and accept user input in
dialog boxes and alerts, and its capabilities are available for your application to use as well.

If you are planning a text-handling application with capabilities beyond those of TextEdit, read the remaining chapters of this book in any order. "QuickDraw Text" describes how to lay out and draw text to the screen or printer. "Font Manager" describes how to access Macintosh fonts and specify text characteristics. "Text Utilities" describes a collection of text-handling routines that allow you to specify, sort, format, search, and otherwise manipulate text strings. "Script Manager" describes how to access and manipulate script systems.

If you want your application to work efficiently with Japanese, Korean, or Chinese text input, or if you are designing an input method for those languages, read the chapter "Text Services Manager." It describes how to make your application work with multiple input methods in multiple languages, and how to create an input method that provides multiple-language input for any application. If you are creating an input method, read also the chapter "Dictionary Manager" to find out how to
create and use input dictionaries that are portable across input methods
and applications.

If you are planning to add specific language capabilities to an application, or need to modify the system software's text-handling for a given language, read the chapter "Script Manager" and the appendixes "Built-in Script Support," "International Resources," and "Keyboard Resources." They describe the organization of script systems on the Macintosh, and show you how to modify parts of a script system in order to obtain the exact text-handling characteristics you need.

If you are designing a font or a font editor, read the parts of the chapter "Font Manager" that describe the data structures and tables that make up Macintosh fonts. In addition, you will need information contained in the TrueType Font Format Specification, available from APDA.

If you are already familiar with Macintosh system software and with previous versions of Inside Macintosh, you may notice that in this book the organization of some managers and the names of some routines have changed. You can refer to the appendix "Renamed and Relocated Text Routines" for information on how the new organization and terminology relate to previous presentations.