GMonde 1.1 Release Notes

    GMonde is an application that shows how to use GWorlds specifically and Color QuickDraw on all Macintosh computers running system software version 7.0, regardless of whether the Macintosh has Color QuickDraw or not.


Outward Appearance and Personality

    When you open GMonde, a window with a title bar bearing the title ÒGMondeÓ and close box appears centered on the upper third of the main screen.  An image appears consisting of a set of vertical color ramps dithered from 32 bits per pixel to the depth of the screen.

    When the mouse button is pressed while the arrow is within the window, a selection marquee appears with one corner at the location that the mouse button was first pressed and the opposite corner at the current location of the mouse.  The selection marquee appears with the animated marching ants effect.  As the selection marquee is dragged, it appears on top of the color ramp image without damaging the image.  When the user releases the mouse button, the selection marquee remains at the location and size that the user dragged and the marching ants animation continues.

    By clicking in another applicationÕs window or clicking in the desktop, GMonde is placed into the background.  The selection marquee disappears as long as GMonde is in the background.

    The image in GMondeÕs window is an 8-bit image.  If the window doesnÕt cross pixel depths, then the resulting image is optimized for that depth.  For example, if the window exists entirely on a 4-bit color screen or screens, then the image is dithered so that the original image appears as good as possible at 4 bits per pixel.  If the window crosses pixel depths, then the image is optimized for the deepest screen that the window intersects.  The quality of the image is compromised where it appears on the shallower screens.

    If the Monitors control panel is used to change the pixel depth of a screen that the GMonde window intersects, the image in the window is optimized to the new depth if the new depth is the deepest depth of any screen that the window intersects.

    If on-line help is turned on, then help balloons appear in the appropriate places.

    To quit GMonde, click in the close box of the GMonde window.


Technical Summary

    GMonde is a short sample showing how to use GWorlds in a fairly typical useÑthat is, off-screen buffered animation.  It also shows how to use GWorlds and even the Color QuickDraw call, RGBForeColor, on non-Color QuickDraw machines with a minimum of code changes.  In fact, all differences between code executed on non-Color QuickDraw machines and Color QuickDraw machines have to do with the Window ManagerÑthe same GWorld-maintaining code is used on both Color QuickDraw and non-Color QuickDraw machines.


Intended Audience

    IÕve been using variations of GMonde to help me experiment with problems that developers were having with GWorlds.  The main thought I tried to keep in mind as I cleaned it up for general distribution was, Òkeep it simpleÉ keep it simple.Ó  I wanted to make it easy for you to hack it up and try whatever you wanted with GWorlds.  Any feature that I felt could interfere with the clarity of the GWorld-maintenance code was left out.  I hope I succeeded.


Forrest Tanaka
Graphics/Toolbox Developer Technical Support
February 3, 1991


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Apple Computer, Inc.
20525 Mariani Avenue, MS: 75-3T
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