Welcome to the Constructor for PowerPlant User Guide. Constructor is the visual interface builder for PowerPlant. PowerPlant is Metrowerks' Macintosh application framework.
Constructor lets you build a visual interface for a PowerPlant program. This manual is the user guide to Constructor.
The sections in this introduction are:
Before using Constructor, read the release notes. They contain important information about new features, bug fixes, and any late-breaking changes.
Constructor is an interactive, graphical, resource editor. With Constructor you can create, modify, and save a variety of resources for windows, window content, controls, buttons, scroll bars, bitmaps, text appearance, menus, and much more.
Constructor is designed to work primarily with PowerPlant, Metrowerks' application framework for Mac OS programming. A PowerPlant-based application uses the information stored in Constructor resources to create the visual appearance of the application at runtime. Therefore, Constructor as a visual interface builder for Mac OS programs.
You'll find all the information you need starting with "Constructor Overview."
This release of Constructor introduces a few minor changes and new features. The biggest changes are:
Constructor has been Carbonized to work with Mac OS X as well as earlier Mac OS 8.1 and later as long as CarbonLib 1.0.4 or later installed.
Most "LGA" classes, except LGADialog, LGAFocusBorder, LGAColorSwatchControl, are no longer supported by PowerPlant Constructor since their look and feel are already provided by the Mac OS Appearance Manager.
PowerPlant Constructor is no longer available on Microsoft Windows.
If you can run CodeWarrior, you can run Constructor.
Constructor is part of a complete package that also includes the CodeWarrior IDE, and the PowerPlant application framework (source code or library files). You need all of these elements to use Constructor effectively.
Installing Constructor is very simple. You may choose one of two methods: automatic or manual.
The CodeWarrior Installer automatically installs Constructor with any installation that also includes PowerPlant. If you install PowerPlant, you also install Constructor.
To install Constructor manually, locate the Constructor file on
the CodeWarrior Tools CD. It is in the PowerPlant Constructor folder. Copy the file to your hard drive. There are no other
files required.
This manual is a user's guide to Constructor. When you have a question about the interface, or about how to accomplish a particular task, refer to the chapter that covers the topic in which you are interested.
Each chapter begins with an overview. In addition to this introduction, you can see
If you have never used Constructor, then you should begin with "Constructor Overview" before proceeding to other topics. This chapter covers the various elements of the Constructor interface, and how they work together.
"Managing Resources Overview" is also excellent for new Constructor users. It discusses how to create new resources.
Use the remaining chapters in this manual as reference material. They discuss how to edit resources of various types.
This manual assumes you are familiar with Mac OS programming in general, and with PowerPlant in particular.
This manual does not explain the PowerPlant application framework, or the visual elements you find in a PowerPlant application. For more information on the various visual elements discussed in this manual (such as panes, views, controls, and the individual types of panes), see The PowerPlant Book.
The PowerPlant Book also contains a series of PowerPlant programming tutorials. Several of these tutorials include work in Constructor, including creating custom pane type resources. These tutorials show you how to use Constructor in real programming situations. Examining the Constructor resource files in those tutorials will help you become familiar with Constructor. These tutorials run on Mac OS computers.
To learn more about Mac OS programming, consider Discover Programming for Macintosh, available from Metrowerks. It contains the complete text of several books on Mac OS programming (in electronic form).