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Review
Developer: Thomas Reed
Issue: 2.2 (October/November 2003)
Author: Brian Jones
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 3,774
Starting Page Number: 9
RBD Number: 2205
Resource File(s): None
Related Web Link(s):
http://www.bitjuggler.com/extra
Known Limitations: None
Full text of article...
This month, we profile another deserving REALbasic developer, Thomas Reed. Thomas is behind BitJuggler software and has provided examples and starter projects based on his years of REALbasic experience for novices to use in learning the platform. In addition to his well-known BitJuggler titles, his developer support offerings should be looked into by all beginning and intermediate REALbasic programmers. There truly is something there for everyone.
9
No description available.
Thomas Reed's two most important items are the two helper applications he has made freely available: App Bundler and App Monkey. App Bundler provides easy one-click bundle creation to make REALbasic apps more consistent with the Mac OS X landscape. App Bundler will construct the appropriate file hierarchy within the bundle and create files of the appropriate type in the 'Resources' directory and remove them from the resource fork of the file. The source code is also available for download, and, though it is dependent on several plug-ins, it is very instructive on the workings of bundles, a subject that should be understood by any developer working in Mac OS X. App Monkey works along with App Bundler in automating the final step of the development process. It will build a project, strip unwanted resources, and build a bundle of the result using App Bundler. App Monkey comes with its REALbasic source as well.
There are also some classes and modules available. Three of them serve similar purposes: the MwRB button displays a REALbasic logo and opens the REAL Software website when clicked, while the two versions of the URL Button available open a specified website when clicked. None of these performs a function that would not be easily implemented otherwise, but at least they serve the purpose of encapsulating this functionality in a reusable class for users, particularly beginners. Other classes and modules available are more useful, such as WizardWindow and PDB Data. WizardWindow gives all of the necessary functionality to construct a "wizard"-like interface for set-up and other purposes. PDB Data helps users work with Palm OS PDB files.
Finally, there's some example code available. There is a project file that gives a template for creating a document-based project and a couple of files that provide a foundation for game development. REALbasic provides very little explicit functionality for creating document-based applications, so having this template available is a great resource. The collision detection example for animation and game programming is helpful, but basic. Finally, there is a complete project that implements a solitaire card game that is very instructive for developing similar kinds of games.
The most important and helpful items made available by Thomas Reed are App Bundler and App Monkey, but everything in his collection will be helpful to some, depending on their interests. If you haven't looked into BitJuggler Software's products, or its development-related items, check them out. There's something there for everyone.
In Brief Developer Thomas Reed Contact Info http://www.bitjuggler.com/extra Pros A couple very helpful items Cons Several items of either limited functionality or audience Rating (1.0-5.0): 3.5
End of article.
Article copyrighted by REALbasic Developer magazine. All rights reserved.
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