About the Finder Interface
The Finder is an application that works with the system software to manage
the user's desktop display.
• set up the resources the Finder needs to display and start up your application
• make your application compatible with the new interface features of
directories
• check or change Finder-related information stored in a volume's catalog
• read a volume's database of icons, applications, and comments
resources. Resources are collections of data-such as menus, icons, and dialog
box messages-and the code used by an application or by the system software.
communicate with the Finder. When a user opens or prints a file from the Finder, the Finder sends your application information so that your application can open or print the file. In System 7.0, applications that support
high-level events receive this information through the required Apple events.
applica-tion should respond to the required Apple events: Open Application,
Open Documents, Print Documents, and Quit Application. By supporting these
Apple events, your application can take advantage of the more reliable launch
and termination mechanisms built into System 7.0. In addition, your
application can use another set of Apple events-called Finder events-to request services from the Finder. For example, your application can ask the Finder to perform such operations as launching another application on your behalf. See the Apple Event Registry (a book published by APDA) for the
definitions of Finder events that your application may wish to support. The Finder is an application that manages the user's desktop interface. It displays icons representing your application and the documents it creates, and
it tracks user activity on the desktop. When appropriate, the Finder starts up your application and tells it what documents to open or print. To perform these
tasks, the Finder relies on information you provide through resources. When the user creates or installs a file, the File Manager initially stores some of this information in the volume catalog; the Finder extracts this information from the catalog and builds a desktop database for quick access to your
resources the Finder needs to build its desktop database, and how to gain access to relevant data in the catalog and the desktop database. It also discusses
other Finder-related information that could be of interest to you. Like the rest of the Macintosh computer's system software, the Finder has become both more powerful and more complicated since it was first released.
The Finder includes a number of new user interface features that have a small impact on applications.
The original desktop display was designed for a black-and-white monitor. In
System 7.0, you can provide the Finder with color versions of your icons. You can also define what the small versions of your icons should look like. (Before
version 7.0, the Finder scaled icons to half size.) stationery pads, editions, or query documents that users create with your
application. You might also like your application to take advantage of
customized document icons. If, instead of producing an application, you produce
and distribute information documents (such as database files, stationery pads,
query documents, clip art libraries, or dictionaries) to be used by other
applications, you can also provide icons that distinguish your documents.
To take advantage of the new stationery pad feature when opening a document
flag for the document to determine if the document is stationery.
open the correct file.
Users of System 7.0 no longer utilize the Font/DA Mover for installing fonts,
desk accessories, or other system resources. If you're thinking about
producing desk accessories, you should probably create small applications
instead because there will be little distinction to users between
desk accessories and applications. If you plan to produce fonts, sounds,
keyboard layouts, or script system resource collections, you need to provide
them to users as movable resource files; users of System 7.0 can install them
by dragging their icons to the System Folder icon instead of using the Font/DA Mover.
Users of System 7.0 have access to on-line assistance in the form of help
balloons. You can customize the help balloon that system software displays for
your application icon.
In System 7.0, the System Folder contains a set of folders for storing related files. If your application needs to store a file in the System Folder, put it in one of the new directories described in
The System Folder and its Related Directories. The Toolbox provides
a new function, FindFolder, to help your application utilize this new organization.
For each volume, the system software has always maintained a central
database of information used by the Finder. In System 7.0 , that database is An important function of the Finder is to start up your application whenever the user opens it from the Finder and whenever the user asks to open or print a document that has been created by your application. The section,
what happens when the Finder can not find your application. Macintosh system software originally ran only one application at a time.
System 7.0 lets users run multiple applications simultaneously. (In previous
versions of system software, the MultiFinder option provided this feature.) Your application is now expected to provide the Finder with the information it needs to manage your application in a shared-memory environment, as
To help you make the best use of the Finder, the sections detailing the • describe the resources that the Finder uses to extract information about your application and documents (Generally, all applications
should provide these resources for their files.) See the section,
• introduce the new Finder features that might affect your application (Generally, most applications should take advantage of some or all of
• detail the Finder information structure stored in a volume's catalog (Generally, most applications need to determine-and many might wish
to set-information in the catalog.)
• describe the new directories typically located in the System Folder and tells you how to access them (Generally, many applications will
want to access these new folders.)
See The System Folder and its Related Directories. • explainhow to gain access to a volume's database of icons, applications,
and comments (Generally, very few applications need to access this
information because the Finder maintains and displays it.) See the