This is InspectorManager-class-available in view mode; [Up]
Date: Sun 28-Nov-1991 14:17:31 From: ksbrain@zeus.UWaterloo.ca (Kevin Brain) Subject: InspectorManager class available I have just finished polishing up the code and documentation for a class called 'InspectorManager' that provides inspector capabilities for an application. I have placed it in submissions at cs.orst.edu and sonata.cc.purdue.edu, but it will, of course, eventually move to a more appropriate directory. In addition to InspectorManager, there are at least two other classes now available that implement inspector panels: InspectorPanel_1 by Joe Freeman and NewInspector1.1b by Imran Qureshi. However, InspectorManager has a fundamental design difference that makes it more flexible than these other classes. Both of the other classes directly bring up a particular panel when a popUpList item is chosen, while InspectorManager sends a message to a delegate, which must bring up the required panel. Sure, it sounds like more work, but it has a strong advantage: it allows a single popUpList item (eg. 'Contents' in Workspace Manager) to bring up one of many actual inspectors (eg. '.snd', '.tiff', '.h', etc.). I believe this is an important feature of inspectors. Features of InspectorManager class: 1) PopUpList items are not tied to particular inspectors, so that an inspector appropriate for the currently selected object can be shown 2) Allows inspector views laid out in any of an application's nib files to be managed by a single InspectorManager 3) Uses command-key equivalents for switching between inspectors and displaying the panel (as is done in Workspace Manager and Interface Builder) 4) Uses compositing to an offscreen buffer to speed swaps between inspectors 5) Allows an inspector view to consist of multiple smaller views, if desired 6) Well documented :-) This class makes it easy to add an Inspector Panel to an application. I hope this will encourage developers to use inspector panels wherever appropriate in their applications. Kevin Brain ksbrain@zeus.UWaterloo.ca
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