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ResEdit
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{{distinguish|text=the [[Resource (Windows)|homonymous tool]] for the Windows platform}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}} {{Infobox Software | name = ResEdit |logo= ResEdit.png |screenshot = |caption = ResEdit 2.1.3, shown here, is the most recent version. |developer = [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]] |latest_release_version = 2.1.3 |latest_release_date = August 1994 |operating_system = [[Classic Mac OS]] |genre = [[Software development tool]] |license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]] |discontinued = yes |website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20071128053625/http://developer.apple.com/documentation/mac/pdf/ResEditReference.pdf Mac OS 8 and 9 Developer Documentation: ResEdit] }} '''ResEdit''' is a discontinued developer tool [[software application|application]] for the [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] [[Macintosh]], used to create and edit resources directly in the Mac's [[resource fork]] architecture. It was an alternative to tools such as REdit,<ref>[http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.02/02.05/ResourceEditors/index.html MacTech - All About Resource Editors]</ref> and the resource [[compiler]] ''Rez.'' For the average user, ResEdit was generally easier to use, because it used a [[graphical user interface]]. Although it had been intended to be a developer tool, [[power user]]s often used it to edit icons, menus, and other elements of an application's [[Graphical user interface|GUI]], customizing it to their own preferences. Resources on the Macintosh could be of many different types, and in fact any arbitrary data could be turned into a resource. While the [[System 7|system]] defined many standard formats for particular kinds of resources (for example, an icon, or a window template), programmers were also free to define their own. ResEdit included support for editing many of the standard types and for creating arbitrary resources with any structure a programmer saw fit. [[File:ResEditPatch.png|right|Patch a Relisys driver to Primax]] ResEdit was one of the earliest examples of a GUI layout tool, an essential component for [[rapid application development]]. For example, the [[classic Mac OS]] defined a standard resource called a dialog template and a dialog items list (resource types 'DLOG' and 'DITL' respectively). In ResEdit, it was possible to simply create these types and add GUI elements to them in an almost [[WYSIWYG]] fashion, such that a user interface could be designed directly as it would appear to the end user of the application. Later, the application code could create a functional [[dialog box]] using the stored resource data which matches the appearance you lay out in ResEdit. When ResEdit first appeared in the mid-1980s, this was a revolutionary innovation, today it is commonplace for programmers. ResEdit includes standard editors for window templates (<code>WIND</code>), menus (<code>MENU</code>), dialog boxes, controls (<code>CNTL</code>), color palettes (<code>clut</code> and <code>pltt</code>), icons (<code>ICON</code>, <code>cicn</code>, <code>ICN#</code>), and various other standard types. One of ResEdit's most powerful features (which first appeared with ResEdit version 2.0) is the ability to define arbitrary data structures as resources using a simple template building feature. Here, the programmer can simply add elemental data types to a list to define a template (itself stored as a resource of type <code>TMPL</code>). This template allows ResEdit to build a GUI editor on the fly that allows entry of data and package it into the structure defined in the template. It's a simple matter for a programmer to define a matching data structure in a chosen programming language, such as C, load the resource in a standard manner and access the data as the defined C type. ResEdit includes a number of predefined templates for many standard OS resources that do not require a graphical editor. ResEdit was never upgraded to run natively on [[PowerPC]]-based Macintoshes after the migration from [[Motorola 68000 series]], and not on [[macOS|Mac OS X]]. Apple now discourages the use of resource forks in new macOS applications, preferring the more portable [[NeXT]]-derived [[application bundle]]s. A long-standing third-party commercial alternative named [[Resorcerer]] remains available,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mathemaesthetics.com/ResorcererIndex.html/|title=Resorcerer at Mathmaesthetics.com}}</ref> and more recently there have been a number of attempts to build open-source macOS-native resource editors, including one called [[ResKnife]]. ResEdit will run in Mac OS X's [[Classic (Mac OS X)|Classic compatibility mode]], but Classic is neither available on [[Apple–Intel architecture|Intel Macintosh computers]], nor in [[Mac OS X v10.5]] or later. However, an Intel Mac can run ResEdit via an emulator such as [[SheepShaver]] or [[Basilisk II]]. The last official version of ResEdit is 2.1.3, released in August 1994. Unofficial [[hack (computer science)|hack]]s released as ResEdit 2.1.4 and later exist, adding features such as a [[decompiler]] and the ability to edit [[data fork]]s, but these are unsupported by Apple.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.resexcellence.com/2012/11/29/resedit-reference-and-download/|title=ResEdit Reference and Download|quote=ResEdit 2.1.4 was an unofficial, unreleased version that added some extras...ResEdit 3.0 was a development version for the old Copland OS...SuperResEdit was a version put together by someone other than Apple, that had some additional templates (which are now outdated) and came with a utility called Forker. Forker is a System extension that lets you edit the data resource with ResEdit. There is very little information available about these unofficial versions.}}</ref> ==See also== * [[Creator code]] * [[Interface Builder]] * [[Macintosh Programmer's Workshop]] * [[Resource fork]] * [[Type code]] == References == <references/> ==External links== *[https://developer.apple.com/legacy/mac/library/documentation/mac/pdf/ResEditReference.pdf ResEdit Reference] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]]) *[https://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/ResEdit_2.1.3.sea.bin Download ResEdit 2.1.3 from apple.com] ([[MacBinary]]) {{Mac OS}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Resedit}} [[Category:Macintosh operating systems development]] [[Category:Classic Mac OS-only software made by Apple Inc.]] [[Category:Discontinued development tools]] [[Category:User interface builders]] [[Category:Classic Mac OS programming tools]]
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