MacOS X Classic Applications General Information

Files

• Compressed (*.sea, *.sit) and binhexed (*.hqx) files can de decoded and expanded with
• MacOS Classic applications require MacOS Classic (CR) end of line input files. Unix (LF), MacOS X (LF) or Windows/DOS (CRLF) end of line need be converted. This can easily be checked and modified within the free version of BBEdit, (text encoding status is indicated and can be modified at the bottom of the window) or, on classic systems, within TextWrangler

Graphic outputs

Each application is built in two flavors that differ by the graphic library and graphics output type. Graphic output is directed either towards a window on the screen or towards a deferred PostScript file. These flavors are identified by -ps-, -qd-, or -qdraw- suffixes.

Screen plots

Graphics directed towards a window on the screen

• are recommended for first use to become familiar with the program because you will see what is happening on the screen in real time;
• can be printed or saved by screen capture, but better quality is obtained in PostScript plot files;

PostScript files

Graphics directed toward a PostScript file can be

• diplayed on screen by a postscript viewer such as: Ghostscript, or Adobe illustrator,
• edited and converted into a PDF file by Adobe illustrator.
• printed
  • on early classic systems by dragging it onto the printer desktop icon, or
  • on late classic systems by using Adobe SendPS or BareBones DropPS.

Beware of two issues while generating PostScript files:

• New page in plot : by default, everytime it is required, a dialog is issued that suggests to create a new page. However if the file is later to be edited with Adobe illustrator, this program can import the first page only. A solution is to close the current plot file and open a new plot file at each new page dialog.
• End of plot : if the program is properly exited by typing the 9999 (= QUIT PROGRAM) command, all files, including plot files, are properly closed. If exiting the program otherwise, the plot file must be properly closed beforehand to be usable. If the PostScript file is not properly closed, it will be incomplete and will not print and may not be readable by the above software.

Hardware compatibility

Versions optimized for different hardware are identified by suffixes. The Table below summarizes their compatibility with hardware types.