Build a Bundle Part II by Erick Tejkowsi 08-22-02 Printer Version

In our last REALbasic tutorial, we began creating a project to help you create application bundles. This week, we'll continue with the same project, giving it the ability to add Classic Mac applications (i.e. not Carbon) to the bundle. The result is a bundle that you can double-click in Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X.

Build the Interface

Since this week's tutorial is a continuation to a previous project, there aren't any interface additions this time. If you missed the last tutorial where we built the interface, you can download it here.

Source Code

In Part 1 of the Bundle Builder project, we added some code to the Action event of PushButton1. This time we'll also be adding code to that event. Since there are a number of changes to make, it would probably be easiest if you simply deleted all of the code that is within PushButton1. In its place, add this code:

  
  Dim dlgApp,dlgAppOS9 as OpenDialog
  Dim f,ff,ffOS9 as FolderItem 
  dim contents,destApp,destMacOS,destMacOS9 as folderItem 
  dim infoplist, pkgInfo as textoutputStream
  dim r as resourcefork
  dim s,stringToFind,appLocation as string 
  
  //select or create a new folder
  //to use as the base for our bundle
  f=selectfolder
  If f <> Nil and f.exists then 
    
    //select a Carbon application
    //that we will add to the bundle
    dlgApp=New OpenDialog
    dlgApp.InitialDirectory=DesktopFolder
    dlgApp.Title="Select a REALbasic-made Carbon application."
    dlgApp.Filter="application"
    ff=dlgApp.ShowModal()    
    
    //select a Classic application
    //that we will add to the bundle
    dlgApp=New OpenDialog
    dlgApp.InitialDirectory=DesktopFolder
    dlgApp.Title="Select a REALbasic-made Classic application."
    dlgApp.Filter="application"
    ffOS9=dlgApp.ShowModal()
    
    if ff<>nil and ff.exists then
      
      // Create folder named "Contents" in it.
      contents = f.child("Contents")
      if contents<>nil then
        contents.createAsFolder
        
        // Create PkgInfo file (which contains type and creator)
        pkgInfo = contents.child("PkgInfo").createtextFile
        if pkginfo<>nil then
          pkgInfo.write ff.MacType+ff.MacCreator 
          pkgInfo.close
        end if
        
        // Create Info.plist file using 'plist' resource from the built application.
        r=ff.openresourceFork
        infoplist = contents.child("Info.plist").createtextFile
        if infoplist<>nil then
          s = r.getResource("plst",0)
          
          //add an entry to the plist file, before we create it
          //this points to the Carbon executable in the MacOS folder
          stringToFind = "</dict>"+chr(13)+"</plist>"
          appLocation = appLocation+"<key>CFBundleExecutable</key>"+chr(13)
          appLocation = appLocation+"<string>"+ff.name+"</string>"+chr(13)
          
          //this little bit of code, squeezes in the CFBundleExecutable
          //at the end of the file, but before the
          //"</dict></plist>" that ends the plist file
          appLocation = appLocation+stringToFind
          s=replace(s,stringToFind,appLocation)
          
          //create the .plist file
          infoplist.write s 
          infoplist.close
        end if
        
        //create a folder to store the carbon app
        destMacOS = contents.child("MacOS")
        if destMacOS<>nil then
          destMacOS.createAsFolder
          // Copy the application into the app folder (MacOS)
          ff.copyFileTo destMacOS.child(ff.name)
        end if
        
        //create a folder to store the classic app
        destMacOS9 = contents.child("MacOSClassic")//MacOSClassic
        if destMacOS9<>nil then
          destMacOS9.createAsFolder
          // Copy the application into the app folder (MacOS)
          ffOS9.copyFileTo destMacOS9.child(ffOS9.name)
          
          //code adapted from Matt Neuburg's Alias example
          //using his "MakeAlias" AppleScripts
          //www.tidbits.com/matt/newbookexamples/ch21_Files/makeAlias.hqx
          
          if targetcarbon then
            s = makeAlias2(destMacOS9.child(ffOS9.name).absolutePath, f.absolutePath, ffOS9.name)
          else
            s = makeAlias(destMacOS9.child(ffOS9.name).absolutePath, f.absolutePath, ffOS9.name)
          end
          
        end if
        
        // Set folder name + ".app" extension
        // (works in place of setting the bundle bit)
        f.name = f.name+".app"
        
        MsgBox "Bundle is complete!"
      end if
      
    else
      MsgBox "No application chosen. Unable to create bundle."
    end if
  Else
    MsgBox "No folder chosen. Unable to create bundle."
  End if
  
  
  

Notice that in the above code, we make two calls: makeAlias and makeAlias2. These method names match the names of two AppleScripts you'll need to add to the project. They are scripts from Matt Neuburg. Matt wrote REALbasic: The Definitive Guide. Once you've downloaded Matt's Alias example, drag the two included scripts into your Bundle Builder project window.

So, what's going on here? Like the Carbon application we added last week, a Classic-only version of the application can also be part of your bundle. It must reside in a folder called "MacOSClassic". Our code creates that folder and copies the selected Classic application to it. Finally, we need to add an alias to the Classic application to the root of the bundle. Hence the need for Matt's scripts. Creating this alias causes the bundle's icon to match that of the Classic application in OS 9.

Conclusion

That's it for this week. Select Debug->Run to test your work. As is the custom, you can download the finished project. See you next week!