This preface contains information you need when using the rest of the CAPI documentation. It discusses the purpose of this manual, the typographical conventions used, and gives a brief description of the rest of the contents.
The CAPI documentation assumes that you are familiar with:
Illustrations in this manual show the CAPI running on Windows NT 4.0, so if you use a different Windows version you should expect some variation from the figures depicted here.
Unless otherwise stated, examples given in this document assume that the current package has
CAPI
on its package-use-list.
Throughout this manual, certain typographical conventions have been adopted to aid readability.
Text which you should enter explicitly is printed
like this
.
This guide forms an introductory course in developing applications using the CAPI. Please note that, like the rest of the LispWorks documentation, it does assume knowledge of Common Lisp.
Introduction to the CAPI, introduces the principles behind the CAPI, some of its fundamental concepts, and what it sets out to achieve.
Getting Started, presents a series of simple examples whose aim is to familiarize you with some of the most important elements and functions.
General Considerations, covers some general issues that you should be aware of when using CAPI.
Creating Common Windows, introduces more of the fundamental CAPI elements. These elements are explained in greater detail in the remainder of the manual.
Choices, explains the key CAPI concept of the choice . A choice groups CLOS objects together and provides the notion of there being a selected object amongst that group of objects. Button panels and list panels are examples of choices.
Laying Out CAPI Panes introduces the idea of layouts . These let you combine different CAPI elements inside a single window.
Modifying CAPI Windows, outlines basic techniques for modifying existing windows.
Creating Menus, shows you how to add menus to a window.
Defining Interface Classes, introduces the macro
define-interface
. This macro can be used to define interface classes composed of CAPI elements -- either the predefined elements explained elsewhere in this manual or your own.
Prompting for Input, discusses the ways in which dialog boxes may be used to prompt a user for input.
Creating Your Own Panes, shows you how you can define your own classes when those provided by the CAPI are not sufficient for your needs.
Graphics Ports, provides information on the Graphics Ports package, which provides a selection of drawing and image tranformation functions. Although not part of the CAPI package, and therefore not strictly part of the CAPI, the Graphics Ports functions are used in conjunction with CAPI panes, and are therefore documented in this manual and the LispWorks CAPI Reference Manual .
The Color System, allows applications to use keyword symbols as aliases for colors in Graphics Ports drawing functions. They can also be used for backgrounds and foregrounds of windows and CAPI objects.
Printing from the CAPI--the Hardcopy API, describes the programmatic printing of Graphics Ports.
The second part of the CAPI documentation is the LispWorks CAPI Reference Manual . This provides a complete description of every CAPI class, function and macro, and also provides a reference chapter on the Graphics Port functions. Entries are listed alphabetically, and the typographical conventions used are similar to those used in Common Lisp: the Language (2nd Edition) (Steele, 1990).