Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!iuvax!ndcheg!ndmath!milo From: milo@ndmath.UUCP (Greg Corson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer Subject: Sublaunching (really user extendable programs) Message-ID: <1529@ndmath.UUCP> Date: 12 Aug 89 21:37:26 GMT Organization: Math. Dept., Univ. of Notre Dame Lines: 40 I need to put together a program that can be extended by adding other programs to it. The configuration I need is one "core" program that would have the ability to chain out to a "satelite" program, then come back to the core when the satelite exits. Obviously, I can do this with sublaunching...but lots of the Apple technotes say sublaunching is to be avoided for compatability reasons. So how do I do this?? Just "launch" to one program and have it "launch" back to the core when it's done? I suppose it would work, but I would have to pass info somewhere that would let the core program come back up in it's current state. In this particular case, my "core" program is a set of icon point-click menus and a terminal program. The satelite programs are specific telecommunications applications. The way I need it to work is something like this. User gets online and into main menu...then clicks a choice like "airline reservations" the core program launches off into the airline reservation program which eventually returns to the core. Later on, the user sees a new service on line, say computer shopping. The core program determines that there is no support program for computer shopping on the users disk so it downloads it from the host, then launches to it. The program can't be just one big mass, it needs the ability to have whole new sections (possibly major ones) added. Under a Unix or VMS type operating system....you'd just have a core program that spawned off subtasks which would later return to the core when done. On the Mac, this sounds like sublaunching....but we're not supposed to do that for compatability reasons...so what's the next best way to handle it?? Greg Corson 19141 Summers Drive South Bend, IN 46637 (219) 277-5306 {pur-ee,rutgers,uunet}!iuvax!ndmath!milo