Beginning Mac OS X Tiger Dashboard Widget Development by Fred Terry

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) users have discovered the power and coolness of the Dashboard, which can bring you just the right information, when you need it, from wherever it might be: the Web, your network, your Mac. But you needn’t settle for Apple’s 14 built-in Dashboard widgets: You can create your own. With help from Fred Terry’s book, it’s surprisingly easy -- especially if you know your way around HTML, CSS, and a bit of JavaScript.

Terry starts by explaining what widgets are, how they work, what they’re good for (and not good for). Next, he tears open one of Apple’s example widgets, showing how it’s built from multiple source and image files, and how those files are bundled into something executable.

You’ll explore Apple’s tools for creating, assembling, and testing widgets (along with some third-party alternatives); then walk through building your first simple widget. Terry then introduces a series of techniques for providing user interaction. You’ll master widget events; flesh out your interface; add cut, copy and paste (and drag/drop too, if you like). Throughout, Terry utilizes Wrox’s effective “Try It Out” format: whenever he introduces a new element or technique, he follows up immediately with step-by-step instructions for applying it in an example.

The heart of the book is its projects section: six chapter-length projects, plus a batch of shorter ones. Among the highlights: a handy envelope printing widget, a “secure copy” function, and a widget that’ll search a leading music site for album art, then import the art into selected iTunes tracks. Bill Camarda, from the August 2006 Read Only

From the Publisher

• Aimed at the estimated 300,000 Mac OS X developers who are interested in customizing and creating widgets for their Dashboards, this timely book shows them how to tap into the power of Mac OS X Tiger to create and customize Dashboard widgets
• The expert author uses program examples and exercises to illustrate the different ways to customize the Dashboard through widget development using simple authoring tools, Internet plug-ins, and text editors
• Begins with a discussion of the Dashboard concept and configuration and progresses to coverage of advanced functionality
• Covers tools, protecting code, configuration, properties, bundles, resources, extensions, and much more

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents