What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X?

In article <BBE40DD8.C43%mlevin77@comcast.net>, Michael Levin
<mlevin77 DeleteThis @comcast.net> wrote:

 > I need the ability to write some simple C code which would create a window
 > and fill it with dots of different colors (basically, I need to be able to
 > call plot_dot(x,y,c) where x,y are the coordinates of pixel (x,y) in the
 > window, and c is the color. I'm happy programming from the shell, using
 > emacs; I don't need a fancy IDE. I want a nice simple cc compiler, and a
 > library which can just draw some graphics (I do simple scientific
 > programming from time to time). I've checked out the Apple developers kit on
 > their website, and it looks like total overkill for me - I don't need (or
 > have time to delve into) all the fancy stuff for making cool-looking user
 > interfaces etc. On the other hand, maybe the basics are easier than I think.
 > Could someone give me some advice: what's the simplest way to write a simple
 > C program to draw some color dots on a 2D square of the screen? Do I use the
 > Apple kit (if so, is there a primer somewhere) or can I just get a C
 > compiler which would run from the shell (I need executables, maybe for gcc
 > or something like this)? Any suggestions for a simple graphical library
 > which can be used? Please cc: any replies to mlevin77 DeleteThis @comcast.net. Thank you
 > in advance!!
 >
 > Mike

the apple developer sw is free, last time i checked anyway.
when you install it, it also installs all the traditional
command line tools like cc (gcc), linker, standard libraries, etc.
you also want to make sure you install the BSD subsystem so
you get all the man entries.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X? 

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:45:46 GMT, Michael Levin
<mlevin77 DeleteThis @comcast.net> wrote:
 > I need the ability to write some simple C code which would create a window
 > and fill it with dots of different colors

Can I ask why it needs to be C code?
While it is possible to do what you want in C it sounds like a
higher level language like Tcl or Python (andm maybe even
Applescript) would be much easier and faster to use.
Unless you are doing a ton of number crunching as well C is an
awful lot of hard work to throw up a canvas and draw some
graphics!

 > programming from time to time). I've checked out the Apple developers kit on
 > their website, and it looks like total overkill for me


If your prograqms are similar creating one template and then copy
and modifying it shouldn't be too hard. But the Dev kit does make
life easy even for plain C programming.

 > Could someone give me some advice: what's the simplest way to write a simple
 > C program to draw some color dots on a 2D square of the screen?

The simplest way is to join the program and use the Apple tools.
But you can do it by hand if you really want.

 > can I just get a C compiler which would run from the shell
 > (I need executables, maybe for gcc or something like this)?

gcc and the other tools are all there, just open a terminal
session, start vi or emacs and hack away. You need to find the
right libraries and include them of course but they too are there
to use.

But for casual use I'd almost never use C, it's the kind of task
scripting languages were made for!

Alan G.
Author of the Learn to Program website
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld" target="_blank">http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X? 

On 11/22/03 4:26 AM, in article 3fbf2a6e.651846786 RemoveThis @news.blueyonder.co.uk,
"Alan Gauld" <alan.gauld RemoveThis @btinternet.com> wrote:

 > Can I ask why it needs to be C code?
 > While it is possible to do what you want in C it sounds like a
 > higher level language like Tcl or Python (andm maybe even
 > Applescript) would be much easier and faster to use.
 > Unless you are doing a ton of number crunching as well C is an
 > awful lot of hard work to throw up a canvas and draw some
 > graphics!

I already have a bunch of C code which does quite a bit of number
crunching (I'm moving from a different platform). I'd rather not change all
of it...

 > The simplest way is to join the program and use the Apple tools.
 > But you can do it by hand if you really want.

is this the Xcode package, or have I got the wrong thing?

Thanks for the help!

Mike

--

Mike Levin
mlevin77 RemoveThis @comcast.net<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X? 

In Article BBE40DD8.C43%mlevin77@comcast.net, Michael Levin wrote:

 > I need the ability to write some simple C code which would create a window
 > and fill it with dots of different colors (basically, I need to be able to
 > call plot_dot(x,y,c) where x,y are the coordinates of pixel (x,y) in the
 > window, and c is the color. I'm happy programming from the shell, using
 > emacs; I don't need a fancy IDE. I want a nice simple cc compiler, and a
 > library which can just draw some graphics (I do simple scientific
 > programming from time to time). I've checked out the Apple developers kit on
 > their website, and it looks like total overkill for me - I don't need (or
 > have time to delve into) all the fancy stuff for making cool-looking user
 > interfaces etc. On the other hand, maybe the basics are easier than I think.
 > Could someone give me some advice: what's the simplest way to write a simple
 > C program to draw some color dots on a 2D square of the screen? Do I use the
 > Apple kit (if so, is there a primer somewhere) or can I just get a C
 > compiler which would run from the shell (I need executables, maybe for gcc
 > or something like this)? Any suggestions for a simple graphical library
 > which can be used? Please cc: any replies to mlevin77.TakeThisOut@comcast.net. Thank you
 > in advance!!

The question about IDE aside (I would recommend using "free" Xcode),
here is the basic app that draws pixel.

#include <Carbon.h>
int main(void)
{
WindowRef window;
Rect r = { 10, 50, 300, 300 };
RGBColor color = { 0xFFFF, 0, 0 }

window = NewCWindow(NULL, &r, "\pTitle", true, 0, (WindowPtr)-1, 0, 0);
SetPort(GetWindowPort(window));
SetCPixel(100, 100, &color);
QDFlushPortBuffer(GetWindowPort(window), NULL);
while (!Button()) {}
return 0;
}

--
Mike Kluev

PS. Remove "-DELETE-." part of my e-mail address to reply.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X? 

  >>The simplest way is to join the program and use the Apple tools.
  >>But you can do it by hand if you really want.
 >
 >
 > is this the Xcode package, or have I got the wrong thing?
 >

Yep. I'm using the XCode thing at the mo' and lovin' it.

James<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X? 

In article <BBE40DD8.C43%mlevin77@comcast.net>, Michael Levin
<mlevin77 RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote:

 > I need the ability to write some simple C code which would create a window
 > and fill it with dots of different colors (basically, I need to be able to
 > call plot_dot(x,y,c) where x,y are the coordinates of pixel (x,y) in the
 > window, and c is the color. I'm happy programming from the shell, using
 > emacs; I don't need a fancy IDE. I want a nice simple cc compiler, and a
 > library which can just draw some graphics (I do simple scientific
 > programming from time to time). I've checked out the Apple developers kit on
 > their website, and it looks like total overkill for me - I don't need (or
 > have time to delve into) all the fancy stuff for making cool-looking user
 > interfaces etc. On the other hand, maybe the basics are easier than I think.
 > Could someone give me some advice: what's the simplest way to write a simple
 > C program to draw some color dots on a 2D square of the screen? Do I use the
 > Apple kit (if so, is there a primer somewhere) or can I just get a C
 > compiler which would run from the shell (I need executables, maybe for gcc
 > or something like this)? Any suggestions for a simple graphical library
 > which can be used? Please cc: any replies to mlevin77 RemoveThis @comcast.net. Thank you
 > in advance!!

Here's how to compile and link programs with quickdraw calls without
using a fancy IDE. I don't know how you find this kind of stuff out
other than asking on news groups...

cc tst.c -o tst -framework Carbon

Here's the test program posted earlier, with a few typos fixed...

#include <Carbon/Carbon.h>
int main(void)
{
WindowRef window;
Rect r = { 40, 50, 300, 300 };
RGBColor color = { 0xFFFF, 0, 0 };

window = NewCWindow(NULL, &r, 0, true, 0, (WindowPtr)-1, 0, 0);
SetPort(GetWindowPort(window));
SetCPixel(100, 100, &color);
QDFlushPortBuffer(GetWindowPort(window), NULL);
while (!Button()) {}
return 0;
}

rob<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X? 

As long as I'm complaining about how hard it can be to find out
how to do simple stuff on a mac, here's how to write directly to the screen.
Some of us actually like to write our own (very fast) graphics
without dealing with the (#$%^&*!) GUI.

/* write directly to screen... */
/* scribble to first 100 rows... */

#include <Carbon/Carbon.h>

char *getfb(short *rowl,short *nrows,short *depth,short *rowbytes);

main()
{
short rowl,nrows,depth,rowbytes;
char *fb,val;
long i,j,jump;

fb = getfb(&rowl,&nrows,&depth,&rowbytes);
rowbytes &= 0x7fff;
jump = rowbytes - rowl*depth;

for(j=0;j<100;j++)
{
for(i=0;i<rowl*depth;i++)
*fb++ = val++;
fb += jump;
}
}

char *getfb(short *rowl,short *nrows,short *depth,short *rowbytes)
{
GDHandle theGDList;
Ptr theBase;

theGDList = GetDeviceList();
theBase = (*(*theGDList)->gdPMap)->baseAddr;
*rowl = (*(*theGDList)->gdPMap)->bounds.right;
*nrows = (*(*theGDList)->gdPMap)->bounds.bottom;
*depth = (*(*theGDList)->gdPMap)->pixelSize;
*rowbytes = (*(*theGDList)->gdPMap)->rowBytes;
return(theBase);
}
 >> Stay informed about: What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X? 

Michael Levin <mlevin77 RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote in message news:<BBE4B6C5.1403%mlevin77@comcast.net>...
 > On 11/22/03 4:26 AM, in article 3fbf2a6e.651846786 RemoveThis @news.blueyonder.co.uk,
 > "Alan Gauld" <alan.gauld RemoveThis @btinternet.com> wrote:
 >
  > > Can I ask why it needs to be C code?
  > > While it is possible to do what you want in C it sounds like a
  > > higher level language like Tcl or Python (andm maybe even
  > > Applescript) would be much easier and faster to use.
  > > Unless you are doing a ton of number crunching as well C is an
  > > awful lot of hard work to throw up a canvas and draw some
  > > graphics!
 >
 > I already have a bunch of C code which does quite a bit of number
 > crunching (I'm moving from a different platform). I'd rather not change all
 > of it...
 >
  > > The simplest way is to join the program and use the Apple tools.
  > > But you can do it by hand if you really want.
 >
 > is this the Xcode package, or have I got the wrong thing?


If you're working in and targeting OS X, then Xcode (or gcc as other
posters suggest) would be ideal. Otherwise, MPW (free download from
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://developer.apple.com/tools/mpw-tools/" target="_blank">http://developer.apple.com/tools/mpw-tools/</a> ) is an excellent command
line-oriented development environment. It can create any kind of
Classic executable, and Carbon executables for OS X.

The example posted by Mike Kluev would be easily built under MPW. Note
that using SetCPixel() in this way would be very slow if you were
plotting many pixels. In that instance, a much faster method (with
Carbon) would be an offscreen GWorld, set memory directly to plot
pixels, then CopyBits the offscreen PixMap into your window.

Toby

 >
 > Thanks for the help!
 >
 > Mike<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What's a simple C programming environment on Mac OS X?