Metrowerks Integrates Magic into CodeWarrior

Three times a year, Austin, Texas-based development tool maker Metrowerks releases a new version of its flagship Macintosh-hosted environment CodeWarrior. Each time, the set of CD-ROMs represents a range of enhancements and improvements, always important and occasionally critical. As far as Magic Cap developers are concerned, the new CD-ROM release, dubbed CodeWarrior Gold 7, represents a major milestone.

The most significant improvement is the new Universal CodeWarrior Environment, version 1.3. For the first time, Magic Cap programmers will now be able to employ the powerful integrated development environment (IDE) that had previously been available to people creating Macintosh applications.

Metrowerks has done this by developing a PlugIn architecture that integrates its supported environments into the single IDE. By selecting Target within the Preferences menu option, users can now select from any of the installed PlugIn preferences for languages (C/C++ and Pascal) and installed platforms.

The list of supported platforms is impressive, ranging from Mac 68K, CFM 68K, PowerPC, Win32/x86, and, of course, Magic Cap. You select the platforms you wish to work with at install time, a process that has also been made easier through a new single application installer that presents several options for direct installation from the Tools CD-ROM.

The Choice is Yours

The new system comes with a caveat, however, as Metrowerks labels the new Magic Cap Tools within the CodeWarrior IDE as development-release versions. In other words, these tools are beta level solid. Metrowerks suggests that you continue to use the MPW Magic Cap tools for final production work. Likewise, the 68K and PowerPC debuggers have been merged, but the debuggers for the Win32/x86 and Magic Cap environments remain separate applications.

This means that you will likely want to select both MPW and the MPW Tools, along with the new installation option appropriately called “Magic Cap Heaven.”

Documents Help You Get Started

Selecting Magic Cap Heaven installs a set of documentation available in Adobe Acrobat and HTML (World Wide Web) formats. These documents include a reference and tutorial for the CodeWarrior development environment, a class and method reference, and a Magic Cap concepts primer, among others. In particular, the set includes a design guidelines reference that discusses how to make your programs look and function consistently with other Magic Cap applications.

Metrowerks
3925 West Braker Lane, Suite 310
Austin, TX 78759-5321
(512) 305-0400
(512) 305-0440 (fax)
[email protected]
http://www.metrowerks.com