Kasper JadeSome of the less publicized features of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" are beginning to emerge as developer sources compile notes from Apple's recent World Wide Developer Conference and preliminary tests of the next-generation operating system.
Although the majority of the features are based on additions to less apparent and underlying technologies, the advances will aid developers in producing more feature rich and streamlined applications in shorter periods of time, sources said.
OpenGL and OpenAL
The version of OpenGL that will ship with Tiger will include better support for pixel buffers, which lets developers perform offscreen rendering with OpenGL. For example, developers could create a pixel buffer to store a texture that may be applied to hundreds of different objects in a video game, though the texture would only be processed once.
Tiger will also add support for Open Audio Library (OpenAL), a cross-platform standard for delivering 3D audio in applications, sources said.
Using OpenAL, developers can implement high-performance positional audio in games and other programs that require high-quality audio output. And because OpenAL is a cross-platform standard, applications written using OpenAL on Mac OS X can easily be ported to run on many other platforms.
Tiger's implementation of OpenAL is reportedly based on the company's Core Audio library and therefore will deliver high quality sound and performance on Mac OS X systems.
PDF Kit is a new Cocoa framework in Tiger that will let developers add PDF viewing and navigation to their Mac OS X application with just a few clicks in Interface Builder. The kit will automatically handle the rendering of the PDF content and provide controls for navigation and setting the zoom level.
Developers may also choose to go beyond simple PDF viewing, as the PDF Kit PDF Kit includes a suite of developer classes for adding capabilities to perform text searches, manage selections, add annotations, and specify the behavior of some graphical elements.
Sources say that starting with the release of Tiger, Apple’s "Preview" application will use the new PDF Kit as the foundation for its PDF support.
SQLite Support
Another feature of Tiger is SQLite support, which incorporates the SQLite library into the system to provide an embeddable, zero-configuration SQL database engine for applications.
Developers who link their applications to this library can access SQL databases without running a separate relational database management system (RDBMS) process. The library can also be used to create local database files and manage the tables and records in that file.
Core Data Framework
SQLite is optimized to provide fast access to database records and is designed for general-purpose use. One example is Core Data— a new Apple framework that simplifies application creation based on a Model-View-Controller architecture— that uses SQLite extensively to provide backend storage for user-defined data.
Core Data is intended for applications that have a significant amount of structured data to manage. According to sources, the library will handle developer tasks such as retrieving object data from disks, maintaining references to those objects, and writing modified objects back to disk.
The new Tiger-only Core Data framework will also provide developers with simplified management of undo and redo operations, support for validation of property values, support for propagating changes, grouping, filtering, and organizing data in memory and transferring those changes to the user interface through Cocoa bindings.
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
14 Comments
Holy Baloney. AI is on fire tonight!
This is almost overwhelming. I think it's safe to say Tiger will have a solid OpenGL implementation. OpenAL will be great if developers stop using DirectX for sound. If developers can start using OpenGL and OpenAL for their games, they would be able to easily port to Mac and Linux. I don't know why they create their games using DirectX and then decide to allow a port house to port the game...the cost would be substantially smaller if they built the game with OpenGL and OpenAL frameworks from the start.
PDFKit allowing PDF annotations is excellent news. Allowing developers to add a PDF viewer to their app with zero code is unbelievable.
And finally...a database solution for developers.
Tiger is going to spawn some commercial quality apps...but it won't take big companies to create them. The small developers will be able to produce these apps and most of it will probably shareware or even freeware since it'll be so easy to build.
Wow, this is awesome stuff; keep it coming!
I'd like to report that no NDA's were broken to bring you this report. All this information was listed on the WWDC 2004 Session schedule from developer.apple.com
Also of note if we're talking about pdfkit is ImageIO which should standardize the input/output of graphic file formats like TIFF, jpg, jpg 2000 and High Dynamic Range formats like OpenEXR and Floating Point Tiff(These do 16bit per channel or more for yummy graphics)
Core Data sounds like the "bee's knees" for any data that you need to be persistent. I look for Apple to show how nifty taking iLife apps and SQL'izing their backends can make for application integration and functionality.
We haven't even gotten into Quartz 2D Extreme either. I'm expecting some good ole fashion silky window redraws once that comes. I also read that some icons and widgets are moving from gif/jpg to png. Hmmm would that be because png can scale better once we get our resolution independance turned on?
I think Tigers is going to turn a lot of people on. While it doesn't look like a powerhouse to the layman now, wait until they see what applications can do under Tiger...they will roar man.
I mean look at what we're getting.
1. A nice lightweight SQL embedded into the OS.
2. Nifty networking features(mmm new Net Kernel Extensions perhaps).
3. New toys to make your GPU purrrrrrr(Core Image/Video)
4. The next wave of pdf improvements. Preview is nice now so any improvements are going to be cream. Appleworks 7 where are you?????
5. Scripting on steroids with Automator. Please people get rid of those photo files that start with "IMG" puhleeeze.
6. Threading and SMP improvements- Thread you Developers THREAD!!!!
7. Spotlight- No ma'am it isn't search...it's much much more.
8. Dashboards- I'm actually liking the potential of widgets here. Tiger is months away and there are already more than you can shake a stick at.
9. Xgrid built in. May come in handy when I get my Powerbook
10. .Mac Sync- Am I the only one that loves the idea of keeping my Addressbook, Mail Rules and whatever else I want sync'd between two computers? This could be heaven.
Shite. I can't wait..where's my iMac?
[::edited by appleinsider::]
grounds: Impersonation
Kasper,
I think you put these technologies into terms we all understand better for instance WWDC Sessions Core Data
This session provides an overview of the new Core Data framework in Cocoa. It will focus on the new functionality provided for managing and persisting model objects, which includes automatic undo/redo, input validation, and saving to various types of "persistent stores" (SQL and XML).
Learn about the more advanced features of the new Core Data framework, including how to work with multiple persistent stores at the same time, how to use predefined fetch requests and predicates to find your objects, how to get more out of your validation rules, and how to manipulate schemas at runtime.
pdfkit
PDFKit is a powerful set of Cocoa classes that allows you to incorporate a rich PDF viewing experience in your application. PDFKit easily handles all the details relating to PDF display, navigation, selection, and searching. PDFKit also supports a variety of ways to customize your application's interaction with PDF documents. Attend this session to learn about leveraging the power of PDF in your application.
Nothing was spoken about directly on SQLite or OpenAL that's great info. I'm still hoping Apple buys a gaming company and let's them go wild creating great Mac games. That networking info in the other thread sounds nice too about the Core Foundation networking ehancements. Whoever is giving you the info tell'em we're thankful. More Quartz 2D info please and perhaps more info on cocoa framework changes if possible.
"Tanks"