2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
<?xml version="1.0"?>
|
2002-10-11 11:00:10 +00:00
|
|
|
<!DOCTYPE gsdoc PUBLIC "-//GNUstep//DTD gsdoc 1.0.0//EN" "http://www.gnustep.org/gsdoc-1_0_0.xml">
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
<gsdoc base="Base">
|
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
|
|
|
<title>GNUstep Base</title>
|
|
|
|
|
<author name="Richard Frith-Macdonald">
|
|
|
|
|
<email address="rfm@gnu.org"/>
|
|
|
|
|
<url url="http://www.gnustep.org/developers/whoiswho.html"/>
|
|
|
|
|
</author>
|
|
|
|
|
<version>$Revision$</version>
|
|
|
|
|
<date>$Date$</date>
|
|
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
|
<chapter>
|
|
|
|
|
<heading>Base</heading>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
The GNUstep base library is a free software package implementing
|
|
|
|
|
the API of the OpenStep Foundation Kit (tm), including later
|
2003-01-23 10:51:51 +00:00
|
|
|
additions. This documentation package describes the core of the
|
|
|
|
|
base library, for documentation on additional classes, see the
|
|
|
|
|
BaseAdditions documentation package.
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
</p>
|
2002-01-05 09:54:28 +00:00
|
|
|
<index scope="project" type="title" />
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
<section>
|
|
|
|
|
<heading>Compatibility</heading>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
GNUstep is generally compatible with the OpenStep specification and
|
|
|
|
|
with recent developments of the MacOS (cocoa) API. Where MacOS
|
|
|
|
|
deviates from the OpenStep API, GNUstep generally attempts to
|
|
|
|
|
support both versions. In some cases the newer MacOS APIs are
|
|
|
|
|
incompatible with OpenStep, and GNUstep usually supports the richer
|
|
|
|
|
version.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
In order to deal with compatiblity issues, GNUstep uses two
|
|
|
|
|
mechanisms - it provides conditionally compiled sections of
|
|
|
|
|
the library header files, so that software can be built that
|
|
|
|
|
will conform strictly to a particular API, and it provides
|
|
|
|
|
user default settings to control the behavior of the library
|
|
|
|
|
at runtime.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<subsect>
|
|
|
|
|
<heading>Conditional compilation</heading>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Adding an option to a makefile to define one of the following
|
|
|
|
|
preprocessor constants will modify the API visible to software
|
|
|
|
|
being compiled -
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>NO_GNUSTEP</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
GNUstep specific extensions to the OpenStep and MacOS cocoa
|
|
|
|
|
APIs are excluded from the headers.
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>STRICT_MACOS_X</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
Only methods and classes that are part of the MacOS cocoa
|
|
|
|
|
API are made available in the headers.
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>STRICT_OPENSTEP</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
Only methods and classes that are part of the OpenStep
|
|
|
|
|
specification are made available in the headers.
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
</deflist>
|
2002-08-30 14:54:07 +00:00
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
<em>NB</em> These preprocessor constants are used in
|
|
|
|
|
<em>developer code</em> (ie the code that users of GNUstep write)
|
|
|
|
|
rather than by the GNUstep software itsself. They permit a
|
|
|
|
|
developer to ensure that he/she does not write code which depends
|
|
|
|
|
upon API not present on other implementations (in practice,
|
|
|
|
|
MacOS-X or some old OPENSTEP systems).<br />
|
|
|
|
|
The actual GNUstep libraries are always built with the full
|
|
|
|
|
GNUstep API in place, so that the feature set is as consistent
|
|
|
|
|
as possible.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
</subsect>
|
|
|
|
|
<subsect>
|
|
|
|
|
<heading>User defaults</heading>
|
|
|
|
|
<deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GSLogSyslog</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Setting the user default <code>GSLogSyslog</code> to
|
|
|
|
|
<code>YES</code> will cause log/debug output to be sent to
|
|
|
|
|
the syslog facility (on systems which support it), rather
|
|
|
|
|
than to the standard error stream. This is useful in
|
|
|
|
|
environments where stderr has been re-used strangely for
|
|
|
|
|
some reason.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GSMacOSXCompatible</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Setting the user default <code>GSMacOSXCompatible</code> to
|
|
|
|
|
<code>YES</code> will cause MacOS compatible behavior to be
|
|
|
|
|
the default at runtime. This default may however be overridden
|
|
|
|
|
to provide more fine grained control of system behavior.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GSOldStyleGeometry</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Specifies whether the functions for producing strings
|
|
|
|
|
describing geometric structures (NSStringFromPoint(),
|
|
|
|
|
NSStringFromSize(), and NSStringFromRect()) should produce
|
|
|
|
|
strings conforming to the OpenStep specification or to
|
|
|
|
|
MacOS-X behavior. The functions for parsing those strings
|
|
|
|
|
should cope with both cases anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
2002-06-12 12:02:48 +00:00
|
|
|
<term>GSSOCKS</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
May be used to specify a default SOCKS5 server (and optionally
|
|
|
|
|
a port separated from the server by a colon) to which tcp/ip
|
|
|
|
|
connections made using the NSFileHandle extension methods
|
|
|
|
|
should be directed.<br />
|
|
|
|
|
This default overrides the SOCKS5_SERVER and SOCKS_SERVER
|
|
|
|
|
environment variables.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
2002-10-11 11:30:45 +00:00
|
|
|
<term>Local Time Zone</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used to specify the name of the timezone to be used by the
|
|
|
|
|
<ref type="class" id="NSTimeZone">NSTimeZone</ref> class.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
<term>NSWriteOldStylePropertyLists</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Specifies whether text property-list output should be in
|
|
|
|
|
the default MacOS-X format (XML), or in the more human
|
|
|
|
|
readable (but less powerful) original OpenStep format.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Reading of property lists is supported in either format,
|
|
|
|
|
but <em>only</em> if GNUstep is built with the libxml
|
|
|
|
|
library (which is needed to handle XML parsing).
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
NB. MacOS-X generates illegal XML for some strings - those
|
|
|
|
|
which contain characters not legal in XML. GNUstep always
|
|
|
|
|
generates legal XML, at the cost of a certain degree of
|
|
|
|
|
compatibility. GNUstep XML property lists use a backslash
|
|
|
|
|
to escape illegal chatracters, and consequently any string
|
|
|
|
|
containing either a backslash or an illegal character will
|
|
|
|
|
be written differently to the same string on MacOS-X.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>NSLanguages</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
An array of strings that lists the users prefered languages,
|
|
|
|
|
in order or preference. If not found the default is just
|
|
|
|
|
English.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
</deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
</subsect>
|
|
|
|
|
<subsect>
|
|
|
|
|
<heading>Environment variables</heading>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
There are some environment variables used by GNUstep base, where
|
|
|
|
|
there would be problems onbtaining data from the defaults asystem.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>CRASH_ON_ABORT</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
The default exception handler will either cause the program to
|
|
|
|
|
simply terminate, or to crash - leaving a core dump. The
|
|
|
|
|
standard behavior is to leave a core dump if the library was
|
|
|
|
|
built for debugging, and to simply exit if it was not.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
The CRASH_ON_ABORT environment variable can be used to
|
|
|
|
|
override this behavior. If this is defined to <em>NO</em>,
|
|
|
|
|
<em>FALSE</em>, or <em>0</em> then the program will simply
|
|
|
|
|
exit when an exception occurs. Any other value of the
|
|
|
|
|
variable will cause the program to generate a core dump.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_STRING_ENCODING</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
This is used to specify the default encoding for 8-bit
|
|
|
|
|
strings. It defaults to NSISOLatin1StringEncoding, but
|
|
|
|
|
may be any of the 8-bit encodings supported by your system
|
|
|
|
|
(excluding multi-byte encodings).
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_HOST_CPU</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used in place of GNUSTEP_TARGET_CPU if the other is missing.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_HOST_DIR</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used in place of GNUSTEP_TARGET_DIR if the other is missing.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_HOST_OS</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used in place of GNUSTEP_TARGET_OS if the other is missing.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_LOCAL_ROOT</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used to specify the GNUstep root directory for local
|
|
|
|
|
(non-system) resources. Typically all locally produced
|
|
|
|
|
or contributed software is installed relative to this.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_NETWORK_ROOT</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used to specify the GNUstep root directory for local
|
|
|
|
|
(non-system) resources that are intended to be shared
|
|
|
|
|
across a local network. Typically this is an NFS exported
|
|
|
|
|
directory shared by many machines. It provides an
|
|
|
|
|
alternative to GNUSTEP_LOCAL_ROOT.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used to specify the GNUstep system root directory ... all
|
|
|
|
|
system libraries, tools, applications, headers, resources
|
|
|
|
|
in general are located relative to this.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_USER_ROOT</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
2002-05-10 09:07:10 +00:00
|
|
|
This environment variable, commonly set by the make system,
|
|
|
|
|
is <strong>not</strong> used by GNUstep programs. Instead
|
|
|
|
|
values from <code>.GNUsteprc</code> are used (see later).
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_TARGET_CPU</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Overrides the default value of the machine (hardware)
|
|
|
|
|
name used on this system.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_TARGET_DIR</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Overrides the default path used to locate subdirectories
|
|
|
|
|
for GNUstep binaries withing bundles and applications.
|
|
|
|
|
This is normally equivalent to a path made up of the
|
|
|
|
|
GNUSTEP_TARGET_CPU and GNUSTEP_TARGET_OS
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_TARGET_OS</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Overrides the default value of the operating system
|
|
|
|
|
name used on this system.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_TZ</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used to specify the timezone to be used if there is no
|
|
|
|
|
timezone specified in the user defaults system.
|
|
|
|
|
The preferred
|
|
|
|
|
mechanism is to use the 'Local Time Zone' value from the
|
|
|
|
|
user defaults system.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>HOMEDRIVE</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used on windoze to locate the home directory.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>HOMEPATH</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used on windoze to locate the home directory.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>LANGUAGES</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
If there is no NSLanguages user default set, and there is
|
|
|
|
|
no language infromation available in the native system locale
|
|
|
|
|
mechanism, then this environment variable is used to provide
|
|
|
|
|
a list of the languages that the user prefers to use.
|
|
|
|
|
languages listed in this variable must be separated by
|
|
|
|
|
semicolons.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>LOGNAME</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
This is used as the default value for the current user
|
|
|
|
|
(as returned by the NSUserName() functions). If it is not
|
|
|
|
|
specified, or contains an illegal value, other methods are
|
|
|
|
|
used to get the user name.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>LIBRARY_COMBO</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used to override the default value of the combination
|
|
|
|
|
of standard libraries used to build binaries. This
|
|
|
|
|
value locates the final subdirectory used to locate binaries.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
2002-05-10 17:05:10 +00:00
|
|
|
<term>NSDeallocateZombies</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
2002-10-11 11:30:45 +00:00
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
This may be used in conjunction with NSZombieEnabled to specify
|
|
|
|
|
whether the objects should really be deallocated. If you set
|
|
|
|
|
this to YES, the zombie logging will only work until the
|
|
|
|
|
deallocated memory is re-used.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
2002-05-10 17:05:10 +00:00
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>NSZombieEnabled</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
If this is set to YES, then deallocation of an object causes
|
2002-10-11 11:30:45 +00:00
|
|
|
the object to be morphed into a Zombie ... a special object
|
2002-05-10 17:05:10 +00:00
|
|
|
which will call the GNUstep specific GSLogZombie() function
|
|
|
|
|
to log the method call.<br />
|
|
|
|
|
You can set a breakpoint in this function and examine the
|
2002-10-11 11:30:45 +00:00
|
|
|
process memory if you are running under a debugger.<br />
|
2002-05-10 17:05:10 +00:00
|
|
|
As this overrides actual object deallocation, all memory
|
|
|
|
|
allocated for objects will be leaked!
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
2002-06-12 12:02:48 +00:00
|
|
|
<term>SOCKS5_SERVER</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Specifies the default socks server to be used when making
|
|
|
|
|
outgoing tcp/ip connections using NSFileHandle. This may
|
|
|
|
|
also specify a port after the host name (and spearated
|
|
|
|
|
from it by a colon).<br />
|
|
|
|
|
This environment variable is used only if the GSSOCKS
|
|
|
|
|
user default is not set.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>SOCKS_SERVER</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Equivalent to SOCKS5_SERVER, but used only if that is not
|
|
|
|
|
defined.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
<term>TZ</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Used to specify the timezone to be used if there is no
|
|
|
|
|
timezone specified by any other mechanism. The preferred
|
|
|
|
|
mechanism is to use the 'Local Time Zone' value from the
|
|
|
|
|
user defaults system.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
</subsect>
|
2002-05-10 09:07:10 +00:00
|
|
|
<subsect>
|
|
|
|
|
<heading>.GNUsteprc files</heading>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
The locations of the directories in which user specific files and
|
|
|
|
|
the user defaults database are stored are defined in the
|
|
|
|
|
<code>.GNUsteprc</code> files.<br />
|
|
|
|
|
If no location is given for user specific files, they are stored
|
|
|
|
|
in the GNUstep subdirectory of the users home directory.<br />
|
|
|
|
|
If a separate location is not given for the defaults database, it
|
|
|
|
|
is stored in the same directory as other user specific files.<br />
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
The presence of a <code>.GNUsteprc</code> file in a users home
|
|
|
|
|
directory premits the user to customize file locations using
|
|
|
|
|
two commands -
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_DEFAULTS_ROOT=...</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
The text after the '=' is taken to be the path to the users
|
|
|
|
|
files. If it begins with a '~' character, the users home
|
|
|
|
|
directory is prepended to it.
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>GNUSTEP_USER_ROOT=...</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
The text after the '=' is taken to be the path to the users
|
|
|
|
|
files. If it begins with a '~' character, the users home
|
|
|
|
|
directory is prepended to it.
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
</deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
The presence of a <code>.GNUsteprc</code> file in the GNUstep
|
|
|
|
|
system directory may provide default paths for all users and
|
|
|
|
|
may even override user specific files. The content of this file
|
|
|
|
|
is as for the user specific file, but permits two additional
|
|
|
|
|
commands -
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>FORCE_DEFAULTS_ROOT</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
If this line is present, and the file specifies a
|
|
|
|
|
GNUSTEP_DEFAULTS_ROOT, then the value given in the system-wide
|
|
|
|
|
file is used irrespective of the user specific file.
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise, the value in the user specific file takes precedence.
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
<term>FORCE_USER_ROOT</term>
|
|
|
|
|
<desc>
|
|
|
|
|
If this line is present, and the file specifies a
|
|
|
|
|
GNUSTEP_USER_ROOT, then the value given in the system-wide
|
|
|
|
|
file is used irrespective of the user specific file.
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise, the value in the user specific file takes precedence.
|
|
|
|
|
</desc>
|
|
|
|
|
</deflist>
|
|
|
|
|
</subsect>
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
|
</chapter>
|
|
|
|
|
<back>
|
2002-01-05 09:54:28 +00:00
|
|
|
<index scope="project" type="class" />
|
|
|
|
|
<index scope="project" type="protocol" />
|
2002-01-03 13:17:30 +00:00
|
|
|
</back>
|
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
|
</gsdoc>
|
