Mac OS X Dashboard Tutorial

We hope you enjoyed the FREE lessons above. To view the complete contents, including the chapters below, please purchase the CD.
CLICK HERE TO BUY THIS CD

Widget Architecture: The Basics
Bundles
Basic Bundle Files
HTML interface
Default & Icon PNG Files
Property List

Industry-Standard Widget Technologies
HTML
CSS
JavaScript

Building a Widget (Basic Version)
Start from the Blank Widget
Rename Files & Build the Property List
Basic Safari Debugging
Add Images & Styles
Dashboard Development Mode - Lesson 1
Dashboard Development Mode - Lesson 2

Building the Back of a Widget
Flipping the Widget - Lesson 1
Flipping the Widget - Lesson 2
Adding a Link to the Widget
About Preferences
Setting & Storing a Preference - Lesson 1
Debugging Case Study
Setting & Storing a Preference - Lesson 2
Retrieving a Preference

Building a Widget (Advanced)
Implementing a Two-State Button - Lesson 1
Implementing a Two-State Button - Lesson 2
Creating a Text Display Field
Creating a Text Area
Finishing Up: The Reset Button

Widget Architecture
Dashboard Architecture
Widget Properties
Widget Events

Writing the Widget Javascript Code
Building the Javascript Timer
Building the Timer Click Structure
Starting the Timer
Pausing the Timer
Continuing the Timer
Resetting the Timer
Handling Show & Hide Events - Lesson 1
Handling Show & Hide Events - Lesson 2

Interacting with Other Applications
Using the Clipboard & Drag & Drop
Preparing the Test Widget - Lesson 1
Preparing the Test Widget - Lesson 2
Using the Command Line
Making the Command Line Interactive
Status Results & Synchronous Processing
Asynchronous Processing

Using AppleScript from Widgets
AppleScript/Widget Overview
Using AppleScript from the Command Line
Generating AppleScript from a Widget - Lesson 1
Generating AppleScript from a Widget - Lesson 2
Generating AppleScript from a Widget - Lesson 3
Creating AppleScript Scripts
Looking at an AppleScript Dictionary - Lesson 1
Looking at an AppleScript Dictionary - Lesson 2
Writing the Basic Script for the Widget
Implementing the Script in the Widget - Lesson 1
Implementing the Script in the Widget - Lesson 2
Cleaning Up the Widget Script
Labeling & Formatting the Export
Saving the Exported Document
Completing the Widget

Using XML Data on the Web from Widgets
Getting the XML Data for a Widget
Sample RSS Widget Architecture
Looking at the XML Document
Creating the XMLHttpRequest
Parsing the XML Data
Displaying the XML Data

Using Cocoa Plug-ins
Widget Plug-in Overview
Building the Fortune Example
Setting the Widget to Use a Plug-in
Setting the Xcode Project Name
Exposing the Plug-in to JavaScript
Debugging the Plug-in

Widget Appearance & Behavior
Using Control Regions
Using the Canvas
Resizing a Widget (Live Version)
Using Animation - Lesson 1
Using Animation - Lesson 2
Using Animation - Lesson 3
Managing Widget Focus

Using the Apple Classes
How to Include the Apple Classes
Apple Info Buttons
Apple Buttons (Including Glass Buttons)
Scrolling in Your Widget
Using Sliders

Distributing Your Widget
Preparing the Files
Downloading the Widget
Implementing Localization

Wrap Up
Course Summary

Credits
About the Author