Macintosh Security

[Robert Rasmussen]

On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, Library Internet Resources Co-ordinator wrote:

> At 3:16 PM -0700 10/13/97, Glen Davies wrote:
> >
> >There is a utility called Resedit which I think is free from Apple.
> >It can be used to remove unwanted menu options.

For general information: In the Windows world, the concept of a Resource
Editor also exists. Originally, resource editors were separate programs,
included in development suites for Windows, such as from Microsoft and
Borland. In later generations, these were integrated into the integrated
development environments. Borland, however, still sells a separate resource
editor.

The following applies to both Windows and Macintosh programs:

The resource area of a program file contains various things (resources) that
are used by the program, such as:
   * menus
   * submenus
   * message strings
   * dialog boxes
   * accelerator keys
   * icons

The design goal is that these resources can be changed AFTER COMPILATION, and
the program will still run. This allows a German dealer of a program, for
instance, to change the menus, etc. of an English program into German, without
having the source code, simply using a resource editor. If the program is
written well, it will run just as well afterwards, even if messages are
longer, for instance.

Our program, Anzio Lite, even checks for the removal of certain menu items in
order to disable their corresponding functions, such as saving parameters.

Resource modification is an under-publicized capability that often offers a
solution where "special" needs are in place, such as public access.

Regards,
....Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.

personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
 company e-mail: rsi at anzio.com or sales at anzio.com or support at anzio.com
 ftp://ftp.anzio.com               voice: 503-624-0360
http://www.anzio.com                 fax: 503-624-0760