About this Manual

The iTool Developer's Guide describes the IDL iTools component framework and provides examples of its use. After reading this manual, you will understand how to use the component framework to create your own intelligent tools.

This manual is divided into three parts:

Part I: Understanding the iTools Component Framework

This section describes the iTools component framework in conceptual terms, and outlines some of the processes you will use in creating new tools using the framework. While an understanding of the topics in this section may be beneficial as you develop your own applications, a complete understanding of the way the framework operates is not required to begin building your own tools.

Part II: Using the iTools Component Framework

This section walks you through the process of creating a new iTool application, either by extending an existing iTool or by building a new tool from scratch.

Part III: Modifying the iTool User Interface

This section discusses the process of adding your own interface elements to an iTool application.

What this Manual is Not

This manual is not an API reference for the iTools object classes. Reference documentation for the iTool classes, methods, and properties is located in the IDL Reference Guide.

This manual is not a complete description of the object classes that constitute the iTools component framework. We describe the object classes you will use to create new iTools, but not necessarily the building blocks from which those classes are constructed. If you desire a deeper understanding of how the component framework functions than this manual provides, you can inspect the object class definition files, which are provided in IDL .pro source code format in the itools/framework subdirectory of your IDL lib directory.

See Documented vs. Undocumented Classes for a complete explanation of our approach to documenting the iTool component framework.