Mac OS Toolbox Modules

There are a set of modules that provide interfaces to various Mac OS toolboxes. If applicable the module will define a number of Python objects for the various structures declared by the toolbox, and operations will be implemented as methods of the object. Other operations will be implemented as functions in the module. Not all operations possible in C will also be possible in Python (callbacks are often a problem), and parameters will occasionally be different in Python (input and output buffers, especially). All methods and functions have a __doc__ string describing their arguments and return values, and for additional description you are referred to Inside Macintosh or similar works.

These modules all live in a package called Carbon. Despite that name they are not all part of the Carbon framework: CF is really in the CoreFoundation framework and Qt is in the QuickTime framework. The normal use pattern is

from Carbon import AE

Warning

The Carbon modules are removed in 3.0.

Carbon.AE — Apple Events

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.AH — Apple Help

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.App — Appearance Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.CF — Core Foundation

Platforms: Mac

The CFBase, CFArray, CFData, CFDictionary, CFString and CFURL objects are supported, some only partially.

Carbon.CG — Core Graphics

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.CarbonEvt — Carbon Event Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Cm — Component Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Ctl — Control Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Dlg — Dialog Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Evt — Event Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Fm — Font Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Folder — Folder Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Help — Help Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.List — List Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Menu — Menu Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Mlte — MultiLingual Text Editor

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Qd — QuickDraw

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Qdoffs — QuickDraw Offscreen

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Qt — QuickTime

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Res — Resource Manager and Handles

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Scrap — Scrap Manager

Platforms: Mac

This module is only fully available on Mac OS 9 and earlier under classic PPC MacPython. Very limited functionality is available under Carbon MacPython.

The Scrap Manager supports the simplest form of cut & paste operations on the Macintosh. It can be use for both inter- and intra-application clipboard operations.

The Scrap module provides low-level access to the functions of the Scrap Manager. It contains the following functions:

Carbon.Scrap.InfoScrap()

Return current information about the scrap. The information is encoded as a tuple containing the fields (size, handle, count, state, path).

Field	Meaning
size	Size of the scrap in bytes.
handle	Resource object representing the scrap.
count	Serial number of the scrap contents.
state	Integer; positive if in memory, 0 if on disk, negative if uninitialized.
path	Filename of the scrap when stored on disk.

See also

Scrap Manager

Apple’s documentation for the Scrap Manager gives a lot of useful information about using the Scrap Manager in applications.

Carbon.Snd — Sound Manager

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.TE — TextEdit

Platforms: Mac

Carbon.Win — Window Manager

Platforms: Mac