Programming Guide: Introduction

# Programming Guide

# Introduction

OpenDoc is a revolutionary technology that brings a new class of applications and documents to the Windows, Mac OS, OS/2, UNIX, and other personal-computer platforms. With OpenDoc, hardware and software developers can deliver:

- New software technologies to individual users
- Better server integration to corporate users

OpenDoc enables the creation of a new kind of software. This cooperative component software:

- Supports compound documents
- Can be customized
- Is available across multiple platforms

In doing so, OpenDoc fundamentally changes the nature of software development for personal computers.

This chapter starts with a review of the reasons why OpenDoc was created, followed by an overview of OpenDoc concepts:

- How OpenDoc documents are structured
- How OpenDoc software handles events and user interaction
- How to extend OpenDoc's capabilities
- How to ensure cross-platform compatibility for your OpenDoc software

Each of these topics is described more fully in subsequent chapters.

[ Top | Previous | Next | Contents | Index | Documentation Homepage ]