ResEdit is a resource editor from Apple Computer. Resources are internal bits of code or other types of instructions that a program reads in order to function. By modifying these resources you can change the behavior of a program.
There are other resource editors available for the Macintosh as well. Our examples use ResEdit primarily because it is free, but if you want to purchase a professional level resource editor, any of them will work. One particularly good one is Resourcer from Mathemaesthetics.
If you are looking for an OS X native resource editor, we've found the open source Rezilla to be quite nice.
There are a number of modifications that can be made to the Helix programs by modifying their resources. This is the situation we inherited when we acquired the Helix product family. We are working to move these settings into a "preferences" dialog, but until that is finished, modifying the behavior of Helix in these ways requires a resource editor.
Good question. Cocoa applications do not use resources so Apple has decided to de-emphasizing ResEdit. It has virtually disappeared from Apple's web sites. Currently (July, 2001) it is found on the Developer Tools website, listed under Editing Tools and on the software downloads website. It may move from there, so if these links suddenly stop pointing to ResEdit, please let us know and we will try to locate it again.
Templates are little files that make editing specific resources easier. Resources are really just bytes of code so you can edit them without templates, but without a template, you are presented with nothing more than a string of bytecodes written in hexadecimal notation. Templates put a much more human interface on the resources.
All of the templates that we offer for editing Helix resources are found in the ResEdit folder on our ftp site.
Because this site is under construction, there are very few technotes defining how or why you should change them exist. We will be adding more technotes in the future. If you have access to Helix Express 4.5 or 4.5.1 installation disks, you can find descriptions for many of these resources in the Expert Tools folder.
Beyond that, if you have specific questions, you will have to contact our technical support department for help.
With OS 9 (Classic) applications, you can edit resources by dropping the application directly onto ResEdit. OS X native application are different, and slightly more difficult to edit.
To edit an OS X application, right-click (control-click) on the application and choose "Show Package Contents." Open the Content, then the MacOSClassic folders. There you will see "another" copy of the application. Drag this file out of the package (for example: to the desktop). You can now open this file with ResEdit and edit resources just like a Classic application. When you are done, put the file back into the MacOSClassic folder and close up the package.
Here is the complete list of resources that are available for end user modification:
| Functional in Helix 6.0 (may apply to earlier versions) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Function | ResType | ResID | Technote | Notes |
| TCP/IP Primary Port | PORT | 1 | No | Control the primary port Helix Client/Server 5.0 and later uses to establish TCP/IP communications. Client and Server must be set to the same port. |
| Modify Conditional Sequence Behavior | HCSB | 0 | Partial | Modifies the behavior of conditional sequences when errors are encountered. See the Helix 5.3 release notes for details. |
| International Resources | itlx | 0 | Yes | A collection’s itlx resources (itl0 & itl1) are set when a collection is created, using the values taken from the (Classic) System installed on the computer. |
| Modify Keyword Character Recognizer | HKWT | 1 | No | Modifies keyword field mechanism to ignore or recognize different characters. |
| Specify Location of Recover File | HRFL | 0 | No | Change location of recover file. Helix follows a built-in algorithm to determine the location of its Recover file. (also see HTMP) |
| Turn "Server is Saving" Cursor Off | HSVC | 1 | Yes | Change to "0" to disable the server saving cursor that appears on the Client. This resource only appears in the server application. Can sometimes eliminate apparently random Client crashes. |
| Adjust Century Cutoff for 2 Digit Year Entry | HY2K | 1 | No | Controls the 100 year range that 2 digit year entry is interpreted as. When a two digit year is entered, Helix interprets it as a date between Jan. 1 of the default year and Dec. 31, 99 years later. The default is 1920, making the default range Jan 1, 1920 to Dec. 31, 2019. |
| Duplicate Icon Location and Name | HSTT | 3 | No | Stores options for the duplicate icon command. You can control the offset position of the new icon, whether to append a string to the beginning or end of the name, and what string to append. By default, this resource is set to append the string copy to the end of the icon name. |
| Apple Event Control | HAEC | 1,2,3 | No | Control the maximum number of records an Apple Event can return at a time. ResID 1 is for retrieve, 2 is for add, 3 is for delete. |
| Temporary File Location | HTMP | 0 | No | Temporary files (Recover File, Data File) are placed in the invisible "Temporary Items" folder (on the volume defined by the HRFL resource if it is defined) if it is possible to do so. Change to "0" to place the files on the root level of the volume. |
| Dump Separator Control | HDSK | 0 | No | Change to "0" to prevent null separators and terminators in dumps. |
| Control Power Query Operators | HOPL | 7401- -7404 |
No | Modifies PowerQuery mechanism to ignore or recognize different query operators. |
| Adjust CMD-Period interval | HCHK | 1 | No | Changes time (in seconds) between checks for an interruption during command-period operations. |
| Helix 5.x (may apply to earlier versions) | ||||
| Function | ResType | ResID | Technote | Notes |
| TCP/IP Active | HTCP | 1 | No | Activate TCP/IP networking in Helix Client/Server 5.0. Accessed by holding Option key down while launching Helix Client or Helix Server. Obsolete in Helix 6.0 |
| Run Client and Server on One Mac | HCSM | 1 | No | Change to "1" to allow a Client to visit a Server which is running on the same machine. See release notes for 4.5.5 for more info Obsolete in Helix 6.0 |
| Client Caching | HCLT | 1 | No | Change to "1" to turn client cache on and "0" to turn it off. In 4.5.5 the default is 0, in 5.0 the default is 1. |
| Use Temporary Memory | HDTM | 1 | No | Change to "0" to prevent Helix from using temporary System memory during saves. Improves performance and reduces long saves on Macs with a lot of free RAM. Default in 4.5.5 is "1" (on) and Default in 5.0 is "0" (off) |
| Printer Timeout Avoidance | HPTO | 0 | No | Helix tries to avoid LaserWriter printer time outs if this is set to "1". May cause Helix to print a blank page occasionally. |
| Thermometer Chunking Value | HTHU | 5000 | No | Controls how often Helix checks for an interruption (command-period) during a thermometer operation (such as post all, dump all, delete all, dump, load). 32767/the value stored here = the number of times the check will happen during the operation. (e.g. lower values result in more frequent checks.) |
| Document buffer & transfer size | HDOC | 1 | No | Contact technical support |
| Data Terminal Pages | HDTP | 0 | No | Contact technical support |
| Helix 4.x (may apply to earlier versions) | ||||
| Function | ResType | ResID | Technote | Notes |
| Adjust Internal Memory Caches | HCCC | 0 | No | Controls the allocation of memory between the data cache and the structure cache. Version 5.0 and later add the ability to control caches via Preferences. See release notes for more info. |
| Stack Size Linear Function. | HSSF | 0 | No | Controls the size of the stack for any memory configuation by the means of a linear function of amount of memory allocated at startup. Obsolete in Helix 5.0. |
| Memory Thread Space | HMTS | 2 | No | Obsolete |
| Fix Client that Can't See Server | HCNT | 1 | Yes | Only applies to version 4.5.5. Obsolete in Helix 5.0. |
| Fix Client that can't see Server across Zones | HZSL | 1 | Yes | Only applies to version 4.5.5. Modifying this resource is rarely needed. Obsolete in Helix 5.0. |