Tornado 2.04 API

Last updated: 15 March 2009 19:01:53 -0000

"Let's do things a bit differently" - Niall Douglas, 1998

Introduction

This documentation reflects the ongoing work on Tornado II - this documentation reflects Tornado version 2.04.

The Tornado concept originated on Acorn RISC-OS but since has moved to a portable platform - see the tornado website for more information. As a result, tornado replaces the whole look and feel of a host platform with that of its own which is consistant between ports.

Tornado is an exceptionally powerful platform for which to write and use, but this introduces a number of caveats which can cause problems for uninitiated programmers and users. Essentially, tornado is neither easy to use nor easy to program for - however it is exceptionally productive to use and program for ie; while the learning curve is steep, once learnt you will find you can get many times the amount of work done during a period of time than on any other system currently available. You may find more information on tornado's conceptual theory here (coming soon).

The Tornado API

Including the tornado.h header file creates a number of objects to use. All these objects rely on the tornado defined quantities, which are:

• s32: signed thirty-two bit container
• u32: unsigned thirty-two bit container
• s16: signed sixteen bit container
• u16: unsigned sixteen bit container
• s8: signed eight bit container
• u8: unsigned eight bit container

In addition, the use of char * is not allowed although its use cannot be removed altogether due to the limitations of C++. Use TCore_String instead. Use of any other API's or containers than those defined by tornado will impair tornado portability between platforms  - you have been warned!

The Tornado II API consists of a number of modules, all of whose names are based on <module name>_<part name>:

• TCore
  The Tornado II Core module provides a number of useful classes mainly used by the rest of the tornado sources but are also available for your code to use:
  • Angle
  • Colour
  • Error
  • Rectangle
  • String
  • u32
  • Miscellaneous
• TGDI
  The Tornado II GDI module provides graphics support classes which utilise the host operating system to provide fast efficient graphic operations. These include vector as well as bitmap operations:
  • Area
  • Bitmap
  • DataStreamHelper
  • Miscellaneous
• TInternational
  The Tornado II international module provides translation support for non-English languages which allows international applications to be easily generated:
  • MapString
• TKernel
  The Tornado II kernel module is the fundamental core of Tornado II. It provides all the core facilities which makes tornado what it is, including data stream and multithreading:
  • DataStream
  • Dispatch
  • Program
  • Thread
• TMemory
  The Tornado II memory module replaces the C++ memory handling system:
  • Miscellaneous
• TWimp
  The Tornado II Wimp module (WIMP stands for Window Icon Menu Pointer) provides much of the user interface support used by tornado applications:
  • Menu
  • Window