37.8. Mac OS Toolbox Modules — Python 2.7.18 documentation

This document is for an old version of Python that is no longer supported. You should upgrade and read the Python documentation for the current stable release.

# 37.8. Mac OS Toolbox Modules

These are a set of modules that provide interfaces to various legacy 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

Note

Most of the OS X APIs that these modules use are deprecated or removed in recent versions of OS X. Many are not available when Python is executing in 64-bit mode. The Carbon modules have been removed in Python 3. You should avoid using them in Python 2.

## 37.8.1. `Carbon.AE` — Apple Events

## 37.8.2. `Carbon.AH` — Apple Help

## 37.8.3. `Carbon.App` — Appearance Manager

## 37.8.4. `Carbon.Appearance` — Appearance Manager constants

## 37.8.5. `Carbon.CF` — Core Foundation

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

## 37.8.6. `Carbon.CG` — Core Graphics

## 37.8.7. `Carbon.CarbonEvt` — Carbon Event Manager

## 37.8.8. `Carbon.CarbonEvents` — Carbon Event Manager constants

## 37.8.9. `Carbon.Cm` — Component Manager

## 37.8.10. `Carbon.Components` — Component Manager constants

## 37.8.11. `Carbon.ControlAccessor` — Control Manager accssors

## 37.8.12. `Carbon.Controls` — Control Manager constants

## 37.8.13. `Carbon.CoreFounation` — CoreFounation constants

## 37.8.14. `Carbon.CoreGraphics` — CoreGraphics constants

## 37.8.15. `Carbon.Ctl` — Control Manager

## 37.8.16. `Carbon.Dialogs` — Dialog Manager constants

## 37.8.17. `Carbon.Dlg` — Dialog Manager

## 37.8.18. `Carbon.Drag` — Drag and Drop Manager

## 37.8.19. `Carbon.Dragconst` — Drag and Drop Manager constants

## 37.8.20. `Carbon.Events` — Event Manager constants

## 37.8.21. `Carbon.Evt` — Event Manager

## 37.8.22. `Carbon.File` — File Manager

## 37.8.23. `Carbon.Files` — File Manager constants

## 37.8.24. `Carbon.Fm` — Font Manager

## 37.8.25. `Carbon.Folder` — Folder Manager

## 37.8.26. `Carbon.Folders` — Folder Manager constants

## 37.8.27. `Carbon.Fonts` — Font Manager constants

## 37.8.28. `Carbon.Help` — Help Manager

## 37.8.29. `Carbon.IBCarbon` — Carbon InterfaceBuilder

## 37.8.30. `Carbon.IBCarbonRuntime` — Carbon InterfaceBuilder constants

## 37.8.31. `Carbon.Icn` — Carbon Icon Manager

## 37.8.32. `Carbon.Icons` — Carbon Icon Manager constants

## 37.8.33. `Carbon.Launch` — Carbon Launch Services

## 37.8.34. `Carbon.LaunchServices` — Carbon Launch Services constants

## 37.8.35. `Carbon.List` — List Manager

## 37.8.36. `Carbon.Lists` — List Manager constants

## 37.8.37. `Carbon.MacHelp` — Help Manager constants

## 37.8.38. `Carbon.MediaDescr` — Parsers and generators for Quicktime Media descriptors

## 37.8.39. `Carbon.Menu` — Menu Manager

## 37.8.40. `Carbon.Menus` — Menu Manager constants

## 37.8.41. `Carbon.Mlte` — MultiLingual Text Editor

## 37.8.42. `Carbon.OSA` — Carbon OSA Interface

## 37.8.43. `Carbon.OSAconst` — Carbon OSA Interface constants

## 37.8.44. `Carbon.QDOffscreen` — QuickDraw Offscreen constants

## 37.8.45. `Carbon.Qd` — QuickDraw

## 37.8.46. `Carbon.Qdoffs` — QuickDraw Offscreen

## 37.8.47. `Carbon.Qt` — QuickTime

## 37.8.48. `Carbon.QuickDraw` — QuickDraw constants

## 37.8.49. `Carbon.QuickTime` — QuickTime constants

## 37.8.50. `Carbon.Res` — Resource Manager and Handles

## 37.8.51. `Carbon.Resources` — Resource Manager and Handles constants

## 37.8.52. `Carbon.Scrap` — Scrap Manager

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.

## 37.8.53. `Carbon.Snd` — Sound Manager

## 37.8.54. `Carbon.Sound` — Sound Manager constants

## 37.8.55. `Carbon.TE` — TextEdit

## 37.8.56. `Carbon.TextEdit` — TextEdit constants

## 37.8.57. `Carbon.Win` — Window Manager

## 37.8.58. `Carbon.Windows` — Window Manager constants