It is important to equate MacWorkStation exec modules with FKEYs, HyperCard XCMDs, or INITs, not desk accessories. This understanding leads directly to some of the answers below.
1) Question: Can I use SADE to debug my MacWorkStation exec modules?
Answer: Currently, SADE cannot be used for debugging code segments, like MacWorkStation exec modules, FKEYs, or XCMDs.
2) Question: Can I override MWS for mouse down events that are external to my_exec window contents?
Answer: The Mouse command is only passed when a mouse down event occurs in the exec's window. You may be able to trap some of the mouse down events, only if you don't want to handle the event yourself, by trapping all sends and passing them through. However, this works only for those events that MacWorkStation determines it needs to generate a message to the host. A different option would be to implement an event loop in an exec module that trapped all of the events and then somehow caused MacWorkStation to deal only with specific events. This would definitely not be a trivial task.
3) Question: For the grow window instruction, can I define size_rec?
Answer: This problem is similar to the one above in that MacWorkStation 3.0 does not provide access to this mechanism. This makes the process of intercepting and modifying this information difficult and likely to break in future releases of the product.
4) Question: Are exec construction rules the same as DAs in that the global data segment must = 0? If so, can I defeat some select global QuickDraw variables, such as ldgray and others?
Answer: Exec modules are restricted to a size of 32K, and they cannot access global data.
5) Question: I have written an exec that does not have a window. When a user generates a menu event, I trapped dosend, looked up record tp_exec_ref, and found that the xEvent field is 0 and has not recorded the modifier key.
Answer: xEvent is filled out only for the Active, Key, and Mouse commands passed to the Exec module.