Re: GraphicConverter: save in alias, alias ignored
Re: GraphicConverter: save in alias, alias ignored
- Subject: Re: GraphicConverter: save in alias, alias ignored
- From: Walter Ian Kaye <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 10:34:09 -0800
At 09:48a -0800 03/02/2004, Paul Berkowitz didst inscribe upon an
electronic papyrus:
I forgot to mention that the Apple-authorized use of the type 'alias' for
specifying the [in] parameter of save has always been wrong, wrong, wrong.
Back in OS 7, 8, 9 many people naturally assumed that meant the containing
folder - and you could actually use it that way, since another coercion
would allow it.
Huh? Containing folder? I've never heard that in ten years of AS.
How could anyone assume alias=folder? That's not natural...
Oh, do you mean because it already exists? But one could always
create the file first via 'open for access' and then that could be
referenced as an alias. Therefore there's still no reason to assume
the containing folder. I can understand *asking* if the containing
folder was meant, but I cannot understand *assuming* it was meant.
After all, 'store script' always required a preexisting file to
already have a resource fork, so "preparing" a preexisting file could
not have been a foreign concept. But it's hard to remember back ten
years...
In the early days of OS X, some of the Apple apps actually used 'Unicode
text' as the type for the [in] parameter. Of course some of them (TextEdit)
also required a POSIX path back then! (OS 10.0, 10.1.) I thought the use of
Unicode text was helpful and honest, leading you to doing the right thing -
even if it glided over the fact that a coercion would take pace. At least it
works. Now they've all gone back to using 'alias' in their Dictionaries,
which is not only a coercion, but doesn't work. I don't understand why the
Standard Suite still insists that the [in] parameter of 'save' requires
'alias'. That's just plain wrong.
Well, 'alias' in dictionaries has always been rather loose. For the
'open' command, 'alias' also covered a list of aliases, since we
could always open multiple documents at once. If it's loose for
'open', it's a safe bet that it's loose for 'save' as well. OK not
really safe, but still the way to bet. ;)
-boo
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