Re: Choose File Limited by File Extension OR Type ???
Re: Choose File Limited by File Extension OR Type ???
- Subject: Re: Choose File Limited by File Extension OR Type ???
- From: "John C. Welch" <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:17:30 -0400
- Thread-topic: Choose File Limited by File Extension OR Type ???
Title: Re: Choose File Limited by File Extension OR Type ???
On 4/24/08 1:30 PM, "Houston, Brad" <email@hidden> wrote:
On a similar topic, what happened to the concept of the "creator".
My problem is dealing with eps files (still Type = “EPSF”), in the tens of thousands, some of which are Photoshop raster images, some of which are Illustrator vector art. Since the Mac OS has been "dumbed down" to UNIX, and must now rely on what arbitrary extension someone chooses to stick on a file instead of "knowing" what app created the file, reliability is shot. Add the complication of an general and seemingly irrevocable "open all files of this type" override possibility, and even the applications that created the files sometimes don't know what to do with them. When I check the creator on any random file it's equal odds it's going to say "ART5" (illustrator), "8BIM" (Photoshop), "vgrd", or "", regardless of what it really is, and everything tries to open in Illustrator CS2.
First, it’s not irrevocable, and fixing/changing the default for certain kinds of applications while not as obvious as it could/should be, is not rocket science either.
Secondly, while not as programmatically and visually elegant as file type/creator codes, extensions have two critical advantages for humans:
- They are obvious, i.e. right there, not hidden away in invisible metadata.
- They are easily changed, i.e., you don’t need special tools, i.e. ResEdit.
They aren’t as flexible as file type/creator codes to be sure, but they aren’t nearly as bad as most people want them to be. As well, with Mac OS X 10.4, Apple added another way to identify files, the UTI, which is more flexible than either extensions or Mac OS 9 - style metadata, but it will take ISVs a bit longer to implement them correctly.
But at least I can change an extension without needing programmer tools.
--
"Microsoft is actually a secret Ferengi-Klingon alliance designed to cripple the Federation. The Ferengi are doing the marketing and the Klingons are writing the code."
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