Re: Open file with... option
Re: Open file with... option
- Subject: Re: Open file with... option
- From: j o a r <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 15:22:47 +0200
On Monday, August 20, 2001, at 02:33 , Sam Goldman wrote:
I'll keep looking though, I just recently discovered that OS X
applications don't use file types and creator codes, so an option like
this would be the best, I think, for OS X.
Yes, they do. The recomendation from Apple is to use both actually. Read
the "SystemOverview.pdf" for more information on this. A few relevant
snippets:
"How do I indicate document types in Mac OS X?
In Mac OS X, you indicate the type of a document by specifying two
things:
Type and creator codes stored as attributes of a file (if it is
created on an HFS or
HFS+ volume)
One or more file extensions relevant to the type (for example, .html
and .htm)
Apple recommends that your applications make use of both forms of
document
typing. If your application owns a document, you can specify both type
and creator
codes and file extensions in the information property list (Info.plist)
of the
application project"
"Files residing on HFS and HFS+ file systems have their Finder
attributes stored in a
private fork separate from both resource and data forks. These
attributes include
type and creator codes. Mac OS X maintains these attributes because they
enable the
Finder to enhance the users experience. At the same time, however,
Apple strongly
encourages developers to use file extensions as alternative means for
identifying
document types. Mac OS X does a very good job of recognizing and handling
document extensions. And, as Copy and Move Operations (page 182) in the
chapter The Finder makes clear, if you copy an HFS or HFS+ document
to a
different platform (including Web servers), file extensions help ensure
that the
documents type information is preserved."
"When a user double-clicks or otherwise tries to open a document in the
file system,
the Finder checks the documents type and creator codes (if it is an HFS
or HFS+ file)
or the documents file extension. It uses this information as a key to
look up the
application (or applications) that claims the document type."
Regards,
j o a r