Re: Need for a creator code?
Re: Need for a creator code?
- Subject: Re: Need for a creator code?
- From: "John Siracusa" <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 13:36:41 -0400
On Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 3:46 PM, Jean-Daniel Dupas
<email@hidden> wrote:
> Anyway, even if it was possible to attach an UTI to a file, you would be
> force to continue to use (nasty old fashioned) extensions for compatibility
> with other OS.
That's an argument for creating files with appropriate file name
extensions by default, but it's not an argument for making the file
name extension the canonical source for file type information in Mac
OS X, especially when a great system like UTIs already exists.
UTIs are much more flexible and powerful than extensions. They should
be the "source of truth" for file typing in Mac OS X (attached using
xattrs or a similar mechanism), and all other manifestations of file
type information (extensions, type codes) should be derived from (and
synced to) UTIs as needed, their existence only necessary as a means
of compatibility with legacy code and systems.
IOW, it's an inversion of the current policy, going from extensions as
canonical and UTIs as derived to UTIs as canonical (and actually
stored, if possible) and extensions as derived. Now, this policy
change doesn't *necessarily* imply a change in behavior from the
user's perspective. What it does do is clean up the developer's view
of file typing, as well as opening the door for much more robust and
sophisticated user-facing policies based on file type information down
the road.
-John
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