On Dec 12, 2011, at 9:22 AM, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
Extensions are
extensions. All the above is just interpretation. File
association is not rocket science (though it's been reinvented too many
times). The interesting exception is classic MacOS with its type/creator
codes independent of extension (and where extensions were initially
absent, though like Unix, supported as part of the file name).
I have always loved type/creator codes, and was very unhappy with Apple for
removing them in 10.6 (but I'm 10.4 forever, so I guess it's not really my
concern).
The gap was that the core OS did not provide an easy way to manipulate this
consistently, requiring a cavalcade of minitools (or a trip to ResEdit) to
set them the way you wanted. But I loved being able to force certain files to
automatically open in different apps if I wanted to, and at least for a time
OS X gave you the choice.
I second the above wholeheartedly. There was a great "Get More Info" tool that
I used when I used System 7 a lot which let you very easily set type/creator codes (as
well as all the other miscellaneous file control bits). I'll have to find that one
again, because it really was spectacular. It hooked into the finder so all you had to do
was Cmd-Opt-I.
- Dave