Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!raylau
From: raylau@dasys1.UUCP (Raymond Lau)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Finder 6.0 "feature" is a pain
Message-ID: <2227@dasys1.UUCP>
Date: 13 Dec 87 15:36:21 GMT
References: <4025@pucc.Princeton.EDU> <3601@hoptoad.uucp>
Organization: The Big Electric Cat
Lines: 27
Summary: What appls will open what?


There is an indirect way to specify what application will open documents of
a certain creator.  The Finder maintains this information in a resource of
type APPL id 0 in the DeskTop file.  This resource is just a list of creators,
the application and the directory ID of the application.  The list is sort of
like a LIFO thing.  The last application you've touched in the Finder...that
creator and name and dir ID will be added to the head of the list.

Thus, if you have multiple applications of the same creator, the one last moved,
etc. will be the one the Finder "sees" when you d-click on a document of that
creator.

This list also grows forever if you use DAs et al to delete files, since the
Finder can't tell that the files are gone.  Solution - rebuild desktop file,
but that also trashes the entire APPL list.

Alternatively, you can write an application to maintain the APPL list.  Such
an application might allow the user to specify which of mult applications of
same creator to use.  (Of course, when you go to the Finder and move things
around, the list will be updated)

--
Raymond Lau                       GEnie: RayLau
100-04 70 Ave.                    CIS: 76174,2617
Forest Hills, NY 11375-5133       Delphi: RaymondLau
United States of America          MacNET: RayLau
uucp: raylau@dasys1.UUCP (..{phri,cucard,bc-cis,mstan}!dasys1!raylau})