On 12/1/08 at 10:27 PM, Lois Butler <[log in to unmask]> spake thusly: >John, > >PageMaker was originally made by Aldus for the Mac, where file >extensions really did not matter. In the late 80's they >expanded to the PC world where extensions are everything. > >You did not say what version you were running, but you can try >'apd' as that was the extension of the PM binary files. > >You can always stick your own extension on it and at the end, >look for any file with that extension and run your script to >add the Mac fileType info back in. > >Lloyd > >From: Mark Lively <[log in to unmask]> >Date: December 1, 2008 6:41:47 PM EST >Subject: Re: help with resource forks... > > >Ah.. its not that the resource fork is missing, its that the >file type is being lost. If the files have the proper >extension then the OS should be able to recreate it on its >own. No idea of what it should be though. This assumes you are using Mac OS X for an operating system. If the file travels from a Mac to a Windows PC server to a Mac and the file isn't zipped then the resource fork IS being stripped assuming it had one to begin with (Satimage.osax can tell you). Windows has no concept of a Mac forked file and will split off the resource fork as a separate entity. You can see this using a flash drive that's in Windows format to transfer files from one Mac to another unzipped. Zipped (.zip, .sit, .dmg and several other formats) files can traverse a PC or Windows format flash drive or the internet with no loss of integrity because they are flat files. File type code (kMDItemFSTypeCode), creator code (kMDItemFSCreatorCode) and file kind (kMDItemKind) are kept in the file's metadata and might survive an unzipped transfer though I've not tested it. (See: <x-man-page://mdls>) However, they may or may not contain data or even exist. The application's author decides whether or not to include that data by default when writing the app as they are no longer required, you can add some data yourself if needed. Note: if a forked file is transferred (as above) and the resource fork is stripped then 99% of the time the transferred file will be made unusable regardless of it's file type and creator codes. The Mac knows what a forked file is and will balk if the resource fork is missing or damaged. Given no existing file and creator codes, the file's extension and/or kind may be used to decide which app opens it but even that's not iron clad. UTI's (kMDItemContentType & kMDItemContentTypeTree) may also be in the mix and can change how a file is handled. That said, if your file doesn't have an extension, it's a good idea to give it one. What really determines which app opens a file is the Launch Services Database according to whatever info it has about the file and about the various applications on the machine. There is a nice preference pane available that can help with determining which app opens a file <http://www.rubicode.com/Software/RCDefaultApp/>. Probably the best way to trouble-shoot is to send the file in a zipped format and see if it opens correctly when unzipped on the other end, if it does, problem solved. If not, use the mdls command in terminal on both the original and transferred files to see what if any differences show up in the metadata. Use the DefaultApp Pref.Pane to compare the setup on both machines and change the oddball one as necessary. Check the version numbers of the applications being used, are they the same? If not, update the oldest one. Check each file's permissions and ACLs (<x-man-page://acl>) to see if they've changed. If the file still won't open correctly, you may have a corrupt Launch Services Database. You can delete them (the various users & the system all have one) and the Mac will rebuild them over time. This can be an excruciating pain in the butt depending on what you have on your Mac. It is kin to but not quite the same as rebuilding the Desktop on pre Mac OS X operating systems. Do this only as an absolutely last resort because you lose any file associations you've made (via get info), info on files downloaded from the internet, etc. Your Mac will keep you busy for days re-building this info and Mac OS X 10.5.x is more irritating about it than the older versions. John -- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. -Arthur C. Clarke