Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!fox!portal!cup.portal.com!Armadillo
From: Armadillo@cup.portal.com (Russ Armadillo Coffman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: How do I set the Document type?
Message-ID: <26120@cup.portal.com>
Date: 20 Jan 90 00:21:31 GMT
References: <8185@unix.SRI.COM>
Distribution: na
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 33

>The problem is, the Mac refuses to recognize the transferred
>file as a MacPaint document.  I choose Import Paint from the
>HyperCard menu & go to the folder with the document in it,
>and nothing there is recognized.  Is there a way to "tell"
>the Mac that it is a MacPaint document?

Assuming the file is indeed in MacPaint format once on your Mac disk, you
need to set its "type" field to PNTG (case sensitive). This will let the
file filters in HyperCard and other programs recognize it as a "paint" file
(the filters keep every file from showing up in the Open dialog - only valid
filetypes show).

You can do this with ResEdit and any of a number of file utilities like
DiskTop that let you edit file attributes. Open the file with such a tool
and change the "type" field to PNTG. It is not really necessary to edit the
"creator" field to that of MacPaint (MPNT) unless you want to launch
MacPaint by double-clicking the file from the desktop.

If you need to edit the picture first, any "paint" app or DA will be
able to Open it from within that program once its type is set to PNTG.
You could then copy a part of the picture to the Clipboard and paste it
into HyperCard or whatever.

If you get garbage, that probably means the conversion program didn't work
correctly. If your conversion program is storing the paint file in MacBinary
format, you'll need to use BinHex 5.0 (I think - been a while) to convert
it. Normally Mac comm programs do this automatically while receiving a file,
so you should be OK.

-Russ
Mac Guy
Sales & Mac support whiz
Still looking for MacWork