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From: c60c-3cf@e260-3f.berkeley.edu (Dan Kogai)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: "Symbolic links" with the finder?
Message-ID: <1990May8.015811.11073@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 8 May 90 01:58:11 GMT
References: <1433@ns-mx.uiowa.edu>
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In article <1433@ns-mx.uiowa.edu> jlhaferman@l_eld09.icaen.uiowa.edu (Jeffrey Lawrence Haferman) writes:
>I have all my applications in a folder called "Applications."

	That's not a good idea--applications like Think (Lightspeed) C and
a lot of other applications need more than applications themselves.  Better
make a folder for each application (or group of similar applications)
and put all related files in it, Word4 folder for MS Word and dictionaries,
for example.

>How can I launch a given application when I am deep
>down in some folder far far away from "Applications"?

	That is one of the shortcoming of MacOS but such application/INITs
as Quickey|OnQue|Blackbox is there to resolve that shortcoming.  With
5000 files in my 140Mb HD, I rarely use finder these days except when I feel
like seeing Oscar sings happily.

>I know there are a lot of launching programs out there,
>I have been using the "Disktools" DA for this, but what
>I really would like is some sort of mechanism like
>a symbolic link provides in the Unix environment,
>ie create a link to an application in the "Applications"
>folder.
>
>Know what I mean?

	I know what you mean.  Symlink is one of the greatest features of
BSD Unix.  But MacOS's implementation of file system is completely defferent
from Unix.  In Unix directory itself is file.  Not MacOS.  But fRefNum and
inode is similar concept and maybe one can implement a init that extends Finder
and File Manager to deal with symlink.  Finder will have "link to..." menu
and creats file that holds fRefNum|folder that links to or modifies Destop
file.  And the ICN# that looks like "->" will be added, too.  File type is
of course, "SLNK".
	BTW.  Disktools has problem launching program under Multifinder.
I have it and use a lot but I don't use its feature.  I use OnQue instead.

---
##################  Dan The "I grok therefore I am God" Man
+ ____  __  __   +  (Aka Dan Kogai)
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##################              has nothing 2 do w/ whatever I post, ThanQ.