Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!portal!cup.portal.com!ts
From: ts@cup.portal.com (Tim W Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: How do I get creator strings assigned to me?
Message-ID: <33880@cup.portal.com>
Date: 14 Sep 90 04:44:19 GMT
References: <9159@potomac.ads.com>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 26

It's always seemed to me that there must be a better way to get
file types and resource types than asking Apple.

How about some sort of algorithmic method to generate them?
For example, let's make the assumption that the only people
who deserve to own file types, creator types, and resource
types are people who own a Macintosh.

From the serial number of the Mac, a number is derived.  This
number would be 1 for the first Macintosh produced, 2 for
the second, and so on (serial numbers on the backs of the
machines have some other information in them, so Apple would
have to tell us how to map serial number to a manufacturing
order count).

The person who owns Mac #N is allowed to use types

	(N<<4) + i,	0 <= i <= 15

An alternative approach, which assumes that people who need
to define types should have AppleLink accounts, would assign
to the owner of AppleLink account Dnnnn type of the form

	(nnnn << 16) + i,	0 <= i <= 256

					Tim Smith