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From: jkeegan@hawk.ulowell.edu (Jeff Keegan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: System 7 aliases and grouping
Message-ID: <1991May30.010128.6121@ulowell.ulowell.edu>
Date: 30 May 91 01:01:28 GMT
References: <5001@ryn.mro4.dec.com>
Sender: usenet@ulowell.ulowell.edu (News manager)
Organization: University of Lowell Computer Science, Lowell MA
Lines: 57

In article <5001@ryn.mro4.dec.com> long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com (Rich Long) writes:
>
>In article <1991May28.224445.29017@amd.com>, ching@brahms.amd.com (Mike Ching) writes...
>> 
>>I've also found that grouping an application with a document and double-
>>clicking on one of them does not open the document in the selected application
>
>Yes, I've noticed that too. The replacement mechanism is to drag the file(s)
> on top of the application (until the application's icon highlights). The
> types of files an application can handle are I think determined by it's BNDL
> resource. I hope someone else can elaborate on that.
>
>Richard C. Long | long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com            | Selfware: If you like
>--------------- | ...!decwrl!mcntsh.enet.dec.com!long | this program, send
>A First Edition | long%mcntsh.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com | yourself five bucks!

(Sorry I missed the first signature)

Well, here's a slight elaboration, though not as good as I could have done at
home with Inside Macintosh VI at my hands..

The system checks a special resource (if I remember correctly, but maybe it 
was just the bundle resource) in the applications available to see if they
support the type.  It isn't done from the actual applications, though, it's
done from the database that is made when a disk is checked during a system-7
boot (after using system 6). Someone correct me if I remembered that completely
wrong...

But the reason I bothered posting a followup with such little solid knowledge
is because I wanted to mention an extension on ftp.apple.com (I actually
prefer calling it bric-a-brac.apple.com, but I may have misspelled(sp?) that
version) called Understudy that allows you (WITHOUT changing any applications)
to specify what types of files a specific application can handle (for the 
drag-a-document-icon-onto-an-application-icon operation).  It also allows you
to specify what program will open a file type if the actual creater application
isn't found (for instance, set SoundEdit as the default for all FSSD-type
sound files made with SoundWave and Micro-something (what WAS that program
called??).. If you double click on the document and SoundWave, for instance,
wasn't available, an alert comes up asking about whether or not you'd like
to use SoundEdit instead (since the original was missing)..

This feature of the System 7 (initially provided with System-7 compatible
applications only (like the new TeachText)), was something I was waiting,
expecting, and hoping for in System-7....

..Jeff Keegan

p.s.  A word of warning.. There is as of now no user interface for Understudy
(at least not to my knowledge).  You must have ResEdit to use it effectively.

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| Jeff Keegan                | I clutch the wire fence until my fingers bleed |
| jkeegan@hawk.ulowell.edu   | A wound that will not heal                     |
|----------------------------| A heart that cannot feel                       |
| This space intentionally   | Hoping that the horror will receed             |
| left blank                 | Hoping that tomorrow we'll all be freed  -RUSH |
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