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From: lai@Apple.COM (Ed Lai)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Text file madness on the Mac.
Message-ID: <37651@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 6 Jan 90 17:11:34 GMT
References: <2706@aecom.yu.edu> <5900@ncar.ucar.edu> <1998@eric.mpr.ca> <5915@ncar.ucar.edu> <8315@cbnewsm.ATT.COM>
Distribution: na
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 55

In article <8315@cbnewsm.ATT.COM> mls@cbnewsm.ATT.COM (mike.siemon) writes:
>
>On my Mac (of which I am quite fond, by the way) an application *either*
>
>   - creates files in a special form, saying "mine, mine;" [like an excited
>     and possessive Daffy Duck] "nobody else can use this!" -- unless they
>     build in an infinity of "conversion" routines or one has a program/DA
>     doing nothing but conversions
>

My original purpose of posting a reply is what I am going to say later. But
when I read about this I must say that a program/DA that does nothing but
conversions is a neat idea, and I have spent a lot of my own time working on
that.

>*or*
>
>   - creates files in a "generic" format like TEXT or MacPaint or suchlike;
>     and then *nobody* can use it, without going through some such nonsense
>     as locating an application, invoking it in some utterly useless state
>     closing *that* state and hunting through some menus to get back to the
>     file you started with and are interested in.

[lines deleted]

>You can specify an arbitrary file, and get the application (if any) it is
>associated with.  You can specify an arbitrary application and get any files
>it (thinks it) is prepared to cope with.  But you cannot specify an arbitary
>file and an arbitrary application TOGETHER.  A new application may know all
>sorts of neat conversions to operate on earlier kinds of output; the older
>applications are then practically guaranteed to be unable to cope with the
>output of the new one.
>

If you want to specify an arbitary file and an arbitrary application TOGETHER,
first put them in the same folder in they are not already in the same folder,
then select both, then launch. As an example, if you have a text file generated
by MPW, and you want to view it from TeachText, just select both and launch.
You will then be looking at the MPW text file from TeachText. I think if more
people know about this. A lot of the discussion on Text file maddness would
go away.

Back to what I said earlier, I think an independent utility that handles data
conversion is the correct way to go. How else can an old application understand
a new type of data? Of course this does not mean that it cannot be made more
transparent, so that on seeing a data it cannot understand, it would automatically
try to invoke  the utility to try to convert it to something it can understand.

/* Disclaimer: All statments and opinions expressed are my own */
/* Edmund K. Lai                                               */
/* Apple Computer, MS75-6J                                     */
/* 20525 Mariani Ave,                                          */
/* Cupertino, CA 95014                                         */
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