Sometimes, if your Mac doesn't recognize a file type as something that one of its programs can handle, or if you want a specific file type to always open in a specific program, Mac OS X Lion might need a little help from you. Mac OS X Lion lets you specify the application in which you want to open a document in the future when you double. Microsoft Windows uses the filename extension (which is required) to determine a file's type. Apple's Mac OS X uses the filename extension (if present) and in addition uses the file type and creator codes (if present) stored in the catalog entry for the file. Change default application for file name extension on Mac - Using Apple Finder to change change default application for file type. Mac OS X works with the following file extensions: Note: You can click on any file extension link from the list below, to view its detailed information. You can also use Apple Photos to save book, calendar, and card projects in PDF format for easy sharing with others. BMP is a popular graphics file format used on Windows-based PCs. If you use a PC.
Mac Creator Signature and File Types in Revolution/LiveCode
(For use with the fileType and stackFileType properties)
by Devin Asay
Creator Signatures and File Types
The Mac Classic operating system used four-character codes to keep track of what application should be used to open specific files and what type of files applications could open. A unique creator signature was assigned to every application and any file could store a creator code in its resource fork. The OS maintained a database of which creator codes matched which applications, so that when the user double-clicked a file, the OS would look up the creator code in its database and launch the proper application. Similarly, every file could have a file type code assigned to it. For example, plain text files were type 'TEXT' and MS Word documents were 'WDBN'. Application writers could tell their applications which types of files it could open. So many different applications could open TEXT files, but very few could open WDBN files.
When Mac OS X came along it had the ability to determine appropriate applications for launching files by looking at the file's extension, as had been done in the DOS, UNIX and Windows world for years. In addition, Mac OS X can still recognize and match files to applications using file types and creator signatures.
Note: Beginning with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, creator codes are ignored by OS X, and have been superseded internally by Apple's Uniform Type Identifier scheme. However, setting a filetype in LiveCode can still be useful for providing support for OS X legacy systems. In any event, no harm is done by setting this property in your LiveCode projects. How to remove a mac computer virus malware spyware maintenance.
When writing files to the local file system with LiveCode on Mac systems, it is a good idea to first set the fileType global property, so that the OS will know what applications can open it. The syntax is:
Creator & type is an eight-character string composed of a four-character creator signature followed by a four-character file type. So for example, to save a PDF file assigned to be opened in Adobe Reader use
To save a PDF file to be opened in the default PDF application set in the system's preferences, use the creator signature for an unknown application, '????':
To save a movie file to be opened in QuickTime Player
If you set the fileType to empty, OS X will look at the file's extension and determine which application should open it based on the system's preferences.
Note: If you want to save a stack with a creator and file type that are different from the LiveCode default 'RevoRSTK', set the stackFileType property instead.
See the LiveCode Dictionary entries for 'fileType' and 'stackFileType' for more information.
Discovering Creator and File Type Codes
The difficulty with setting these codes is that there is no single, authoritative list available to the public. So people have resorted to maintaining lists on their own. Here is a list of commonly-used creator signature and file type codes, culled from my own experience and lists I discovered on the web:
Creator Signatures | |
| Adobe Reader | 'CARO' |
| iTunes | 'hook' |
| Any Application | 'APPL' |
| SimpleText (Classic App) | 'ttxt' |
| TextEdit (OS X App) | 'ttxt' |
| Unknown application | '????' |
| LiveCode | 'Revo' |
| BBEdit | 'R*ch' |
| TextWrangler | '!Rch' |
| TextMate | 'TxMt' |
| Photoshop | '8BIM' |
| GraphicConverter | 'GKON' |
| QuarkXpress | 'XPR3' |
| WordPerfect Mac | 'WPC2' |
| MS Excel | 'XCEL' |
| MS Word | 'MSWD' |
| Stuffit Expander | 'SITx' |
| InDesign | 'InDn' |
| Preview | 'prvw' |
| Safari | 'sfri' |
| Firefox | 'MOZB' |
| Garage Band | 'band' |
| Keynote | 'keyn' |
| Pages | 'page' |
| Numbers | 'NMBR' |
| iWeb | 'iweb' |
| Dreamweaver | 'DmWr' |
| NeoOffice | 'NO%F' |
| Real Player | 'PNst' |
| DiskImageMounter | 'ddsk' |
File type codes | |
| text file | 'TEXT' |
| 'PDF ' | |
| QuickTime movie | 'MooV' |
| MPEG video | 'MPG ' |
| MPEG2 movie | 'MPG2' |
| MPEG-4 video | 'M4V ' |
| MP3 audio file | 'Mp3 ' |
| LiveCode stack | 'RSTK' |
| HyperCard stack | 'STAK' |
| GIF file | 'GIFf' |
| PNG file | 'PNGf' |
| JPEG file | 'JPEG' |
| BMP file | 'BMPf' |
| TIFF image | 'TIFF' |
| EPS file | 'EPSF' |
| Photoshop PSD | '8BPS' |
| Mac PICT image | 'PICT' |
| MIDI music file | 'Midi |
| QuarkXpress document | 'XDOC' |
| WordPerfect Mac | 'WPD1' |
| MS Excel worksheet | 'XLS ' |
| MS Word | 'WDBN' |
| MS PowerPoint | 'PPT3' |
| Stuffit archive | 'SIT!' |
| RTF files | 'RTF ' |
| Mac snd resource | 'snd ' |
| Windows WAV file | 'WAVE' |
| AIFF file | 'AIFF' |
| µ-law sound file | 'ULAW' |
| Generic binary file | 'BINA' |
| TrueType font | 'tfil' |
| Finder | 'FNDR' |
| Flash file | 'SWFL' |
| Universal Disk Image (DMG) | 'udif' |
If you can't find the creator code you need in this list, you can get creator codes from the Info.plist in a Mac OS X application bundle. Look at the value for node CFBundleSignature.
Here are some URLs to sites where people who have tried to construct lists of common creator and file types. Since the web is constantly changing, these sites may disappear at any time.
How to fix adobe premiere pro cs6 mts audio mac. http://mail.python.org/pipermail/pythonmac-sig/2005-February/013028.html
http://www.zeusprod.com/technote/filetype.html
http://kb.iu.edu/data/aemh.html
Making Up Your Own Creator Codes
If you create your own custom applications you can still make up your own, custom creator signature. The requirements are:
- It must consist of four characters. A space is a legal character. Upper and lower case alpha characters are considered different characters.
- It cannot consist of all lower case alpha characters, which are reserved for Apple applications.
- The combination of characters must be unique.
- You should register your creator code with Apple at http://developer.apple.com/datatype. This ensures that your code does not conflict with any other registered application.
Once you have made up and registered your creator code, use it in the Signature field in the OS X settings in the LiveCode Standalone Applications Settings utility.
Making Up Your Own File Types
Apple no longer registers file type codes, but you can still create and use your own if it seems useful to do so. The rules for file type codes are roughly the same as those for creator codes. Since there is no way to register them to ensure they are unique, the best approach is to try to make up a file type that you have never encountered before. The lists included here and in the URLs above can help in this. But even if you choose to use a file type code that already exists, when you use it in conjunction with a creator code, the combination is still unique. For example, if you use LiveCode stacks as documents that your Rev application produces, you should be fine to use the 'RSTK' file type with it. Let's say your application uses a custom creator code 'FooB'. If your application creates stacks as document files for its own use, just set the stackFileType like this before you save it to disk:
set the stackFileType to 'FooBRSTK'
That will tell the OS who owns the document file and should prevent confusion should the user try to open a document file belonging to your application by double clicking it.
Using a Custom File Extension
A final caveat: if you use a custom file type and creator code, you'll be best off to also use a custom file extension. Using the previous example, if your application saves LiveCode stacks as custom documents, you should also use your own custom file extension. A document file that has the stackFileType 'FooBRSTK' but a .rev file extension may still be considered by the OS to belong to the LiveCode application, not yours. This is especially true in the Windows and Linux environments, since creator codes and file types are only used in Mac OS Classic and OS X. It is better to save your stack-as-custom-document with its own extension, like this:
Mac os high sierra format apfs. set the stackFileType to 'FooBRSTK'
save stack 'MyDoc' as '/Folder/MyDoc.foob'
Copyright © 2005 Brigham Young University
Most external hard drives are designed to work for Windows computers. So if you're trying to connect an external hard drive to a Mac, you might have to format the drive before you can use it. Here's how to do that:
How to Format a Hard Drive for Mac
Note: If you already used your external hard drive on a PC, be sure to back up any files on it. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it.
- Connect an external hard drive to your Mac. Some external hard drives need to be plugged into an outlet to work.
- Go to Spotlight Search, type in Disk Utility, and click the first option. This will open the Disk Utility app, where you will find all the internal and external drives that are connected to your Mac.
- Then click View in the top-left corner of the window and select Show All Devices.
- Click the external hard drive you want to format. You can find this on the left-hand side of the screen under External Hard Drives. For the best result, select the disk (the highest option in the external tree).
- On the top menu, click Erase. This will open a small pop-up window with a warning that erasing the drive will delete all data stored on it and that it can't be undone.
- Choose a name, format, and scheme for your drive. You can choose whatever name you want, and you should choose GUID Partition Map for the Scheme in most cases. However, you can choose between the following formats:
- Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the best option for most Mac users since it is compatible with all Macs.
- APFS (Apple File System) is only for newer Macs running macOS 10.13 or later.
- exFAT is compatible with both PC and Mac.
- MS-DOS (FAT) is also compatible with Mac and PC, but you can only transfer files smaller than 4GB.
- When you're done with providing the setup details, click Erase. This will immediately wipe the entire drive.
If you get an error message that states, 'Erase process has failed. Click done tocontinue,' don't freak out about it. This is an issue caused by Time Machine running on your externaldrive.
Mac Format Types To Print
You will need to turn off Time Machine. You can do this by opening System Preferences and unchecking the boxnext to 'Back Up Automatically'.Then click Options beside 'ShowTime Machine in menu bar.' This will open another window. Click Cancel and it will turn off the Time Machine.
After you turn off the Time Machine, redo steps 4 to 6.
How to Partition anExternal Hard Drive on Mac
If you have formattedyour drive, you can then partition the drive, which will splitthe drive into two formats. This is perfect for anyone who uses Macs and PCsand wants to transfer files between the different operating systems with anexternal drive. Here's how to do that:
- Open Disk Utility and select the drive that you want to partition. It is best to click View > Show All Devices so you can selectthe disk rather than a container.
- In the top menu, select Partition.
- Then click the plus sign at the bottom of the pie chart. Every time you click this plus sign, a new partition will becreated.
- Choose a name, format and size for each partition. You can also change the size of each of the partitions bydragging the white dots at the edge of the circle.
- Finally click Apply.
Why Partition a Hard Drive?
Partitioning an external hard drive allows youto have separate drives for Mac, PC, and any other operating system. Now youdon't have to go out and buy hard drives for every computer you use.
A partition also gives you a dedicated space foryour Time Machine back-up files or a bootable backup of your operating system.It also helps protect your data if your drive gets infected with malware, as itwould be contained within one of the partitions.
Now that you know how to format an external drive for Mac, check out our blog on the difference between an HDD and an SDD.
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