OS X Copy Flaw, Thumbnails in OS X, Fixing 'Generic' File Icons, Mac 512K System Disks, and More

• OS X Finder Copy Flawed
• OS X and Window XP Each Have Pros and Cons
• Thumbnails in OS X
• Fixing Generic Icons on 'Outside' JPEGs
• Mac OS X Can't Recognize Its Own JPEGs
• Mac 512K System Disks
• Tape Allows Use of HD Floppies in 400K/800K Drives

OS X Finder Copy Flawed

Hello Mr. Moore,

I'm one of those Windows users, but I also regularly use Mac OS (10.4.2 on iMac G5 1.8 GHz/1 GB). In No. 6, you mention the 'folder replace instead of merge' issue that I have frequently encountered - the first time to my great detriment as it wiped an entire data set from an application while adding new files to it requiring a reinstall and re-setup! This is where Apple had better pull its collective head out of its collective . . . (eh hem). I hate to tell them, but users regularly need to move deeply nested hierarchies of folders/files (they are that way on purpose and for a reason). This feature makes it useless. You try moving hundreds or thousands of files individually to the correct folders to avoid this problem (and it is a problem).

I have pleaded no end with GP Software to port the amazingly great Directory Opus to Mac OS X. It beats everybody, hands down. I will hear nothing of anything else since nothing else can compare (that I have encountered to date after twenty years of computing). Is there any File management software for Mac OS X that even comes close so that I can stop using Finder (or more aptly named, in these replace instances, Loser - note the double entendré)? :0)

Thank you very much,
Robert Templeton

Hi Robert,

Gak! That sounds like a nasty data meltdown. I've personally encountered nothing like that, but it does sound like an issue Apple ought to address.

I'm not familiar with Directory Opus, but your brief description of how it works brings to mind to a couple of OS X applications, particularly DEVONthink and DEVONthink Pro. Other possible candidates would be Boswell and Keep It Together (KIT).

You can read my recent review of DEVONthink Pro on Applelinks (link below).

Charles

• Link: Directory Opus
• Link: DEVONthink
• Link: Boswell
• Link: Keep It Together
• Link: Charles Moore Reviews DEVONthink Professional 1.0.1 Information Manager and Personal Database

Re: OS X Finder Copy Flawed

From Robert Templeton

Hello Charles,

I'm not too sure of these. Sound like great file organizers. Directory Opus is a file manager just like Finder or Windows Explorer. As a matter of fact, it has the option to replace Windows Explorer as the default file manager - something I do with glee... :) Directory Opus started on the Amiga many eons ago (he he), but in the past years, the company has ported to Windows (but, alas, not to Mac) and expanded its feature-set considerably. It is capable of many things (way beyond Finder or Explorer), many areas which I haven't even touched upon. For a better idea, here is the website link: http://www.gpsoft.com.au/

This software is so powerful, it is my only FTP software, the only that is used for searches, and could easily replace my image viewer (which doesn't handle all of the file formats that Directory Opus does). If it has the old Amiga capabilities - it can even look inside the file itself with complex scripting to determine the file type by internal data and launch the proper application based upon that (instead of, say, extensions).

But mostly, I want the security of moving and copying data without Finder's awkward concepts. I know that one thing that Mac OS X has that Windows doesn't is links and alias, by way of BSD. This doesn't concern me, but it may be one reason why Directory Opus has not been ported (Amigas didn't have these *nix file relations either).

I did find something called PathFinder during my search, but it doesn't currently have a copy with merge (though the author noted that it may be a feature in future).

Thanks, and I'll look more in-depth at these options provided!

Robert Templeton

• Link: PathFinder

OS X and Window XP Each Have Pros and Cons

From Ben

Hi Mr. Moore,

I've enjoyed reading your Road Warrior columns on Low End Mac [Editor's note: Moore's Road Warrior columns are published on Mac Opinion, not LEM] in the past (I used to have a 5300CS, and it was a gorgeous notebook, I wish I still had it!). I enjoyed reading your response to Russell Beattie's criticisms of OS X.

OS X was the reason I bought my iBook G4 last year - I fell in love with using the interface on the MDD G4 servers at work (Panther was the version that really got me hooked, I like it far better then even the classic Mac OS). My main system, however, is a custom built Athlon running Windows XP, which I enjoy using as well. I find good and bad things about both operating systems, but in the end I prefer OS X. The lack of viruses compared to Windows is a definite plus!

From what I read of his complaints, it seems most of them are with default software on OS X . . . and as you stated that can be rectified with plenty of freeware, shareware, and payware apps already available for Macs. At work we use iMovie to record student presentations from a FireWire-capable video camera and then replay them on an LCD projector. Our 667 MHz Titanium with 10.3.9 always does this job very smoothly; I couldn't ask for anything more from iMovie.

I appreciated your calm rebuttal of his complaints - very cool.

Ben

Thanks for your comments, Ben. Glad you enjoyed the approach.

Charles

• Link: Road Warrior

Thumbnails in OS X

From Joe Salafia

Hi Charles,

I have a quick tip for Mr. Beattie about thumbnails in XP. You can do a "select all" of the contents in a folder & control click, right click, or click on the gear icon at the top of each Finder window & choose slide show. A small tool bar will appear. You can then choose to scroll through your photos using the right & left arrows or choose to view them as an index sheet by selecting the graphic that looks like four picture frames.

Thanks Joe.

C.

Fixing Generic Icons on 'Outside' JPEGs

Responding to Sadly Mistaken Criticisms of Mac OS X by Christopher Laspa, Tuomas Rosberg writes:

I'm sorry to bother you with this, as this email is in response to discussion participant Christopher Laspa's problem.

I do not have a computer degree. I'm a loyal reader of yours.

>so why do JPEGs, for example, that come in from the 'outside' appear generic?

The answer is maybe not complete. Which part of Mac OS X handles the preferences or conversions mentioned below is not verified.

Cross platform the type of a file is determined by MIME type (or content-type) and file extension (".jpg" for example). On a Mac, file type and creator determine which app will open the file. On Mac OS X the type of a file can be set by the traditional attribute file type or file extension. These are not dependent on each other and can even conflict.

On Mac OS X Internet Config database(?) exist somewhere. It converts MIME type to Mac file type. Mac OS X Finder(?) file info has a mechanism to globally set dependency between an app and certain type of files. Because type of a file can be determined by file extension or file type, global dependency has to be set twice:

a) file type

1. Select a file which has file type set to "JPEG". It should not have file extension ".jpg".
2. In the Finder Info set the "Open with" attribute as you like.
3. You can make such a file with Apple Developer Tools installed: In Terminal, type: touch dummyFile | /Developer/Tools/SetFile -t JPEG dummyFile
4. The file appears in the working directory, your home directory if not changed in Terminal.

b) file extension

1. Select a file which has nothing as file type, and file extension should be ".jpg".
2. In the Finder Info set the "Open with" attribute as you like.
3. You can make such a file in Terminal like this: touch dummy_file.jpg
4. The file appears in the working directory, your home directory if not changed in Terminal.

To administer the Internet Config database use freeware MisFox. In File Mappings, change every MIME type image/jpeg (with various file extensions) to belong to your favorite image editor.

Works now?

Tuomas Rosberg
Finland

Thanks for the tutorial, Tuomas.

Charles

• Link: MisFox

Mac OS X Can't Recognize Its Own JPEGs

From Christopher Laspa,

Hello Charles,

Thank you very much for forwarding this response from Tuomas Rosberg. I did download MisFox and installed/set it up in a moment. I then fine tuned it for the obvious trouble spots. No problem. The program looks very much like Internet Config Control Panel from OS 9.2.2, which is also installed on my PowerBook, as I do run Classic apps as well. Those settings have been carefully tuned when I first got this PowerBook in early August of this year, and apparently they are used in OS X (or so they say!).

Funny thing is, though, I set my Screen Snap preferences to be JPEG, yet these files always show up with this generic icon, and the Cmd-i route says it will open it with <nothing> and whenever I attempt to change the setting to Photoshop and check the box "Always open with", Photoshop does indeed show up. Back at the Cmd-i window, "Change All" (to affect all of these snaps in future) reverts my efforts back to a <nothing> status. Upon closer examination of the offending file with another utility (File Properties Editor 1.12) reveals that the Type: ???? and Creator: ???? are contained in the file. That does explain a lot. This is most frustrating when the OS can't seem to recognize it's own efforts (!!) and make the connection. Perhaps this is where going into the Terminal will make the difference.

I thank you and Tuomas very much again for your input on this issue.

Regards,
Christopher M. Laspa

Mac 512K System Disks

From Stuart Bell

Dear Charles,

You wrote:

Three quick comments:

• "Why should anyone need more than 512 KB?" ;-) More seriously, please don't recommend that people upgrade; all such ancient Macs are used for pleasure, rather than work, and you can get more pleasure out of a Mac 512K than most mid-90s beige boxes.
• A quick plug for the LEM Compact Macs mailing list to solve problems like Michele's.
• Dan is wrong about 1.4 MB drives not being able to write 400 KB floppies. Any Mac with a built-in 1.4 MB floppy running Mac OS 7.x or earlier can create 400 KB floppies. SE/30s are very commonly used to generate such floppies for old Macs. See http://www.mac512.com/macwebpages/makedisk.htm

Best wishes,
Stuart

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for the information. I agree that 512Ks are quite sublime. We still have one around here somewhere that belongs to my daughter, although it hasn't been started up since the 90s, and I haven't a clue where the disks are.

Charles

Tape Allows Use of HD Floppies in 400K/800K Drives

From John Thomas

Hi Mr. Moore,

Recall you can put tape over the open hole in a 1.44M floppy to make an 800K floppy. I have one that runs 6.0.something on my Mac Plus at home. Let the Italian fellow know (I don't have his email). Also Jag's House is a good resource for this stuff.

Dr. John C. Thomas

Hi John,

Now that you mention it, I do remember the tape modification, although I also vaguely recall that there was some technical reason why it was to be discouraged. Something to do with the more dense track spacing on the 1.44M disks I think.

Charles

• Link: Jag's House

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