Re: A probably dumb question:

[Tony Cianfaglione <ab616@chebucto.ns.ca>]

I tried to send you a reply but your email address is no good.

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On Sun, 30 Dec 2001, Bart wrote:

> Speaking as an old mainframer who followed the PC path before conversion to 
> the TRUE RELIGION of Apple II I have a question on file type and associations:
> 
> In the PC world, the 3 letters after the period denote the file "type".  This 
> can be misleading in that a say gif or exe (picture or runable binary in PC 
> land) might be given a "type" of txt (ASCII text file) for example.  Attempt 
> to open it in a  ASCII reader like Notepad and gibberish is the reward. 
> This brings me (almost) to the question:  If a file is created in say 
> Coolwriter, and is a standard ASCII file, it may, or may not open in say 
> AppleworksGS.  In like manner a jpg may or may not open in a picture viewer 
> (name one here) 
> 
> In the Mac World (note I still have not got to the question?), if you click a 
> file and the system doesn't know what it is, you get a nice dialoge asking: 
> "Hey human!  where the heck is the app that you use on this?"  On the GS 
> mostly I get a not so nice dialoge that says "An Application can't be found 
> for this document". 
>  
> FINALLY A QUESTION! 
> 
> Is there any product that will allow you to  use Application "B" to open a 
> file created in Application "A" by just "associating it WITHOUT HAVING A COPY 
> OF APPLICATION A?  What I mean is;  I see a file with a nice pleasant icon 
> denoting:  "Wow!  sone really cool app. must have created this file (at least 
> the icon is pretty)"  but when I click I get the nastygram above, no file as 
> pretty as its icon.  If I go the other way around: "Humm...I THINK this is an 
> ASCII file, launch Coolwriter and see if it can open it,  now, what folder was 
> that sucker in again?"... I can usually open it, but that system is based on a 
> very uncertain utility:  my memory of files and file type openers (and from 
> the app's file/open navigator, remembering where I left that dang file!). 
> 
> I want something as easy as in PC land "humm,  excel wont open this puppy, 
> let's change the extension to "doc" and see what happens!" or a quickie thing 
> that asks "Now human, I am smart, but I am not THAT smart!  Where exactly did 
> you leave that copy of Appleworks?" Is there anything like that in the Apple 
> II world?
> 
> Thank'ee for reading and for any subsequent answers to this dumb question
> 
> -Bart 
> Keeper of the Network from Heck 
> 
> 
>