Re: FinderExtras Folder

[amorton@ee.mu.OZ.AU (Anthony Morton)]

In article <phandel.2s73@sempco.uucp> Peter Handel, phandel@sempco.uucp writes:
> I heard from someone that it's VERY unsafe to put stuff in the FinderExtras
> folder instead of just dumping it into the System.Setup dir.
>
Yes and no.  It depends whether the 'stuff' is billed as a Finder Extension,
an Init (such as IR) which can be used as a Finder Extension, or an Init
(such as Desktop Utilities) which is supposed to remain in the system for all
time and not just while the Finder's running.  The first two can be run
safely from FinderExtras; the third will almost certainly cause problems.

In article <1994Jun19.234134.21542@gallant.apple.com> David A Lyons <dlyons@apple.com> writes:
> [same point made in a different way]
>
>In hindsight, it would have been less confusing to load only Finder
>Extensions from Finder.Extras, and force users to change the filetype
>if they wanted to put a permanent-init into Finder.Extras.
>
I mentioned the case of IR above.  This handy init works equally well as a
Finder Extension (run from FinderExtras, doesn't occupy space in your system
while the Finder's not active), or as a Permanent Init (run from System.Setup
with a utility that sends finderSaysBeforeOpen requests from other programs).
Utilities such as IR raise an important philosophical question in relation to
Dave's point above: are they 'really' Permanent Inits or Finder Extensions?
My answer would be that they are both, and this is probably the reason why the
Finder loads both Finder Extensions *and* any Permanent Inits it finds in the
FinderExtras folder.  Contrariwise, I take it that GS/OS ignores any Finder
Extensions it finds in System.Setup when it loads inits at boot time.


Tony Morton (amorton@ee.mu.oz.au)
Electrical Engineering Masters student & diehard IIGS lover
University of Melbourne, Australia