4D files would not open, problem tracked to TYPE and CREATOR 'endianess'

[Bill Hernandez-2]

OS X 10.5.6 CONTINUES TO CAUSE A PROBLEM WITH TYPE AND CREATOR

For some reason the operating system changes the TYPE and CREATOR and  
reverses them.

The problem is that when you try to open the files with the  
application that created them, the application will not allow them to  
open.

I use File Buddy all the time, and one of its many great features is  
that you can do a search for the reversed types and creators, once it  
finds all the files, in my case several thousand data files, you can  
click on the get info button,type in the correct type and creator, and  
click on the apply to all, and very quickly all the files are fixed  
and 4D will allow them to open once again.

I found a little information pertinent to this "endianess" problem,  
but no solutions. The problem for me has only been a factor on the  
Intel machines. I don't remember running into this problem ever on the  
PPC series of machines.

The extension alone will not solve the Big Endian, Little Endian  
problem. BBedit files open OK even when the type and creator are  
reversed, because generally they have a .txt, or .applescript  
extension, but the 4D databases have always relied on the correct type  
and creator, and at least through 4D v2004 they did not relie on an  
extension.

Even though the unix purists will tell you that you do not need type  
and creator, the extension is all that is required by unix documents  
in order to find the correct application, one of the weaknessses in  
this argument is that the extension alone will not allow you to launch  
the correct application for every job, particularly with images...

For many years I had many jpg, gif, etc files that I accessed on a  
regular basis, and often depending upon their use I saved them with  
different imaging applications. In certain instances, depending upon  
what they were used for, I wanted the images for a particular project  
to launch in PhotoShop, and on other projects I need them to launch in  
GraphicConverter.

The only way to do that effectively, without having to remember which  
was the correct application to use for a project after several months  
away from it, was to run a batch converter which would set the correct  
creator for all the images in the project. Sometimes different  
applications were required to handle specific images within a project.

Since they all had .jpg, .gif, .tiff extensions, and one application  
did not fit all,  changing the creator to the one best suited for the  
project was a good solution.

4th Dimension will not allow the Structure Files, nor the Data Files  
to run with the incorrect TYPE AND CREATOR, and with hundreds, or  
thousands of files still being used, this becomes a huge problem. I  
suppose I could write a small tool to track down problem files and fix  
them in the background.

                                                                                CORRECT REVERSED
4D DATA Files TYPE BAS5 5SAB
4D 2004 Structure Files CREATOR 4D06 60D4
4D 2003 Structure Files CREATOR 4D05 50D4

BBEDIT Text Files TYPE TEXT TXET
BBEDIT Text Files CREATOR R*ch hc*R

What a pain...

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[Steve Hussey]

Not on my system - 10.5.6 on a 24 inch iMac and MacBook Pro.

Steve Hussey


stevehussey@...




On May 7, 2009, at 7:49 PM, Bill Hernandez wrote:

> OS X 10.5.6 CONTINUES TO CAUSE A PROBLEM WITH TYPE AND CREATOR
>
> For some reason the operating system changes the TYPE and CREATOR  
> and reverses them.
>
> The problem is that when you try to open the files with the  
> application that created them, the application will not allow them  
> to open.


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[Bill Hernandez-2]

On May 8, 2009, at 2:01 PM, Steve Hussey wrote:

> Not on my system - 10.5.6 on a 24 inch iMac and MacBook Pro.



I am also running :

24 inch intel iMac,
17 inch intel MacBook Pro,
20 inch PPC iMac, and
several G4 OS X  Servers

At first I thought the problem was related to file transfer between  
machines, but the 24 inch intel iMac is kept isolated ?

I have found a boatload of writeups on the web referring to the  
endianess type and creator reversal problem. I run a lot of MacPorts  
stuff, but have never seen any reports on their forum. I don't know  
what the cause of the problem is ? I just know it's a nuisance. It  
should become a non issue as the Type and Creator usage is completely  
phased out. I was trying to convert some 4D 2004 structures to the 4D  
SQL 11 , and 4D SQL 11 would not have any part of it. I too a look at  
one of them with Super Get Info and spotted the reversal right away.

Luckily File Buddy found them all very quickly and did a batch replace  
of the type and creator of several dozen structure files, and I was  
then able to convert them. Most all of them after converted would not  
run as they did the last time I used them. After the conversion took  
place the Menus were all messed up. I only have a couple of them I  
would really like to save, but am not sure what will be involved. I  
have been away from 4D for about 4-5 years.

I originally posted the message in case someone else ran into the  
inability to convert 4D 2004 files, they might check the T&C.

I listed a few google finds below...

http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-80902.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness

http://developer.apple.com/search.php?q=endian&num=10&site=default_collection&
-----------------------------
Daring Fireball: How to Determine if a Certain App Is Running ...
Using the creator type is a bit geeky — plus, some processes don't  
have creator ... Starting with Mac OS X 10.4, the system's default  
Perl installation includes a ... The problem is that the PowerPC and  
680 × 0 architectures are big endian, ... the bytes comprising an  
integer appear in the reverse order on Intel. ...

CLEVER ENDIANNESS WORKAROUND FOR MAC::PROCESSES

I mentioned Tuesday that the useful Mac::Processes Perl module, which  
ships as part of Mac OS X’s Perl installation, has a few endianness-
related bugs in the version that ships with Intel-based Macs. To wit,  
creator type codes are reversed.

While writing Tuesday’s article, I considered suggesting a workaround  
that would involve checking creator types both forwards and backwards,  
and considering it a hit if you got a match in either direction.  
That’s likelyto work just fine, but too skanky a hack to endorse.

-----------------------------
Netatalk NEWS
Due to this bug the type/creator mappings in AppleVolumes.system were  
ignored, causing problems ... Won't work with OSX, the dest file gets  
deleted by OSX first. ..... A bug relating to NBP on reverse-endian  
machines has been fixed. ...

-----------------------------
SheepShaver - Classic for Intel Macs
The application type and creator codes are reversed. ... I can access  
the OSX drive of my intel machine pretty well- it shows up on the  
desktop as unix. ...
zathras.de/angelweb/blog-sheepshaver-classic-for-intel-macs.htm - 29k -

-----------------------------
LittleEndian & BigEndian issues w/filetype/creator [Archive] - The ...
12 posts - Last post: Dec 24, 2007
All file types are inverted as are file creators (old OS 9 file  
attributes). ... if file has an HFS 'type' and 'creator' add it to a  
list piped out to .... If I reverse the text in the pref... it comes  
out right. ... endian bug with ICBMs ( Intel Chip-Based Macs), is  
described here: ...
forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-80902.html - 12k - Cached -  
Similar pages

-----------------------------
[PDF] Porting Mac::Carbon to Intel


Almost all problems related to big endian vs. little endian
•Almost all endian problems related to FourCharCodes


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