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

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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