How to change file 'kind'?

Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I am trying to get my mac set up for Flash development and I would like to have .AS files open with the correct program and show up with the correct kind and icon in finder.

Unfortunately there are no good actionscript editors for mac so that's a loss (IMO), but I would like to know how to change the icon and the 'kind' of .as files. You can see in the screenshot that the kind says "AppleSingle Archive". This is not what I want; I want to specify a custom kind such as "ActionScript Document". How do I do this?

Second, how can I set the .as file icon to a custom icon of my choosing? I know that I can change the default open-with application to something like Flash CS5 but I do not want that, I want to use a custom icon.

I've tried using "Default Apps" to change these but that hasn't helped. Somehow the stupid AppleSingle UTI is linked to the .as extension. Even if that wasn't locked down there still doesn't appear to be any place to set a custom kind and icon.

Screen shot 2010-10-04 at 3.15.12 PM.png

Screen shot 2010-10-04 at 3.16.13 PM.png
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Place the file on your desktop. Right-click on the icon and click 'Get Info'. Under "Open With", click the arrow to expand and then change the field to 'Other' and select the application you'd like to associate .as files with.

2010-10-04_2033.png


Then you can use the 'Change All' button to make the association global.

To change the icon:

Mac 101: Change your icons
 
OP
S
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thank you for your reply.

I've already tried changing the "open with" property of a file using the process you described and clicking "change all". This changes the application that opens when I double click the file, the icon, and the kind, but this is not what I want though. I haven't found any good actionscript editors so I just want to open .as files with TextEdit. This is what I have it set up to do now. However choosing TextEdit makes the 'kind' revert back to "AppleSingle archive" and the icon is the ugly blank paper icon. What do I have to do to specify a custom text for kind?

As for the icons, I was able to change the icon of one .as file with the link you gave me. How can I apply this change to all the other .as files I have as well as new ones that are created?
 
OP
S
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I'm guessing that it should be pretty easy to do, I just need to know where the option to change it is located at. In Windows I can do this with 5 clicks.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
How you can do anything in Windows is irrelevant. Let's try to figure out how the Mac works.

Are you using the terms "icon" and "text" interchangeably in the last two sentences of the long paragraph above? I kind of lost what you're trying to describe.
 
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Messages
3,570
Reaction score
470
Points
83
Location
Colorado
Your Mac's Specs
Mac's
****WARNING: Be Careful in here, make back-ups etc.*****

Navigate to:
Code:
 /System/Library/CoreServices/Archive\ Utility.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist.strings



open that file in TextEdit.app (or textwrangler if you use it).

THe 2nd line from the bottom reads "AppleSingle archive" = "AppleSingle archive"

If you REALLY want to change the listed name you change the text in the second mention of it (I colored it blue here"

To change the icon..
Find the icon you want to use, and (make sure it is in .icns format, Rename it bah-as.icns and drop it in the folder before the folder you just edited… namely
Code:
 /System/Library/CoreServices/Archive\ Utility.app/Contents/Resources/


Now logout.. and back in.

Let me know if that does it for you.

****WARNING: Be Careful in here.. Make back-ups etc*****
 
OP
S
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Are you using the terms "icon" and "text" interchangeably in the last two sentences of the long paragraph above? I kind of lost what you're trying to describe.

No, I'm just saying that there are three properties of a file type that I am interested in:

-Open-with Application
-Icon
-Kind text

But the only way I've found so far to edit these is by setting the open-with application and that doesn't give me control over icon and kind.

For example, if I set the open-with to Adobe Flash CS5, I get:

Icon: A red gray and white icon from adobe.
Kind text: "Adobe CS5 Document"

But with TextEdit (which is what I want the open-with app to be):

Icon: Blank
Kind text: "AppleSingle archive"

RiDE:

Thanks for the reply, that sounds promising; I'll try that.
 
OP
S
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
****WARNING: Be Careful in here, make back-ups etc.*****

Navigate to:
Code:
 /System/Library/CoreServices/Archive\ Utility.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist.strings



open that file in TextEdit.app (or textwrangler if you use it).

THe 2nd line from the bottom reads "AppleSingle archive" = "AppleSingle archive"

If you REALLY want to change the listed name you change the text in the second mention of it (I colored it blue here"

To change the icon..
Find the icon you want to use, and (make sure it is in .icns format, Rename it bah-as.icns and drop it in the folder before the folder you just edited… namely
Code:
 /System/Library/CoreServices/Archive\ Utility.app/Contents/Resources/


Now logout.. and back in.

Let me know if that does it for you.

****WARNING: Be Careful in here.. Make back-ups etc*****

Well I guess this works (it does what I originally wanted) but it seems pretty hackish. I don't understand why .as files have this hardcoded connection to AppleSingle. Is there really no way to separate the two?
 
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Messages
3,570
Reaction score
470
Points
83
Location
Colorado
Your Mac's Specs
Mac's
Well I guess this works (it does what I originally wanted) but it seems pretty hackish. I don't understand why .as files have this hardcoded connection to AppleSingle. Is there really no way to separate the two?

Glad it helped you.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top