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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Operating System
File Icons & Associations confusion
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<blockquote data-quote="markwm" data-source="post: 191936"><p>I just cannot seem to grasp the concept of icons and file associations under</p><p>Tiger. Here are my experiences.</p><p></p><p>I have 3 basic text editors installed.</p><p></p><p>TextEdit</p><p>Taco HTML Edit</p><p>Smultron</p><p></p><p>In each program I create and save a simple .txt file, naming each one the</p><p>same as the app it came from. The results are as follows</p><p></p><p>textedit.txt (blank icon, opens with Taco)</p><p>taco.txt (blank icon, opens with Taco)</p><p>smultron.txt (smultron icon, opens with Taco)</p><p></p><p>Now, all these files open with Taco because previously I did a "change all"</p><p>on a txt file so that all .txt files open with Taco. That makes sense. The</p><p>*reason* why the icons are all different is something I cannot grasp.</p><p></p><p>If I look inside the TextEdit.app package eventually I get to this icon file</p><p>" /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/Resources/txt.icns " & "</p><p>/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/info.plist " contains the reference to</p><p>that icon file, associating it with ".txt" and ".text" extensions. So this</p><p>means, if I change .txt files so that they all open with TextEdit, all my</p><p>.txt files will be given the icon that is contained within the TextEdit</p><p>Application for txt and text files. However, if this is the case with</p><p>TextEdit, then why above does my "smultron.txt" file have a smultron icon?</p><p>surely if it does then the .txt file created with TextEdit should also have</p><p>an icon, the "txt.icns" as described above?</p><p></p><p>If I do another "change all" so that all .txt files now open with TextEdit,</p><p>after a finder relaunch(why do I gotta relaunch all the time?) all three</p><p>icons change to txt.icns TextEdit Icons and all open with Text Edit. Now, if</p><p>I save the same 3 files again. Here's what I get.</p><p></p><p>textedit.txt (txtEdit icon, opens with TextEdit)</p><p>taco.txt (txtEdit icon, opens with TextEdit)</p><p>smultron.txt (txtEdit icon, opens with TextEdit)</p><p></p><p>OK, now this is better. But if I go back and "Change All" again so that all</p><p>.txt files open with Taco", after another finder relaunch I see my icons</p><p>have gone back to the way they were to start with, ie, every icon is blank</p><p>except smultron.txt</p><p></p><p>Anyone willing to try and explain what exactly is going on? please...?</p><p></p><p>-------------</p><p></p><p>This brings me onto another point. I have Both "Pages" & "TextEdit" on my</p><p>system that I use to create Word documents, (.doc). Both these programs</p><p>don't have an icon associated with word documents, so everytime I save a</p><p>.doc file from either program I get a blank icon, unless I have a program on</p><p>my system that is the default app for .doc files such as MS Word, which</p><p>obviously will mean word files have an icon, but I don't have word, so I'm</p><p>stuck with blank icons.</p><p></p><p>If I want to assign an icon to .doc files I have to go into the pages or</p><p>textedit package, edit the "info.plist" file and create my "word-doc.icns"</p><p>file, as described here</p><p><a href="http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040809000710242" target="_blank">http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040809000710242</a></p><p></p><p>I could have a hundred different apps that I use to open word docs, is there</p><p>not a better way to assign a system wide icon for .doc files rather than</p><p>ther application specific method above?</p><p></p><p>regards</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="markwm, post: 191936"] I just cannot seem to grasp the concept of icons and file associations under Tiger. Here are my experiences. I have 3 basic text editors installed. TextEdit Taco HTML Edit Smultron In each program I create and save a simple .txt file, naming each one the same as the app it came from. The results are as follows textedit.txt (blank icon, opens with Taco) taco.txt (blank icon, opens with Taco) smultron.txt (smultron icon, opens with Taco) Now, all these files open with Taco because previously I did a "change all" on a txt file so that all .txt files open with Taco. That makes sense. The *reason* why the icons are all different is something I cannot grasp. If I look inside the TextEdit.app package eventually I get to this icon file " /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/Resources/txt.icns " & " /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/info.plist " contains the reference to that icon file, associating it with ".txt" and ".text" extensions. So this means, if I change .txt files so that they all open with TextEdit, all my .txt files will be given the icon that is contained within the TextEdit Application for txt and text files. However, if this is the case with TextEdit, then why above does my "smultron.txt" file have a smultron icon? surely if it does then the .txt file created with TextEdit should also have an icon, the "txt.icns" as described above? If I do another "change all" so that all .txt files now open with TextEdit, after a finder relaunch(why do I gotta relaunch all the time?) all three icons change to txt.icns TextEdit Icons and all open with Text Edit. Now, if I save the same 3 files again. Here's what I get. textedit.txt (txtEdit icon, opens with TextEdit) taco.txt (txtEdit icon, opens with TextEdit) smultron.txt (txtEdit icon, opens with TextEdit) OK, now this is better. But if I go back and "Change All" again so that all .txt files open with Taco", after another finder relaunch I see my icons have gone back to the way they were to start with, ie, every icon is blank except smultron.txt Anyone willing to try and explain what exactly is going on? please...? ------------- This brings me onto another point. I have Both "Pages" & "TextEdit" on my system that I use to create Word documents, (.doc). Both these programs don't have an icon associated with word documents, so everytime I save a .doc file from either program I get a blank icon, unless I have a program on my system that is the default app for .doc files such as MS Word, which obviously will mean word files have an icon, but I don't have word, so I'm stuck with blank icons. If I want to assign an icon to .doc files I have to go into the pages or textedit package, edit the "info.plist" file and create my "word-doc.icns" file, as described here [url]http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040809000710242[/url] I could have a hundred different apps that I use to open word docs, is there not a better way to assign a system wide icon for .doc files rather than ther application specific method above? regards [/QUOTE]
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