Recognizing Filetypes

[mmatus]

Hi All!

How does Mac OS 9.2 recognize a type of a file? Where is this information to find in the system / file to that particulary file?

The problem because I need it is dataloss after a HDD crash.
We could save project data but cannot get it work in Final Cut Pro.
Any idea... ?

[I would also need a structure description of the Final Cut Pro 2 Project file. Please help me if you can or give any idea how I can get it.]

Thanks!
Mark

 

[davidbrit2]

I can offer a little bit of information. Hopefully it will get you started in the right direction.

In the HFS filesystem (the one that the Macintosh uses,) each file has a pair of four character codes: the type and creator. The creator code is unique to each application, and the type code is used by the application to let it know what sort of file it is. For instance, Quicktime Player would use this to tell the difference between an MPEG, MP3, WAV, AIFF, etc. The system software keeps a database of applications and associated creator codes in the Desktop file. This is used to launch the correct application when you double click a document in the Finder.

In OS X, if you've installed the Developer Tools, you can use SetFile and GetFileInfo from the Terminal to manipulate these type and creator codes. They are located in /Developer/Tools/.