[comp.sys.mac.programmer] bundle bit on bundle-less files?

ephraim@think.COM (Ephraim Vishniac) (02/21/89)

While adding some additional tests to DeskCheck over the weekend, I
discovered that a couple of dozen files on my disk had the bundle bit
set despite lacking any BNDL, ICN#, or FREF resources.  (The largest
single group of offenders were Lightspeed C utilities.)  Can anybody
think of any legitimate use (or any use at all) for doing this?

If not, look for a new version of DeskCheck in a week or two.  It'll
have the same pathetic user interface as before, but will test for
documents and BNDL-less applications that have the bundle bit
erroneously set.

Ephraim Vishniac					  ephraim@think.com
Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214

	"Arlo Guthrie, it seems, has found what he was looking for:
		God, and the Macintosh." (Boston Globe)

Michael_mkahl_Kahl@cup.portal.com (02/25/89)

THINK C sets the bundle bit on any application it builds, even if there is no
'BNDL' resource.  This is because there have been versions of the Finder that
refuse to launch applications whose bundle bits aren't set.

For non-applications, the bundle bit is set if and only if a 'BNDL' resource
is present.

-- Mike

ephraim@think.COM (Ephraim Vishniac) (02/27/89)

In article <15092@cup.portal.com> Michael_mkahl_Kahl@cup.portal.com writes:
>THINK C sets the bundle bit on any application it builds, even if there is no
>'BNDL' resource.  This is because there have been versions of the Finder that
>refuse to launch applications whose bundle bits aren't set.

I don't believe this (with respect to *released* version of the
Finder), since I've never seen such behavior in any version of the
Finder I've used, and I think I've used every released version of the
Finder since 1.1g.  Can anyone out there back Michael up, citing a
specific Finder version?  Or can someone authoritative (i.e., a Finder
developer) say definitely that it's never been so?

Evidence that the Finder hasn't ever required the bundle bit set for
all applications:

	1. MDS doesn't set the bundle bit automatically, but I've
	   never had trouble running my bundle-less MDS applications
	   (starting about October 1984 and continuing to the
	   present).

	2. Early versions of MacTerminal (through 2.0, I think) always
	   failed to set the bundle bit on downloaded applications,
	   but I never had any trouble running those, either, nor
	   did I hear anyone complain of such a problem.

Ephraim Vishniac					  ephraim@think.com
Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214

	"Arlo Guthrie, it seems, has found what he was looking for:
		God, and the Macintosh." (Boston Globe)