cander@unisoft.UUCP (Charles Anderson) (07/25/90)
Recently, I have starting having minor trouble opening some of my
Excell spreadsheets. On some files, in some folders I can double click
on one or more files and Excell comes up fine. Other times I can
double click on one file but not two. Other times I must single click
on one file and then use clover-O to open it. When it fails it get the
proverbial "Application is missing or busy". This just started
happening in the last week. I ran Disinfectant 2.0, but it didn't show
any viruses. Any clues for the clueless?
--
Unix is the Winchester Mystery | Charles Anderson, UniSoft Corp.
House of software design. | {sun, ucbvax, uunet}! unisoft!candersec@cs.umn.edu (Stephen E. Collins) (07/25/90)
cander@unisoft.UUCP (Charles Anderson) writes: >Excell spreadsheets. On some files, in some folders I can double click >on one or more files and Excell comes up fine. Other times I can >double click on one file but not two. Other times I must single click >on one file and then use clover-O to open it. When it fails it get the >proverbial "Application is missing or busy". This just started >happening in the last week. This has been happing since the advent of MultiFinder. It was discussed here a year or so ago, and so far as I know there has been no solution other than to just try opening your spreadsheet again. It always works for me on the second try. Stephen E. Collins Microcomputer & Workstation Networks Center sec@boombox.micro.umn.edu
ee299bw@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Unbroken Chain) (07/25/90)
In article <3073@unisoft.UUCP> cander@unisoft.UUCP (Charles Anderson) writes: >on one file and then use clover-O to open it. When it fails it get the >proverbial "Application is missing or busy". This just started >happening in the last week. I ran Disinfectant 2.0, but it didn't show >any viruses. Any clues for the clueless? I get a similar message from time to time. The weird thing is, for me, if I immediately double click again, it WILL open. Have you tried doing this? It happens to me with Excel and Word 4.0 as well. Microsoft stuff is just plain weird. I think their interface with the Finder does odd stuff. With Word under Multifinder, I often get files or folders which can't be deleted until I quit Word, even though there are no Word documents open. I never have this problem with any other apps. MicroSoft tech support says that their products "behave just like everyone else's." Yeah, right. Dave -- *********************** Dave Chesavage **************************** * dchesavage@ucsd.edu * * "Earth is 99% full. Please delete anyone you can." *
dwal@midway.uchicago.edu (David Walton) (07/26/90)
In article <12009@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> ee299bw@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Unbroken Chain) writes: >In article <3073@unisoft.UUCP> cander@unisoft.UUCP (Charles Anderson) writes: >>on one file and then use clover-O to open it. When it fails it get the >>proverbial "Application is missing or busy". This just started >>happening in the last week. I ran Disinfectant 2.0, but it didn't show >>any viruses. Any clues for the clueless? > >I get a similar message from time to time. The weird thing is, for >me, if I immediately double click again, it WILL open. > >Have you tried doing this? It happens to me with Excel and Word 4.0 as well. >Microsoft stuff is just plain weird. I think their interface with >the Finder does odd stuff. With Word under Multifinder, I often get >files or folders which can't be deleted until I quit Word, even >though there are no Word documents open. I never have this problem >with any other apps. MicroSoft tech support says that their products >"behave just like everyone else's." Yeah, right. OK, here goes. To clarify the issue: When a user double-clicks a document, the Finder looks at the document's signature (creator bits) in the document's Finder information to see if it matches the signature of any application on any currently mounted disk. The Finder will launch the first application it finds with a matching creator signature. Under MultiFinder, this process is modified so that the list of open applications is checked first to see if one of them has a matching signature; if so, MultiFinder sends the application a message to open the document. [The latter part doesn't always work, either; the application must have the appropriate menu commands or resources for MultiFinder to send it the message.] The Finder generates the "Application is busy or missing" message when it can't find an application with a matching signature. Really, the only way an application can influence this process is by setting or not setting the creator bits in the document's Finder information, with the following exceptions: * The program could set the file's invisible bit. In this case the issue is moot, because you couldn't see the file to double-click on it anyway. * The program could set the document's Bundle bit. This isn't very likely; the program would probably do this only under exceptional circumstances. Setting the Bundle bit on a document causes all other documents of the same type to be identified as being owned by that document. If you had a Word document called "Your mother was a hampster" and you set its Bundle bit, all of your standard Word documents (i.e., not the dicionaries or the help files) would be identified by the Finder as "Your mother was a hampster" documents. There may be other ways for an Application to mess up the way the Finder opens documents, but I suspect that they're somewhat obscure, and that the application wouldn't have any real reason for employing them. (I could certainly be wrong, and am open to corrections.) The long and short of all this is that if you get the "Application is busy or missing" message, it's not the application's fault, it's the Finder's. What's probably happened is that the desktop file--the file that contains all of the creator signatures of all of your applications--has been corrupted or has gotten too large, and the Finder can't find the signature or location of the correct application. If you want to fix the problem, then, you have to persuade the desktop file that it really _does_ know where the correct application is. These steps have been recommended by nine out of ten Mac users to cure your desktop ills (and they won't stick to your dental work!): * Rebuild the desktop file. You can do this by holding down the command and option keys together 1) during the startup sequence, or 2) when you insert the disk in question. When you do this, you should get a dialog box asking you if you really want to rebuild the desktop file; click OK. Wait a couple of minutes, and then try double-clicking your documents again. If it still doesn't work, try the next step. WARNING: rebuilding your desktop file has the unfortunate side effect of erasing all of the comments in the Finder's Get Info box. * Copy the file with the Duplicate command in the File menu, and delete the original. If this doesn't work, or you don't have sufficient disk space, then * Copy the application with the Duplicate command, and then delete the original. This puts the application's information at the top of the desktop file, so the Finder is more likely to find it. * Put the document in the same folder as the application. Open it, then move it back into its folder and try again. * Open the application's window before you double-click on your document. You may have to do this every time you want to open your document(s). Hope this helps (whew!). >Dave >-- >*********************** Dave Chesavage **************************** -- David Walton Internet: dwal@midway.uchicago.edu University of Chicago { Any opinions found herein are mine, not } Computing Organizations { those of my employers (or anybody else). }
jonu@FtCollins.NCR.com (Jon Udell) (07/30/90)
In article <1990Jul26.165333.19623@midway.uchicago.edu> dwal@midway.uchicago.edu (David Walton) writes:
(Explanation of origin of error message).
dw> The long and short of all this is that if you get the "Application is
dw> busy or missing" message, it's not the application's fault, it's the
dw> Finder's. ... These steps have been recommended by nine out of ten
dw> Mac users to cure your desktop ills (and they won't stick to your
dw> dental work!):
(Steps deleted).
I feel I should point out that neither your (otherwise convincing)
explanation or your list of remedies explains why attempting to relaunch
the application always works. Can anyone shed some light on this?
--Jon