barvian@ece.cmu.edu (Scott Barvian) (05/02/91)
I have been having a problem that is similar to the "Folder From Hell" problem. The best way to describe it is with an example: Suppose I download a program that, after unstuffing, puts the application/init or whatever and a TeachText doc file in its own folder. I then open the doc file, browse it, close the file (but not quit TeachText) and decide to trash the whole folder. When I try to empty the trash, I get the message The Trash couldn't be emptied (a file was busy or a folder was not empty). and the (now empty folder) reappears. Repeated attempts to trash the folder do no good. I can't delete the folder until after I quit TeachText. So it looks like the application "locks" the folder somehow. So, I trained myself to always Quit TeachText whenever I use it. But another joy of Multifinder is to keep DAs open in the background, which I've started to do lately. I find that I have the "locked folder" problem until I quit all DA's (even if a DA had nothing to do with the folder/file). Hopefully this is a long question with a short answer. Is it system/finder related? I'm using 6.0.5 on a Plus. -- ==== Scott Barvian ============ Department of Electrical/Computer Eng. === ==== barvian@ece.cmu.edu ====== Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA ===
owen@raven.phys.washington.edu (Russell Owen) (05/02/91)
In article <BARVIAN.91May1130523@dart.ece.cmu.edu> barvian@ece.cmu.edu (Scott Barvian) describes a problem: >Suppose I download a program that, after unstuffing, puts the application/init >or whatever and a TeachText doc file in its own folder. I then open the >doc file, browse it, close the file (but not quit TeachText) and decide to >trash the whole folder. When I try to empty the trash, I get the message > >The Trash couldn't be emptied (a file was busy or a folder was not empty). > >and the (now empty folder) reappears. Repeated attempts to trash the folder >do no good. ... TeachText is using that folder as its default (if you select Open or New you'll find yourself in that folder). So you either have to quit TeachText (and any other applications also using that folder) or set a different default (a royal pain if several apps are using it). I usually just rename such folders to "junk" and put them at the root level. On next reboot I trash them. I agree it's frustrating and stupid. Why the Mac can't just trash the folder and move the applications' default folder up one level I don't know. -- Russell owen@raven.phys.washington.edu
barvian@ece.cmu.edu (Scott Barvian) (05/02/91)
(Russell Owen) writes: (Scott Barvian) describes a problem: >... >trash the whole folder. When I try to empty the trash, I get the message > >The Trash couldn't be emptied (a file was busy or a folder was not empty). > >and the (now empty folder) reappears. Repeated attempts to trash the folder >do no good. ... TeachText is using that folder as its default (if you select Open or New you'll find yourself in that folder). So you either have to quit TeachText (and any other applications using that folder) or set a different default (a royal pain if several apps are using it). I usually just rename such folders to "junk" and put them at the root level. On next reboot I trash them. I agree it's frustrating and stupid. Why the Mac can't just trash the folder and move the applications' default folder up one level I don't know. I've gotten several replies along this general theme. I can understand why TeachText has a deep-seated psychological need for its current folder to be available. That's why I always quit out of it instead of closing files when I'm in "browse and trash" mode- it's so small that the delay in opening the application is acceptable. No one so far has addressed my real question: why do background DAs, which don't have a file/folder associated with them, prevent me from trashing folders which were used by *other* applications? I have a desktop calendar DA (which uses no files) open in the background, and I can't get rid of the folders locked up by TeachText until I quit both TeachText and DA Handler. Maybe I'm describing the symptoms of some other problem. -- ==== Scott Barvian ============ Department of Electrical/Computer Eng. === ==== barvian@ece.cmu.edu ====== Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA ===
lsr@Apple.com (Larry Rosenstein) (05/03/91)
The issue is not specific to TeachText. I believe that the same thing happens with any application. The technical reason is that the system opens a working directory, and passes the working directory id to the application. Until that working directory is closed the folder is in use. The behavior you see with DAs happens because DAs are run in the DA Handler application. If one DA uses a folder, then you have to quit the DA Handler (ie close all DAs) before the working directory will be closed.