dplatt@snulbug.mtview.ca.us (Dave Platt) (05/27/91)
I've noticed an interesting characteristic of aliases: they don't
preserve the information which the Finder uses to understand file
dropping (drop-opening).
Example: Create an alias of TrueText, or Alpha, or your favorite
text-file editor. Try dragging a text file onto the alias icon... the
alias icon will highlight, and if you "release" the text file onto the
alias, TrueText/Alpha/whatever will be launched, and will open the text
file. All well and good. Exit from TeachText.
Copy the alias to a blank floppy disk, and delete it from the hard
disk. Close the hard-disk Finder windows. Drag a text file onto the
alias icon on the floppy... it will highlight, and the original
application will be launched if you drop the text file. Exit from
TeachText.
Trash the floppy icon. Reinsert it while holding down command/option.
The Finder will ask you if you want the Desktop file rebuilt... click
OK.
Now try dragging a text file onto the alias icon. The icon will _not_
highlight. If you drop the text file "onto" the un-highlighted icon,
the text file will be copied to the floppy, rather than passed to
TeachText.
Copy the alias icon back to your hard disk. Try dropping a text file
onto it... the icon will highlight, and TeachText will be launched.
Conclusion: the file-dropping capability depends on the bundle
information stored in a disk's Desktop file or database. When you
create an alias, the alias will "adopt" the necessary bundle from the
original application, and the bundle will be copied to the Desktop
file/database of another disk whenever you copy the alias. However,
the alias file itself does _not_ contain a copy of the bundle. If you
have the alias on a disk that doesn't contain a copy of the application
itself, and if you rebuild that disk's Desktop from scratch, the bundle
information will be lost, and file-dropping will stop working.
Recommendation: if you're setting up "convenience" aliases to
applications, you should keep the aliases on the same disk as the
application.
Future tweak: Apple, it'd sure be nice if the alias file contained a
copy of the FREF and other bundle-resources!
---
Dave Platt
dplatt@snulbug.mtview.ca.us (domain/MX)
or apple!snulbug!dplatt (uucp path)
or dplatt%snulbug.uucp@apple.com (non-MX Internet)