francis@arthur.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) (05/15/91)
In article <52814@apple.Apple.COM> mjohnson@Apple.COM (Mark B. Johnson) writes: >The System 7 Finder offers users a new capability known as aliases. Aliases >allow all Macintosh users to organize their system the way they prefer and puts >information just a double-click away. An alias, usually about 2K in size, of *WHY* does it take so much space? >and control panel compatibility before moving to System 7. The Compatibility >Checker, available in the United States, includes information on over 650 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ [...] >Upgrade Kit and the System 7 Group Upgrade Kit. Apple will include System 7 in >the box with all new Macintosh computers by mid-summer in the United States. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Why just here? Distribution reasons, or does Sys7 include "sensitive technologies" that the government's weasels don't want leaving the country? The former really doesn't seem too likely (at least, for systems in English)--shipping things around the world is pretty fast; surely they could make it out by mid-summer. Of course, translation could slow it down... -- /============================================================================\ | Francis Stracke | My opinions are my own. I don't steal them.| | Department of Mathematics |=============================================| | University of Chicago | Welcome to the Real World. Enjoy the | | francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu | show. | \============================================================================/
bc@Apple.COM (bill coderre) (05/15/91)
francis@arthur.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes: |*WHY* [do aliases] take so much space? Geez, guys. You people wanna complain about EVERYTHING. Do This: 1. Turn on File Sharing on your Mac. Do all the setup junk. 2. Make an alias to your hard disk. 3. Copy the alias to a floppy. 4. CHANGE THE NAME OF YOUR HARD DISK. 5. Go to another mac on the network, in another appletalk zone. 6. Slot the disk and double-click the alias. 7. Type your "owner's password" and USE YOUR HARD DRIVE OVER THE NET. Cool or what? Drop a file on an alias of a folder. The right thing happens. Rename a file and alias it. The right thing happens. Put an alias in a program, give the program to everyone on your net. They can all use the alias to find the file, even if the file is changed or moves. I repeat: Cool or WHAT? |Why just here? Distribution reasons, or does Sys7 include "sensitive |technologies" that the government's weasels don't want leaving the |country? System 7 should be the fastest system to be released "internationally" EVER, in something like >50 versions. This takes time. Of course, they coulda held up the US version to wait until ALL THE OTHER ONES were ready. OK with you? bill coderre more than ever before
rob@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Robert K Shull) (05/15/91)
In article <FRANCIS.91May14232330@arthur.uchicago.edu> francis@arthur.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes: >In article <52814@apple.Apple.COM> mjohnson@Apple.COM (Mark B. Johnson) writes: > >>The System 7 Finder offers users a new capability known as aliases. Aliases >>allow all Macintosh users to organize their system the way they prefer and puts >>information just a double-click away. An alias, usually about 2K in size, of > >*WHY* does it take so much space? A short test showed aliases are under 1K (usually?), but it's going take up at least one block no matter what. 2K is probably typical allocation block size, unless you've got a small hard drive. It appears to store considerably more than just the pathname of the destination, since it can automatically find the linked-to file if its moved (and rather quickly too.) Robert -- Robert K. Shull rob@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu chinet!uokmax!rob
jackb@MDI.COM (Jack Brindle) (05/16/91)
In article <FRANCIS.91May14232330@arthur.uchicago.edu> francis@arthur.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes: >In article <52814@apple.Apple.COM> mjohnson@Apple.COM (Mark B. Johnson) writes: > >>The System 7 Finder offers users a new capability known as aliases. Aliases >>allow all Macintosh users to organize their system the way they prefer and puts >>information just a double-click away. An alias, usually about 2K in size, of > >*WHY* does it take so much space? That's simple. The file actually uses only about 34 bytes. BUT, everytime you create a file on a disk, and put something in it, the system uses an allocation block. On 40 meg hard disks, this is a 1k block of disk. I believe it is also 1k on floppies. For larger disks, the allocation blocks are larger. The system also strings allocation blocks together in an attempt to relieve fragmentation, so it is quite possible to get an extent of 2k instead of 1k. So, even though the alias file is small, you still use at least 1k when you create it. Are you REALLY worried about a measly 1k out of 40 Megabytes or so? Jack Brindle ham radio: wa4fib/7
rmh@apple.com (Rick Holzgrafe) (05/16/91)
In article <FRANCIS.91May14232330@arthur.uchicago.edu> francis@arthur.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes: > In article <52814@apple.Apple.COM> mjohnson@Apple.COM (Mark B. Johnson) writes: > > >The System 7 Finder offers users a new capability known as aliases. Aliases > >allow all Macintosh users to organize their system the way they prefer and puts > >information just a double-click away. An alias, usually about 2K in size, of > > *WHY* does it take so much space? Two reasons. First, your disk probably won't allocate any less than a half a K at a time, maybe no less than a K at a time. All file sizes are effectively rounded up to the drive's block size. Second, and more important: an alias is not just a pathname to the original. It is much more. If it were just a pathname, then renaming your disk, or your file, or any of the folders above it, or moving it to a different folder, or moving its folder, would all break the alias. System 7 aliases can *survive* all of that. They do this by keeping a *lot* of information about the original file. When you use the alias, the system tries the simplest, fastest lookup first. If that doesn't work, it digs more data out of the alias and widens its search until it finally locates the file, or runs out of places to look. (Yes, aliases *can* be broken; they're not magical.) Try it, you'll like it. :-) ========================================================================== Rick Holzgrafe | {sun,voder,nsc,mtxinu,dual}!apple!rmh Software Engineer | AppleLink HOLZGRAFE1 rmh@apple.com Apple Computer, Inc. | "All opinions expressed are mine, and do 20525 Mariani Ave. MS: 3-PK | not necessarily represent those of my Cupertino, CA 95014 | employer, Apple Computer Inc."
nerm@Apple.COM (Dean Yu) (05/16/91)
In article <FRANCIS.91May14232330@arthur.uchicago.edu> francis@arthur.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes: >*WHY* does it take so much space? Most of that space is due to the icons in the alias file. The actual alias record is only a few hundred bytes at most. -- Dean Yu Blue Meanie, Negative Ethnic Role Model, etc. Apple Computer, Inc. My opinions and so on and so forth...
TOGE@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (Nobukazu Toge) (05/16/91)
Dean and all good folks at Apple - I would like to thank you and congratulate you on the much-awaited system 7. Considering the thickness of InsideMac VI, all the alpha/beta testing / debugging, developer support, manual development, etc etc, I say that you've done a monumental amount of work without MUCH flaws, and on schedule (well, I mean the "latest" schedule). I hope that all the end users will receive sys 7 PRETTY soon, and this experience lets you get the system 8 done even more smoothly. - Nobu Toge (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) Only my personal opinion based on my observations or my thinking. Neither Stanford University nor U.S. Department of Energy is responsible for this posting.
jba@gorm.ruc.dk (Jan B.Andersen) (05/16/91)
bc@Apple.COM (bill coderre) writes: >System 7 should be the fastest system to be released "internationally" >EVER, in something like >50 versions. This takes time. Of course, they >coulda held up the US version to wait until ALL THE OTHER ONES were >ready. OK with you? It would have been OK with me! On the other hand, I was very pleased to hear from my local Apple Center (tuesday, Denmark), that I would be able to get the U.S. version if I just brought the disks. -- /| / Jan B. Andersen /^^^\ .----------------. / | / RUC, Hus 19,1 jba@dat.ruc.dk { o_o } | SIMULA does it | /--|/ Postbox 260 DG-passer@ruc.dk \ o / --> | with CLASS | `--' ' DK-4000 Roskilde Postmaster@ruc.dk --mm---mm-- `----------------'