ccc_ldo@waikato.ac.nz (Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Waikato University) (07/26/90)
It always struck me as inelegant, with all the inbuilt support for Finder information (file types and creators, icon and window positions and the like) in HFS, to have this invisible file called "Desktop" on every volume. What happened if, by chance, some user tried to save a document with that name at the root level? I thought the Desktop Manager was a neat idea when I first heard of it. I still do, but a little of my initial enthusiasm abated when I found out that it replaced "Desktop" with *two* new invisible files, admittedly with even more cryptic names. Now I've been running (or at least walking) the alpha release of System 7, and I see a couple of special folders, called "Desktop Folder" and "Trash". The 7.0 Finder doesn't show them, but they aren't even marked as invisible--you can see them in plain view when you switch back to System 6.0.x (as I do when I want to get some work done). Isn't this getting a little out of hand? Shouldn't all these bits of housekeeping be hidden away in the file structure somewhere? How about adding new special file IDs to HFS? You already have 0 and 1 for the catalog and extents files. There should be some way of allocating new "special" files without impacting backward compatibility with existing systems and existing volumes. [In the next instalment of this column, the author will attempt to singlehandedly invent a real-time implementation of Unix that satisfies A1 security standards, while pedalling backwards on a unicycle balanced on a tightrope suspended over a pit filled with hungry C programmers, while with his other hand he plays a guitar.] Lawrence D'Oliveiro fone: +64-71-562-889 Computer Services Dept fax: +64-71-384-066 University of Waikato electric mail: ldo@waikato.ac.nz Hamilton, New Zealand 37^ 47' 26" S, 175^ 19' 7" E, GMT+12:00 "This Tandy home computer is powered by a microchip the size of a toenail--and almost as intelligent." -- Alexei Sayle
russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) (07/26/90)
In article <1102.26af6327@waikato.ac.nz> ccc_ldo@waikato.ac.nz (Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Waikato University) writes: >Isn't this getting a little out of hand? Shouldn't all these >bits of housekeeping be hidden away in the file structure somewhere? >How about adding new special file IDs to HFS? You already have >0 and 1 for the catalog and extents files. There should be >some way of allocating new "special" files without impacting >backward compatibility with existing systems and existing >volumes. Isn't this a perfect time to start using ioFVersion? You know, that field that if you don't initialize you create a file that the Finder can see but Standard File and the Resource manager cannot. (The one Apple said was no longer supported in HFS, was removed from the routine descriptions in IM-IV, but actually were supported and wreaked the above havoc) -- Matthew T. Russotto russotto@eng.umd.edu russotto@wam.umd.edu ][, ][+, ///, ///+, //e, //c, IIGS, //c+ --- Any questions? Hey! Bush has NO LIPS!