Substituting for Find File in 7.5.x

Starting with system 7.5, File Buddy can be substituted for the system’s Find File utility using one of the following. In all cases, make sure the extension “Find File Extension” is in the Extensions folder.

The easiet option is to use the shareware control panel FindFile Chooser 1.0 by Yosuke "Basuke" Suzuki. Once you install it, you simply pick the application you want used for finding files. The shareware fee is $10.  FindFile Chooser is available at sites where File Buddy is normally found, including my own (see Getting Support).

Less elegant is the following:

System 7.5.1 or later:

When you press Command-. in Finder, Finder tries to launch an application whose creator signature is 'fndf'. To modify this to launch File Buddy (or go back to Apple’s Find File) use the Default FInd File... command in the Edit menu. The Default Find File... command initiates the following sequence:
1. You will be prompted to make a backup copy of the Find File Extension onto your desktop if one does not exist there. If you have already made a copy, you can skip this step.
2. You will be asked to locate either a copy of File Buddy other than the one you are currently using, or Apple’s Find File.
3. If you chose a copy of File Buddy in step 2:
You will be prompted for the name you wish to use for that copy of File Buddy. Any copy of File Buddy with the name you supply will subsequently default immediately to the Find window upon launch. The copy of File Buddy will be renamed to the name supplied above, and its creator signature will be changed. The creator signature is changed to avoid confusing the Finder about which copy of File Buddy you want it to launch. Do NOT distribute this modified copy of File Buddy under any circumstances.
4. Find File Extension is modified to launch the application you selected.
5. You will be asked if you would like to restart your Macintosh, since the change will not take effect until the modified Find File Extension is loaded at startup.

System 7.5 ( English ):

This version of the Find File Extension just looks for an application in the Apple Menu Items folder whose name is “Find File” and launches it, so the Default Find File... command simply asks for the name of the copy of File Buddy you will put there.

System 7.5 ( non-English ):

To be honest, I don’t know which of the above two methods the Find File Extension uses in this case. Just follow the process that File Buddy chooses and let me know if it doesn’t work.

For Everyone:

If File Buddy launches and sees that its name is the name you supplied in the Preferences dialog as the Find File name (or “Find File” by default), it goes into a special mode in which it ignores the launch option set in the Preferences dialog and automatically opens the Find window at launch. Thereafter, anytime File Buddy comes to the foreground, it will reopen the Find window if it has been closed and no other File Buddy window is in front.