The biggest problem arising when sharing with or moving to Windows computers is that files (or 'documents') may be in a format which cannot be read under Windows. The file report will search given folders for files, and analyse them. See the Getting Started topic for information on built-in file reports; reports can also be customized to define exactly which information to show for individual files.

Information available for each file

• Location. The full path name of the folder or sub-folder the file is located in.
• Name. The name of the file, as shown in the Finder.
• Creator Code. The four-character creator code assigned to the file. This is normally hidden from view, and is used by the system and Finder to help identify a program and its files.
• Creator. The program name corresponding to the Creator Code. It is usually the program which created the file. This will be blank if the Creator Code is not in the database, and the program which created the file cannot be found on any disk.
• Type Code. The four-character type code assigned to the file. This is normally hidden from view, and is used by the system and Finder to help identify the format of a file.
• Type. The descriptive format of the file. This will be blank if the Type Code is not in the database.
• Size. The size of the file on disk, rounded to the nearest kilobyte.
• Date Modified. The date on which the file was last modified.
• Date Created. The date on which the file was originally created.
• Status. This can contain Category, Practicality and Problems information, described below.
+ Category. One of "Standard", "Mac Standard", "Proprietary" or "Unknown". For a description of these terms, please see below.
+ Practicality. Practicalities about making the file usable under Windows. It can contain "Compatible" and/or "DataViz". For a description of these terms, please see below.
+ Problems. Problems which will be encountered in moving the file to Windows. It can contain "Resources" and/or "Naming". For a description of these terms, please see below.

Meaning of Status keywords

• Standard. This file is in a generally standard format, and should be easy to use with many different programs under Windows.
• Mac Standard. This file is in a standard Macintosh-only format, and not easily used under Windows. However, some Windows programs may be able to read it.
• Proprietary. This file is in a format belonging to a specific program. Some Windows programs may be able to read the file, otherwise it may have to be exported to a standard format on the Mac, and reimported under Windows.
• Unknown. The database does not have information about the format of this file. See the Database topic on how you can assist us in expanding it.
• Compatible. This file is claimed to be easily opened under the Windows version of the program which created it. These claims vary in accuracy for different programs, and it may be useful to try it with some files.
• DataViz. This file can be read by MacLink, from DataViz, for converting to many other Macintosh and Windows file formats. Sig Software is not associated with DataViz, and provides this information for user convenience only.
• Resources. This file contains information in resources (the resource 'fork'), which will be lost in a move to Windows. Sometimes the information in the resources will be non-critical.
• Naming. The name of this file is unusable under Windows, often because it contains certain incompatible characters. Use the Preferences to set whether the target considered is Windows 95 or NT. The folder will need to be cleaned with a product such as NameCleaner, also by Sig Software. More information can be found on our web site.