Using Component Aliases

Registering a Component Alias

The Component Manager automatically registers component resources stored in the Extensions folder. After it registers all of the component resources in the Extensions folder, it then automatically registers any component alias resources stored in the folder.

To register a component alias whose resource file is stored in a folder other than the Extensions folder, or to specify whether the scope of a component alias is global or local, use the RegisterComponentResourceFile function.

Once a component alias is registered, applications can find the component and retrieve information about it using the Component Manager routines described in the "Component Manager" chapter of Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox and in this chapter.

Getting Information About a Component Alias

When your application passes a component alias to the GetComponentInfo function, it gets information about an alias rather its target.

Opening the Resource File for a Target or Alias Component

When your application passes a component alias to the OpenComponentResFile function, the target component's resource file is opened. This ensures that the target component, which is the one that is processing requests, has access to its own resource fork. To open the component alias's resource file, pass the component alias to the OpenComponentResourceFile function.