Here's a quick patch I put together to patch Microsoft Word 5.1a after I got the new Apple System Update 3.0 for System 7.1. All this patch does is adds ‘dctb’ resources to the Word application for the Standard File Open and Save dialog boxes that Word uses.
This software is free and can be distributed freely provided all files are kept intact and not modified. You cannot charge for this software.
About this patch:
This patch application was made with ResCompare, an excellent and free resource comparison and patch generation utility. ResCompare can be FTP’ed from most Macintosh archive sites. Send e-mail inquiries regarding ResCompare to Michael_Hecht@mac.sas.com. I have no affiliation with ResCompare other than as a satisfied user.
Disclaimer:
Use this entirely at your own risk. This is unsupported but it works for me. Don’t complain if you get yourself into trouble. If you’re unsure, don’t do it. Wait for Microsoft to hopefully fix this in Word 6.0. I don’t like patching my software either.
If you want to check the integrity of the patch application before running it, use my Businessware Checksum program for the Mac (what a shameless plug!). The results should be:
56777 25848 bytes “MS Word 5.1 StdFile color patch”
To use this patch, you need the following:
• Any of the system versions required for the System Update 3.0 (7.1, 7.1.1 or 7.1.2)
• A legitimate copy of Microsoft Word 5.1a
• You installed the Standard File update (you can tell you did if there are small icons in Open and Save dialogs)
The patch is applied by running the application. The patch adds 6 ‘dctb’ resources to Word, increasing the program size by about 144 bytes. Once applied, you’ll see the same nice small color icons in Word’s Open and Save dialogs as in other applications.
Be sure to make a backup copy of your Word application before running the patch. Test the patched copy of Word before deleting your backup copy.
It is probably advisable to turn off any virus checking software before applying the patch, although the Disinfectant INIT didn’t complain or cause problems for me.
How it works:
The patch adds default ‘dctb’ resource IDs 256, 257, 258, 265, 266 and 266 to the Word application. The ‘dctb’ resource provides a Dialog Color Lookup TaBle for dialog boxes, so that color can be applied to the dialog boxes. This is necessary for the custom Standard File dialog boxes to be able to display color icons instead of boring black and white ones after the Standard File update is installed.
Not sure?
If you’re not sure and are familiar with ResEdit, I’ve also included the ‘dctb’ resources in a ResEdit resource file if you want to paste them in manually.
What about other applications?
If some of your other favorite applications don’t show the nice color icons in the Standard File dialogs, use ResEdit to find which dialogs resources (type ‘DLOG’) are used in the file dialogs. Always make a backup first. Note the resource ID. Create a new ‘dctb’ resource with the same resource ID (or paste in one from the enclosed ResEdit resource file and change the resource ID if necessary). Save the results and you should be in business.
