Typical is shareware. There are NO annoying registration notices, codes, or time-limits. Typical is fully functional as is. The shareware fee is only $5, if you find yourself using Typical without even thinking about it (as you well might...), please register, thank you! Nate Trost (nctrost@pobox.com)
What is Typical?
Typical is a small application that allows you to quickly change the file and creator type information associated with Macintosh files. Typical can work on a single file, multiple files, or the contents of an entire folder. Typical works using the "drag and drop" mechanism of the MacOS, just drag the files you want to modify and drop them onto the Typical application icon. Typical requires MacOS System 7.5 or later and runs on both 68000 and PowerPC based MacOS machines.
What are File and Creator Types?
The Macintosh file system uses two pieces of information to identity a document: file type and creator type. Both the file type and the creator type consist of four characters, and are case-sensitive. The file type identifies what kind of information a document contains. For example, a file type of 'TEXT' contains ASCII text, 'PICT' is a Macintosh Picture file, 'ttro' a TeachText (SimpleText) read-only file. The creator type identifies what application created the document. For example, a creator type of 'BABL' indicates a DeBabelizer document, while a TeachText or SimpleText document would use the creator type 'ttxt'.
When you double-click on a document's icon, this information is used to determine what program is launched, among other things. If you want a group of files of a certain type (say, PICT) to be opened by a specific application (say, Adobe Photoshop) when you double-click on them, you can change the creator type of those files to the creator type of the desired application. Enter Typical!
How do I use Typical?
Using Typical is quite straightforward. Simply change the name of the Typical application file to the file and creator type you wish it to convert items to. For example, if you wish to convert files to PICT files created with DeBabelizer, you would rename the Typical application file (or a copy of it) to 'PICT.BABL'. The first four characters represent the new file type and the last four characters represent the new creator type. The file and creator types must be separated by a single character; use of the period '.' or hyphen '-' is recommended for legibility. You can rename the Typical application file in the Finder by clicking on the Typical filename below the Typical icon (assuming it is unselected). After a pause, the filename text will be highlighted, allowing you to rename the file. It is suggested that you make a copy of the Typical application by selecting the Typical icon and then selecting the Duplicate item from the File menu in the Finder; multiple copies of the program can be kept for quick conversion to any desired format.
When you have renamed Typical to the appropriate name for your desired file/creator type, you can alter the file/creator type of files simply by selecting one or many files and dragging them onto the Typical icon. You can alter the file/creator types of every file in a folder by dragging the folder onto the Typical icon. Note that Typical will not convert files in any subfolders of the folder dragged to Typical.
Oops! I Goofed!
If you accidentally convert the file/creator type of file(s) using Typical that you didn't mean to, you can restore the original file/creator type(s) using Typical's undo feature. When you drag a file (or multiple files) onto Typical it saves the file and creator type information of those files before altering them. If you rerun Typical by double clicking on the application icon without dragging files onto it, it give you the option to recall the last files it converted and restore them to their original file/creator types. Note that there is only one 'level' of undo, only the last conversion of file(s) will be restored.
Also note that each copy of the Typical application for a specific file/creator type has its own undo information. For example, if you drag a folder of PICT documents onto PICT-8BIM (to convert them to Photoshop PICT files), then drag another folder onto PICT-8BIM, you cannot undo the original folder's conversion. If you drag the first folder onto PICT-8BIM, however, and the second onto PICT-ttxt, then you can still undo the conversions by double-clicking on PICT-ttxt and PICT-8BIM in turn.
Updates? Typical.
Any updates for Typical will be released through Info-Mac and should also be available on the official Typical web page:
Typical was written by Nate Trost using CodeWarrior 11, with help from ResEdit, Color-It! 3.2, and SimpleText. Many thanks to the Jeff Eaton for the icon and helpful advice and encouragement. In addition to being one of the finest human beings the world has ever known, a fine upstanding member of his community, and a GREAT dancer, he also helped edit this readme. [Winking and nudging from the editor.] Typical is a utility developed because it was something that saved the author a lot of time during development of other projects. After further polishing, it was released as shareware. If you use it, please register...it helps justify spending time polishing utilities for public release and (actually does) help pay the rent! Formerly a videogame programmer, Nate is currently busy as "the Sheena Easton of missionary computer support" for Youth With A Mission Scotland and continues to program in his abundant spare time for fun and for those pesky recurring bills.
If you have any comments, feedback, bug reports, suggestions, etc. please feel free to contact the author at nctrost@pobox.com
Typical may be distributed freely both electronically and physically (i.e. CD-ROM) provided all files from the Typical archive are kept intact, together, and unmodified.
Disclaimer
The author, Nate Trost, makes no warranties, either express or implied, regarding the fitness of "Typical" for any particular purpose. Use "Typical" at your own risk. The author claims no liability for any data loss or any other problems caused directly or indirectly by "Typical".
