GetInfo is an init that gives you some extra information about files that depend on other files. It runs under system 7.0 only, and it does not require QuickTime. At present, however, only apps using QuickTime can set up the kinds of dependencies between files that GetInfo detects.
GetInfo changes the behavior of the 7.0 Finder in two ways: it modifies the info box for certain documents, and it won't allow you to delete certain files (unless you really want to).
Dependency Defined
If you use QuickTime, you can set up a dependency between files very easily. For example, imagine you've created a movie and saved it to movie file A. That is to say, the movie data and the resource that describes the movie are both in movie file A. If you load movie file A into a QuickTime app, you might use "Save As…" to create a new file, movie file B. If you don't use the "make movie self-contained" option, movie file B will only have a movie resource in it; the movie data will still be in movie file A. Therefore, movie file B depends on the data in movie file A, and movie file A has data that movie file B depends on.
Info Box Changes
If you get info about a document that depends on data in another document, or if you get info on a document which has data that another document depends on, you will get an info box with a modified comments area. Instead of just seeing a space for comments, you will see a popup menu, and a list of dependent files. You can use the popup menu to switch back to seeing the comments. You can also use the popup to switch between depencency views, showing either the files that depend on this document (if any), or the files that this document depends on (if any).
Note: if you get info on a “self-contained” document (which doesn’t depend on any other document), and no other files depend on that document, you will get the standard info box.
If your info box is showing you a list of dependent files, you can get more information about one of the files by clicking on it. This will bring up another popup menu. This popup menu will contain the folder hierarchy for the dependent file: starting from the filename, it will list the folders and the volume. If the zone and server names are available, they will also show up on the popup menu. If the system was able to locate the file, you can select an item from the popup menu to bring up a Finder window containing that item. If the system was unable to locate the dependent file, the popup will contain a “best guess” about where the dependent file was last found. If you select an item from the popup menu in this case, the system will search for the dependent file.
Emptying Trash Changes
If you have a file that contains data that another file depends on, and you drop it in the trash, GetInfo won’t allow you to delete that file. If you really want to get rid of the file, hold down the Option Key when you choose “Empty Trash”.
Important Note: if the dependency was created with QuickTime Beta 23 or earlier, GetInfo will not intercept "Empty Trash".
Known Problems
Get Info doesn’t keep the info box “in sync” while the info box is open. For example, if GetInfo can’t find a dependency file because its volume isn’t mounted, and you mount the volume, the information in the info box won’t change. However, if you close and reopen the info box, or if you click on the item in question, its information will be updated.
