Subject: Re: CR/LF question
From: Duncan Sinclair (Duncan.Sinclair@dis.strath.ac.uk)
Date: Fri Sep 22 2000 - 09:01:24 EDT
Wes writes:
>This is a frequently asked question...
Indeed.
>> From: Peter DiCamillo <Peter_DiCamillo@brown.edu>
>> To: netatalk-admins@umich.edu
>> I'm not proposing any solution that involves guessing. The problem
>> we're encountering is that the Finder and some other programs, such
>> as StuffIt, create a file with some other type, write data to the
>> file, then change the type to TEXT when done. That results in the
>> data not being translated when written, but then being translated
>> when read (since the type has become TEXT). The solution I'm
>> proposing is to never translate such files. The code would keep
>> track of whether the original type of the file at it's creation was
>> TEXT, and subsequently use that information instead of the current
>> type when deciding whether or not to translate.
>To be a more perfect mac-only file repository, CR/LF translation should
>be disabled. If you want to successfully share files between macs and
>unix machines, CR/LF has certain benefits. It is some what less
>necessary these days, at least for users familiar with editors like
>BBEdit. Unsophisticated users may still benefit from CR/LF
>translation, tho the possibility of confusion may make it undesirable.
In fact, this very sophisticed user wants to have CR/LF translation
so that my unsophisticed users can read the files I write on my Sun,
and so that I can read on my Sun, files created on a Mac.
The only way to do this right is to watch for the file type being
switched to "TEXT" and do the conversion in-place. If it is switched
to something other than "TEXT", you need to un-convert, again in-place.
There are other complications with text files created on the server.
This is my #1 wish for version 1.5, or above.
Cheers,
Duncan Sinclair.
PS> Someone wrote to me asking what filetype the finder uses when
copying files, but I've been away on holiday and I haven't had a
chance to catch up with all my mail. The answer is I can't remember,
but using the method outlined above, you shouldn't need to know.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Wed Jan 17 2001 - 14:32:12 EST