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Author Topic: .info ... was it so much a good idea?  (Read 6071 times)

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Offline mongo

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #14 on: July 24, 2010, 08:33:49 PM »
Quote from: Trev;571901
I've never liked how .info files are only loosely coupled to the object they represent. It might have made sense in the 80's given the simplicity (and limitations) of the period object formats and file systems, but they could just as easily have defined a new hunk type and embedded the data directly in the object. On AmigaOS 4.x, I'm surprised the data hasn't been moved into an ELF section. It would still be possible for tools like Workbench to override embedded data using an .info file if one exists.


And what do you do with non-executable files?
 

Offline Trev

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #15 on: July 25, 2010, 07:55:30 PM »
@lsmart

What happens when an Installer script--not necessarily OWB's--overwrites your customized .info? That's not necessarily a drawback, but an installation routine should make an attempt to keep and upgrade a user's existing settings.

@mongo

Use IFF? That's not a good solution either. Deficons is the compromise solution, yes? It all depends on what--operating system or application--owns data. System designers are still looking for the holy grail of application agnostic storage containers.

There are some aspects of .info files, like tool types, that are pretty cool. The downside, I think, is having to write wrappers to combine ReadArgs(), FindToolType(), and generic command-line processing in a way that works with multiple releases of Workbench.
 

Offline sim085Topic starter

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #16 on: July 26, 2010, 11:18:37 AM »
Quote from: Matt_H;571908
But, if you do like filename-based program association, you can configure Deficons to work that way. Can't go wrong with the Amiga's configurability. :)


How do you do that? because I cannot understand how from the .guide that comes with DefIcon. It would be helpfull for me if I could somewhere define a rule that all .jpg or .guide are always opened with some specific tool!
 

Offline Daedalus

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #17 on: July 26, 2010, 12:02:51 PM »
I think DefIcons comes pre-configured for most common filetypes, such as JPEG. Check in the prefs of DefIcons, look for JPEG and see what action it is set to carry out... Change that action to use whatever viewer you like on your system and it should work. Of course, JPEG files *with* an icon/.info file will use the default tool set in the .info file instead. This allows you to override the DefIcons settings for specific files.

I personally think the Amiga system is great once you get your head around it. And RaWBInfo makes handling them a lot easier, allowing you to drag 'n' drop tooltypes etc. in Workbench.
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Offline persia

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #18 on: July 26, 2010, 12:02:59 PM »
.info was an ok idea in 1985 when you only had small capacity devices but really makes little or no sense in these days of TB hard drives.
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Offline Daedalus

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #19 on: July 26, 2010, 12:08:41 PM »
@persia

I don't really see how disc capacity is an issue. If the information was embedded in the file instead it would take roughly the same amount of disc space. The Mac system of data and resource forks was similar but less easy to manipulate, and the Windows & Linux systems are just a mess altogether, although I believe Windows 7 has the ability to specify specific applications to open specific files, overriding the filetype recognition...
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Offline sim085Topic starter

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #20 on: July 26, 2010, 12:29:05 PM »
Quote from: Daedalus;572140
I think DefIcons comes pre-configured for most common filetypes, such as JPEG.


Are you referring to this DefIcon?

http://aminet.net/package/util/cdity/DefIcon
 

Offline Daedalus

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #21 on: July 26, 2010, 01:13:25 PM »
Hmmm... I was actually thinking of the one that came with OS 3.9 - I was sure that was available separately for 3.0 users, but it's a different tool to the one you linked to...
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Offline sim085Topic starter

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #22 on: July 26, 2010, 02:41:14 PM »
Quote from: Daedalus;572150
Hmmm... I was actually thinking of the one that came with OS 3.9 - I was sure that was available separately for 3.0 users, but it's a different tool to the one you linked to...

I thought so! Does anyone know from where I can find the tool everyone seems to be referring to?
« Last Edit: July 26, 2010, 02:52:25 PM by sim085 »
 

Offline amiga92570

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #23 on: July 26, 2010, 03:02:19 PM »
Quote from: Matt_H;571908
I think .info files are absolutely brilliant. Tooltypes are great for storing and adjusting settings. You can position Amiga icons exactly where you want them and they'll never move unless you tell them to. Separate icons allow you to hide unnecessary files, reducing visual clutter throughout your drive. And if you rename a file, it will open with the program you told it to. Filename-based program association is one of the things I hate most about Windows - i.e., renaming file.jpg to file.jpg.old and then being unable to open file.jpg.old by double-clicking.

But, if you do like filename-based program association, you can configure Deficons to work that way. Can't go wrong with the Amiga's configurability. :)



Why would you do something that would not work? Why not just rename the filename file.jpg to file-old.jpg? that way you know it is old and it still works. Trying to work outside the perimeters of the OS is not a valid complaint of it being broken.
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Offline zipper

Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #24 on: July 26, 2010, 03:21:00 PM »
NewIcons http://main.aminet.net/pub/aminet/util/wb/NewIcons46.lha has built-in deficons functionality if you don't use OS 3.5/3.9. But not so recommended for basic system as it uses some resources. I used it years before upgraded to 3.5/3.9.
 

Offline sim085Topic starter

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #25 on: July 26, 2010, 04:03:16 PM »
Quote from: zipper;572161
NewIcons http://main.aminet.net/pub/aminet/util/wb/NewIcons46.lha has built-in deficons functionality if you don't use OS 3.5/3.9. But not so recommended for basic system as it uses some resources. I used it years before upgraded to 3.5/3.9.



So there isn't a version where you can actually determine which icon to associate with which file?
 

Offline Belial6

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #26 on: July 26, 2010, 05:45:49 PM »
Quote from: amiga92570;572158
Trying to work outside the perimeters of the OS is not a valid complaint of it being broken.


Absolutly.

.info files do exist in Windows.  They are shortcut (.lnk) files.

In the 80's, people were figuring things out, and had to work with limited resources.  Today, there is really no reason not to take the best of all worlds.  Today, an OS should first check for a .info/.lnk file to see if there is a file specific configuration, and if it doesn't find one, it should check the inside the file for a filetype to decide what to use to open it, and failing that, should drop down to using the file extension.

While that would have been a huge burden to the hardware of the 80's, in today's hardware, it would be trivial.
 

Offline LoadWB

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #27 on: July 26, 2010, 06:36:56 PM »
Quote from: Belial6;572180
Absolutly.

.info files do exist in Windows.  They are shortcut (.lnk) files.


.info is not synonymous with .lnk.  In fact, .info has more in common with .pif than .lnk.  .lnk are pointers to files in other locations.

Program Information File - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.pif

Computer shortcut - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.lnk

BTW, there is no .info entry for Amiga's icon files.
 

Offline Matt_H

Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #28 on: July 26, 2010, 07:19:38 PM »
Quote from: amiga92570;572158
Why would you do something that would not work? Why not just rename the filename file.jpg to file-old.jpg? that way you know it is old and it still works. Trying to work outside the perimeters of the OS is not a valid complaint of it being broken.


Yeah, but then I need to move my cursor to the middle of the filename! :)

I guess I am trying to work outside the perimeter of the OS. My point is that said perimeter is unintuitive and dumb :)
 

Offline persia

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Re: .info ... was it so much a good idea?
« Reply #29 from previous page: July 26, 2010, 07:36:23 PM »
The problem is multiplication of files.  If I have six files and six dot info files it isn't bad, I can easily see things in a command line and it's all ver manageable. If I have 6000 it's a lot less clear, six thousand .info files to maintain is more than a bit daunting, I can't just do a global change for example.  I have thousands of .doc files on my main machine and I recently changed the program associated with all of them from MS Word to Pages with a shift-click, a selection of Get Info and change the app associated with them.  It was clean and now all .docs open Pages.

Using file extensions may not be the best solution but it's really the only one that works.



Quote from: Daedalus;572143
@persia

I don't really see how disc capacity is an issue. If the information was embedded in the file instead it would take roughly the same amount of disc space. The Mac system of data and resource forks was similar but less easy to manipulate, and the Windows & Linux systems are just a mess altogether, although I believe Windows 7 has the ability to specify specific applications to open specific files, overriding the filetype recognition...
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