Re: OT: Re: MAC users?

In article <doGdnQKRov9UI_HZnZ2dnUVZ_vednZ2d@xxxxxxx>,
singhals <singhals@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
Dave Hinz wrote:

On Wed, 17 May 2006 20:34:26 -0400, singhals <singhals@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

That missing extension is one of things I've always hated -- I tend to
keep my life simple, so I've got 1891.txt 1891.xls 1891.doc and 1891.htm
all with slightly different content and format; without the extension
how in the WORLD do I tell which one I want when I go looking for it?
Sitting here clicking first one and the t'other until I find it makes me
crazy.


Ah. Perhaps you've missed the point a bit. Unix (including Mac OSX)
doesn't particularly _care_ what extension you give it. But normally,
sure, you'll give it the right one.

*ix might not care, but I do.




*ix and, I suppose, OS-X have had for years a concept of "magic numbers" which
identify file type when a user types the command "file <filename>" at the
command line. Without going into unwanted detail about the mechanism, for most
binary files, including images, a unique magic number identifying the file type
is stored at a known offset from the beginning of the file, making it possible
to call the file anything you damn well please because the system doesn't have
to rely on a file extension for information.

More'n you ever wanted to know about *ix file naming conventions.

SysAdmin Ol' Bob

--
Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas
-----
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the
other party is unfit to rule---and both commonly succeed, and are right." ---H. L. Mencken
.

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