[PLUG] Unknown Document File Types

[Paul Mullen]

On Thu, Aug 25, 2005 at 09:40:17AM -0700, Richard C. Steffens wrote:
> I have a set of files from a Mac using friend, who isn't very 
> sophisticated around computers. He composed this set of files a number 
> of years ago -- well before OS-X -- and doesn't remember what word 
> processor he was using at the time. It appears that there are several 
> different file types involved, so he probably used different word 
> processors at different times.

If my aging memory serves, Mac OS saves the identity of the
application used to create a file, and the actual file type in a
"resource" fork that is essentially a part of the file completely
separate from the data. If you copy a Mac OS file onto a file system
that doesn't understand the HFS "binary" file layout, the resource
fork and all its meta-data are lost. At that point, you'll just have
to use trial and error to figure out which app made the file.

Your best bet would be to find someone with an older Macintosh and an
array of popular Mac OS word processors from back in the old days.
Call up your local elementary school. They're likely to have an old
Mac or two still in service. It's also possible that contemporary OS X
word processing apps might be able to deal with the mystery files.


Paul