Re: File type issues (why is it so hard to change a subject line?;)

At 3:30p -0700 10/24/96, David Perrell wrote:
>Walter Ian Kaye wrote:
>> I just re-read that. "for every version" -- where'dja get the idea
>that
>> Mac file types are registered for different versions? While Microsoft
>> chose to do that with 'XLS3', 'XLS4' instead of just 'XLS ', there's
>> nothing that says they had to. PICT1 and PICT2 are both type 'PICT',
>> for example. It's up to the developer.
>
>I got that impression from someone who also argued that file extensions
>would need version info.
>
>Where'd you see the XLS3 and XLS4 extensions? It's still XLS for
>spreadsheets. XLA is for workbooks -- compilations of related
>spreadsheets.

Not extensions -- file types (the 4-byte MacOS kind).
Here's a little chart off the top of my head:

  Excel    PC extension   MacOS file type
  version  sprdsht/macro  sprdsht/macro
  -------  -------------  --------------
  v1.x     <didn't exist> 'XLBN' 'XLPG'
   2.x     .XLS   .XLM    'XLS ' 'XLM '
   3.0     .XLS   .XLM    'XLS3' 'XLM3'
   4.0     .XLS   .XLM    'XLS4' 'XLM4'

BTW, XLS is used for workbooks in 5.0; XLA is for an add-in (in Excel
4 and earlier the .XLA's are editable like XLM's; in 5.0 and later
.XLA's are compiled binaries). Workbooks in 4.0 were .XLW, although
earlier versions of Excel used .XLW for work*space* files, which
simply remembered which windows/documents were open and where...

The new PageMaker 6.5 uses a .P65 extension under Windows.
Methinks the 8.3 namespace is getting a bit crowded!

Hehehe, we are *so* off topic... ;)

__________________________________________________________________________
    Walter Ian Kaye <boo@best.com>     Programmer - Excel, AppleScript,
          Mountain View, CA                         ProTERM, FoxPro, HTML
 http://www.natural-innovations.com/     Musician - Guitarist, Songwriter

Received on Thursday, 24 October 1996 22:17:32 UTC