Conference 7.286::macintosh

    I've looked in Maconline and am wondering about recommendations.

    I'm wondering about the availability of an app that will look
    at all the aliases on a system and 'fix' all those that it can
    and report on any it cant (perhaps letting me delete or replace them).

    Is this was AliasBoss does?  I dont want to actually FIND all the
    aliases myself...at that point I can do 'get info' and 'find orginal'.

    I notice that I can change the name of the hard drive and the alias
    can still work....and when I do 'get info' and 'find original',
    it will find it and change the path name to the original in the 'get info'
    window.  but sometimes it cannot find it.  And so far the pattern
    of when it can and when it cannot is not obvious.

    Our school uses 'at ease' as the interface to the students.  AtEase
    uses Aliases to create a folder of the applications that the
    student should see.  I'm not sure why, but I notice that the pathname
    to the original is often screwed up...I suspect someone who is admin'ing
    the systems is not building new aliases but copying them from machine
    to machine...or someone is changing the name of the hard drive now
    and then.  But I would like to find an app that I can run that will
    report on Aliases that it cant resolve.
    thanks
    bob

    Re .5
    
    I used to use Alias Assassin, but I found that it doesn't work well at
    all on MAcOS 7.5.  It doesn't like doing exhaustive searches, and it
    can't automatically reconnect broken aliases without getting frequent
    "Out of Memory" errors.
    
    Now I use AliasZoo.  It's a really good program, and I have just now
    uploaded a copy of it to HUMANE::MACONLINE for you.  :-)
    
    -dick

    I still use Alias Assassin on 7.5.5, but then again, I'm pretty
    complusive about keeping my aliases clean and 99 times out of
    100, I don't have any aliases dangling or out-of-sync.
    
    				-John
    

    Re .7
    
    For me, Alias Assassin would work on a quick scan, but an exhaustive
    scan or a pass with "reconnect" checked would invariably show "Out of
    Memory" errors - even when there were no bad aliases on the system
    except the ones inthe Recent Documents folder - and those weren't the
    ones that would make it choke.  :-(

    A Mac Alias contains 2 ways to find the file.  If one doesn't work, it
    tries the other.
    
    When an alias is created for a file, the file system Directory ID of
    the parent directory and the name of the file are recorded in the
    alias.
    
    In addition, the Mac makes a special request to the file system to
    create and catalog a file system File ID for the file.  Files do not
    normally have File IDs that can be looked up in the file system
    directory catalog, but one can be created by the file system CreateID
    call (or something like that).  This File ID is stored in the alias
    file.
    
    Also if your file happens to be on a remote file system, the connection
    information for the remote volume is also recorded, so if the volume is
    not mounted, the Mac will attempt to mount it when you attempt to use
    the alias.
    
    When you wish to access a file, the Mac will attempt to find the file
    via its File ID.  There is a ResolveID file system call to do this
    which will return sufficient information to be able to open the file. 
    The File ID can be used to find the file anywhere on the disk as long
    as it has not been deleted and as long as it has not been moved to a
    different disk.  This means you can move the file to a different
    directory on the same disk and the File ID can be used to find it.
    
    If the file has been deleted, then the File ID will not exist (File IDs
    are never reused during the life of a volume or until 4 billion files
    and directories have been created and deleted :-)
    
    When the File ID doesn't work, then the Mac will use the saved Parent
    Directory ID and the name of the file to find the file.  This is useful
    if you have replaced the file with a newer version but have kept it in
    the same place (upgraded the version of the application for example -
    the old file is typically deleted and a new file with the same name
    exists in the original directory).
    
    But if the file has been replaced by a newer copy (or an older copy, or
    any copy as long as it is a different file) _AND_ if the file has been
    moved to a new directory or the parent directory has been renamed, the
    the Alias will not be able to find the file.
    
    Also if the file is copied to a different disk and then copied back
    this will kill the File ID even though it is essentially the same file.
    
    This is also true if the parent directory and its contents are copied
    to a different disk and then copied back.  The parent directory will
    have a new Directory ID and the file will _NOT_ have a File ID at all
    since no one has asked to create an Alias for this apparently new file.
    
    I hope this helps explain why your aliased get disconnected from time
    to time.
    
    						Bob Harris

I use AliasZoo also. After the first time I did a full backup and restore of my
HD, I discovered that all my aliases were broken. I ran AliasZoo and it did the
right thing: it used the folder path to fix the FileID in every alias on the
disk. My only gripe is that sometimes the progress bar doesn't work, but it
saved me so much effort that first time, I paid the shareware fee the next day.
(usually shareware sits on my disk a while before I get out the checkbook).

FileBuddy seems to have an alias repair function, too, but I haven't tried it.

	:Karl.

Alladin's new "Spring Cleaning" product also has an alias repair function. 
Although Spring Cleaning is listed at $49.95, MacMall is providing it for $10
with any other purchase, which seems like a pretty good deal.

	-Neil

    Two questions sort of related to Aliases....

    in my Apple Menu folder I have some Aliases pointing to
    my control panel folder and others (for example).  When I updated to 7.6
    and then 7.6.1, this alias did not get adjusted to point to the
    new 7.6 system folder/Control Panels Folder.  I had made a copy of the
    old system folder and stored it away, and the alias continued to point
    to the copy.  I recently realized that when i used a control panel
    through the Apple Menu, I was using the 7.5 version in the copy.

    I guess this is something I just have to remember to adjust manually?

    Second question.....

    I'm finding that AliasZoo doesn't always work.  I run it and it reports
    all the aliases are okay but when i clink on the alias or do get info
    and 'find original', it reports it cant find it.

    In this case, I have a removable media that I move from one computer
    on my little network to the other..it contains all my kids games
    and runs on either Syquest drive.  When I have AppleTalk on and create
    an Alias it names the orignal file something like

    *:Performa:Hard Drive:System Folder:Control Panels

    (Performa is the name of this system)

    On my other system it would be the same but with a differnt system name.

    AliasZoo seems able to resolve these on the other system and report
    they are fine, but not Apple.  If I recreate the Alias it works (naturally).

    I think that I tried turning off AppleTalk (or file sharing?  I forget)
    and created a bunch of aliases, and then they would be just called

    Hard Drive:System Folder:Control Panels

    (with no network stuff) and then they work okay...

    Has anyone else seen anything like this?
    bob

    one more comment on the AppleMenu Folder...

    When my Performa got delivered it was LOADED with stuff.
    the Apple Pulldown folder was loaded.  but not with Aliases.
    In there I found a whole copy of the Control Panels Folder, or a
    whole copy of the ClarisWorks application, etc. etc.

    I dont know why they do this...why not just create aliases
    instead of putting in second or third copies of the application?
    bob

>    in my Apple Menu folder I have some Aliases pointing to
>    my control panel folder and others (for example).  When I updated to 7.6
>    and then 7.6.1, this alias did not get adjusted to point to the
>    new 7.6 system folder/Control Panels Folder.  I had made a copy of the
>    old system folder and stored it away, and the alias continued to point
>    to the copy.  I recently realized that when i used a control panel
>    through the Apple Menu, I was using the 7.5 version in the copy.
>
>    I guess this is something I just have to remember to adjust manually?
    
    The Alias has multiple pointers to the file.  One pointer is a File ID
    created for file associated with the alias.  If you rename the file or
    move the file to a different folder or move the folder the file is in,
    the Alias can still find the file based on the File ID which is at the
    file system level.
    
    If that fails, the Alias can use the Directory ID of the original
    parent folder and the file name.  So if you move or rename the folder
    containing the file, the directory ID can be used to find the file.
    
    If that fails, the original text name path to the file is used to find
    the file, so that if you replaced the file so that the File ID was lost
    or your replaced the distribution with a new version which included the
    folder, but all the names were the same, then the path would still find
    the file (as in you deleted your old system folder, but the alias was
    still able to find a path to a "System Folder:Control Panels".
    
    ----
    
    As for your problems with AliasZoo, that could be an application
    problem.
    
    					Bob Harris

>     <<< Note 800.14 by UNIFIX::HARRIS "Juggling has its ups and downs" >>>
>            -< Multiple paths stored in an alias have side effects >-

    Thanks...yes, it made sense to me that although I updated
    the OS, since I kept the old system folder around, the control
    panel Alias still pointed to the old one.  Although it made sense,
    it was behaviour I had not wanted or thought about in advance.
    I hope I did not screw anything up by using the old versions of control
    panels.

>    As for your problems with AliasZoo, that could be an application
>    problem.

    Its not just the application...I can pull up the 'get info' box and
    the 'find original' also fails.  But AliasZoo says they are all okay.
    bob

Interesting.

I decided to try an experiment.

1. Created two folders: folder 1 and folder 2

2. Created a file containing "First File".  Name it "A File." and put it
   into folder 1.  Created an alias to it.

3. Moved "A File." from folder 1 to folder 2.

4. Created another file, containing "Second File".  Name it "A File." and
   put it into folder 1.

5. Double-clicked on the alias.  "Second File" was opened.  This means that
   the _name_ had precedence over the internal file ID.

6. Trashed "A File." in folder 2 (First File).  Moved "A File." (Second file)
   to Folder 2.

7. Double clicked on the alias.  "Second File" was opened.  This means that
   if the _name_ can't be found, the internal file ID of the last file
   accessed is used to find the file.  The name in the alias was updated.

/john

    Aliases have always been known to use the name first, John; it's
    documented behavior.  If the name cannot be found, then the alias falls
    back on the file ID.  This way, when you upgrade an application you
    don't need to regenerate that handy alias you have on your desktop. 
    Just move the old application to the Trash or some other safe place,
    install the new one, and go.  If you find that the new one doesn't work
    right, just trash it and put the old one back.
    
    Note, though, that this is different from the behavior of the Desktop
    file.  Suppose you trash an application and drop a new version into the
    original place.  Launching a document will attempt to launch the
    application that's in the Trash.  To make the system find the new
    version and update the DEsktop, you must actually empty the Trash.