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BeOS Journal #3:
The Filetyping Problem
Scot Hacker, ZDNet
01/10/97
What does your operating system do when you double-click on a file? Does
it know what application you want the file to be opened by? Does it give
you a choice of apps? Should the association between file types and
applications be system-wide, or vary for every file? These questions seem
simple on the surface, but no operating system I know of has satisfactory
answers -- although some are better than others. If you use a Macintosh, you're
accustomed to seeing files open in the application that created them. If you
use Windows, you're accustomed to seeing files open in the application you've
designated system-wide for that type of file.
Both systems have their advantages and their weaknesses. Windows' weakness lies
in the fact that, in order for files to open correctly, the user must have the
proper extension tacked on to the end of the filename. For instance, if you
want a file to open up as a Word document, you've got to name it
"filename.doc". If you name it simply "filename", Windows has no idea what to
do with it and brings up a list of all applications on the system (similar to
the Mac's EasyOpen). Not only is this system brain-dead, but it imposes an
unneccessary burden on the end user.
On the other hand, the Mac isn't any more helpful in this regard. In fact,
sometimes it's a downright pain in the neck. The assumption that the
application you created a file with is the best one to open it with is just
plain wrong. For instance, Photoshop is good at making JPEGs. But I only want
to launch Photoshop to make JPEGs, not to view them. It gets
worse. Let's say I have a folder full of HTML files. Some of them were saved
out of Netscape, some out of Word, some out of BBEdit, and some out of
SimpleText. Now, any time I double-click one of these files, I want it to open
in Netscape -- but the Mac makes this almost impossible, whereas Windows makes
it easy. Sure, you can change file associations on the Mac one at a time, but
that's no help when you've got 300 files to work with. And please don't trumpet
the grace of drag-and-drop, which is only useful when the target icon is
visible. If I have to dig around for an icon or launch pad onto which I can drop
my files, I'm wasting time.
Sometimes, when an OS is just trying to help, its assumptions get in the way.
Brain-dead systems are often more flexible, and the brain-deadness of Windows
actually makes day-to-day work quite a bit easier in this regard. But both
systems are badly broken, and that's why I was disappointed to see the way file
associations are handled on the BeOS. The development team has lifted the
Macintosh method wholecloth from the pages of computing history and plunked it
down smack-dab in the middle of our tabula rasa of an operating system. If I
FTP filename.html down from the Net onto my BeBox and double-click it, BeOS
just plays dumb and asks me if I'd like to launch the Edit application. That's
a problem. If I can look at the file and know it's an HTML doc just by glancing
at the extension, then my computer should be at least as smart.
When users are sharing files on the same platform, filetyping isn't an issue.
But in this permanently networked, cross-platform world, the problem is big and
getting bigger. We download all kinds of files from the Net, not to mention
floppy exchanges. BeOS will be able to read Mac and DOS formatted disks very
soon now (the X-Files utility available from http://www.be.com/beware/Utilities.html already lets you do this, albeit in a
somewhat limited fashion). But once you've got files from other systems onto
the BeOS, you still need a fast, flexible, and easily customizable way of
associating files with them.
The question then, from a user-interface perspective, becomes this: Where on
the spectrum between brain-dead openness and user-friendly features should the
BeOS sit? I believe there's a solution out there that can satisfy all users on
this point, and it comes in two parts.
The first involves availing ourselves of the MIME types Internet standard,
which lets Web browsers on all platforms handle all number of mysterious file
types transparently. You simply register files into a MIME database when they
arrive for the first time, and for ever after the files are handled properly.
This functionality could be handled easily by the database the BeOS is built
upon. There's a lot more to it than that, and in fact, several intrepid souls
out there have written extensively on the topic. See http://www.qnx.com/~chrish/Be/FileTypes.html for more information.
So that takes care of a system-wide solution, but what about user overrides? I
may want all image files to open in Be's ImageView app, but not the files in a
particular folder, which I want to open in Photoshop because they constitute a
work-in-progress. Fine, give us localized controls for specifying filetype
associations. And finally, give me access to opening applications from wherever
I am. I should be able to right-click any file, choose Open With. . . and be
presented with a list of commonly used applications. Not every app on the
system, mind you -- that would be senseless. Rather, I should be able to
specify exactly what's going to show up on that list.
So here's the situation: Be's filetype handling, as of DR 8.2, is as broken as
that the other major operating systems. But there's time for improvement before
1.0 hits the streets, and these are the steps Be needs to take the break the
pattern:
1. Arrange for a method of customizable, system-wide file-type handling -- such
as MIME-typing, along with a localized override for individual files.
2. Don't make me drag-and-drop when I want to open up a file in something other
than its associated application. Give me access to whatever tool I need from
wherever my mouse cursor is at any given moment.
Simple, right? Well, probably not, but the file system is being entirely
re-written for DR9, and this is a great time to make major changes. Borrowing
bad habits from the history of computing is no way to break new ground. The
BeOS should be more customizable, flexible, and usable than anything out there.
That's when me and thousands of other users will stop using MacOS and
Windows95.
Follow-up: Last week I wrote about difficulties
I was having getting the BeBox to send outgoing e-mail. Astute Be user Jeff
Hull clued me in to the solution: Make sure the proper hostname for your
machine is entered in the Network preferences dialog. Once I changed this
information to my ISP account name, all my pending mail went flying out the
door. That's one more critical step toward daily usability.
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