About the File Manager and System 7.0
Most of the features described in this section are available only in system
software version 7.0 or later. To determine which features are available in a
specific operating environment, use the Gestalt function.The availability of some features depends on the characteristics of the volume rather than on the
system software. To determine which features a volume supports, use the
various new features appears at the beginning of the section en titled
To use this section you must be familiar with the file system documentation.
application access to data storage devices such as disk drives. You use the
To fully exploit system software version 7.0, your application should adopt
• the file system specification record, a new convention for identifying
files and directories (see the section en titled
• the strategy of updating a stored file by changing the catalog entries
special-purpose functions that you can use to
• search an entire volume quickly, matching entries in almost any of
the catalog information fields, such as file creation date or file length
• track files by assigning and resolving file identification numbers
• mount volumes
• manipulate access-control privileges in foreign file systems
Version 7.0 supplies high-level versions of some functions previously
available only as low-level functions. These functions have been available
historically in some development environments but have not been documented
before in Inside Macintosh.
been expanded and updated to reflect features in version 7.0. Some
File Manager routines have been modified to accommodate file identification numbers.
System software version 7.0 includes a local version of Apple's file-server
application, AppleShare. This feature allows the user to make some or all of
the files on a local volume available over a network, increasing the chance that
your application may be used in a shared environment. As long as you follow
the standard guidelines for Macintosh programming, your application should
work in a shared environment. If you want to exploit the full power of a shared
environment, follow the guidelines in the section,
To help you understand and use the version 7.0 File Manager, the first few sections of this section introduce the new features you should use: the new
convention for identifying files and directories and the new strategy for
updating stored files safely. The "New Special-Purpose Features" section
introduces an assortment of other powerful but more specialized features.
• recognize and use a standard file identification convention
• update a stored file safely
• search a volume for one or more files or directories
• assign and resolve file ID numbers
• manipulate the permission information that controls access to files on
volumes controlled by different operating systems, such as A/UX.