About the Alias Manager
alias records, which are data structures that describe file system objects
(that is, files, directories, and volumes). You create an AliasRecord to take a fingerprint of a file system object, usually a file, that you might need to locate
again later. You can store the AliasRecord, instead of a standard file specification, and then let the Alias Manager find the file again when it's needed. The Alias Manager contains algorithms for locating files that have been moved, renamed, copied, or re stored from backup.
not directly manipulate Finder aliases, which are created and
describes Finder aliases and how your application can accommodate
them.
later. Call the Gestalt function, described in the section en titled present.
Read the accompanying Alias Manager sections if you want your application example, to identify a customized dictionary from within a word- processing
document. When the user runs a spelling checker on the document, your
application can ask the Alias Manager to resolve the record to find the correct dictionary.
To use these sections, you should be familiar with the File Manager conventions for identifying files, directories, and volumes.
whenever you find yourself storing a specific file description, such as filename
and parent directory ID. The Alias Manager stores this information and more in the AliasRecord, and it also provides a set of search strategies for resolving the record later. The search strategies are described later in the section
en titled Resolving Alias Records under
target of an AliasRecord is on an unmounted AppleShare volume, the Alias Manager automatically mounts the volume when it resolves the alias. If the target object is on an unmounted ejectable volume, the Alias Manager prompts the user to insert the volume.
fills in the record, and returns a handle to it. Your application is responsible
for storing the record and retrieving it when needed. Your application must
also supply strategies for handling various alias-resolution problems.
To help you understand and use the Alias Manager, the information in the accompanying sections provides:
• specific techniques for using the Alias Manager in your application.