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Old December 14th 17, 03:39 PM posted to comp.sys.mac.apps,alt.windows7.general,comp.sys.mac.system
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Default Can a Macintosh person tell us how to change the name of a file? (Now discussion of metadata)

In article , Tim Streater
wrote:

Many files have such type-identifiers included. E.g., a JPG file
begins with JFIF, a WordPerfect file includes WPC in the first line,
an MS .doc includes "Microsoft Word Document" in plain text in the
header, and so on. Some image viewers will even tell you that the
extension doesn't match the file type, if that happens to be the case.

Then you've put the metadata inside the file, which is even worse. It
should be part of the file system.

On the contrary: I think metadata _should_ be inside the file. That way
it can't be separated, even if the file is moved (or even emailed).


Classic MacOS did this in a much better way with its data fork and
resource fork.


actually, the type/creator was not in either of those, but rather the
finder info (i.e., file system).

What are the standards for metadata inside the file? What's described
above seems pretty random to me.


it is random.

Relying on it being part of the file system only works while you're
inside the same OS, unless you believe in forcing all OSs to have the
same standards for handling metadata.


EXIF data? That metadata is fairly well standardised.


other than maker bytes, which are manufacturer specific and often
encrypted, yes.
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