Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition

The Wrong Program Opens

As noted in Chapter 4, the way documents are linked to the programs that can open them is very different in Mac OS X than it was before. Some documents have invisible, four-letter type and creator codes that tell them which programs they “belong to.” Other documents lack these codes, and open up in whichever program recognizes its file name extension (.doc or .txt, for example).

Section 4.5.2 shows you how to choose which program opens a certain document (or kind of document). But that’s not much help when you double-click a text document and have to sit there while SimpleText opens up—in Classic, mandating a 45-second wait.

WORKAROUND WORKSHOPFixing Permissions Problems

Sooner or later, when you try to move, rename, or delete a certain file or folder, you may get an error message like this—“The folder ‘Junk’ could not be opened because you do not have sufficient access privileges”—or this: “The operation could not be completed because this item is owned by Chris” (or by root, which means by Mac OS X itself).

What they’re trying to say is, you’ve run into a permissions problem.

As noted in Chapter 11, Mac OS X is designed to accommodate a number of different people who share the same Mac over time. Nobody is allowed to meddle with other people’s files or folders. But even if you’re the solo operator of your Mac, you still share it with Mac OS X itself (which the error messages may refer to as root or system).

In any case, if you’re confident that whatever you’re ...