FSSpec and default stdio directory of a Carbon OS X app

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rhnlogic@yahoo.com - 20 Dec 2005 21:29 GMT

The default directory of a Carbon OS X application as used by stdio
seems to be at the level above that of the named app directory.
But MakeFSSpec() seems to assume that the default directory is
down in the ./appname/Contents/MacOS/ subdirectory, so can't
find the file just fopen'ed when called with a dirID of 0 or the
dirID of the calling process.

So does anyone have code for making an FSSpec out of file opened
by stdio when no path is specified in fopen() ?

I'm pasting two old programs together, and would like to set the
MacOS file type & creator after a unix stdio fopen/fclose for
cosmetic reasons. Rewriting either old program (one Unix, one
converted Mac Classic) is unlikely worth the effort.

Thanks.

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rhn A.T nicholson d.O.t C-o-M

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David Phillip Oster - 21 Dec 2005 03:46 GMT

> The default directory of a Carbon OS X application as used by stdio
> seems to be at the level above that of the named app directory.
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> cosmetic reasons. Rewriting either old program (one Unix, one
> converted Mac Classic) is unlikely worth the effort.

It is a mistake to make any assumptions about what you get if you pass 0
for the vref and dirId in FSMakeFSSpec().

What C library are you using Apple's, Metrowerks, or another?

Most C libraries have calls to get your from a FILE* to an FSSpec. (Or,
since OS 9, an FSRef.)

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Reinder Verlinde - 21 Dec 2005 17:57 GMT

> > The default directory of a Carbon OS X application as used by stdio
> > seems to be [...]
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> > cosmetic reasons. Rewriting either old program (one Unix, one
> > converted Mac Classic) is unlikely worth the effort.

> It is a mistake to make any assumptions about what you get if you pass 0
> for the vref and dirId in FSMakeFSSpec().
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Most C libraries have calls to get your from a FILE* to an FSSpec. (Or,
> since OS 9, an FSRef.)

Many older environments also have two global variables (_fcreator and
_ftype for Symantec C++) that allow one to specify creator and type of
files created using their C library. Usage would be:

_fcreator = 'ttxt';
_ftype = 'TEXT';
FILE * f = fopen( "Hello, world!", "w");
...

If such a change (and recompilation) is feasible for you, this might be
easier than messing around with paths.

Reinder

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Allen Brunson - 21 Dec 2005 04:12 GMT

> The default directory of a Carbon OS X application as used by stdio
> seems to be [...]

do not assume any particular directory will be the default when your app is
started. it can be different from one run to the next, depending on how the
app is launched. this is probably the single-most-asked FAQ in the mac
programming groups. you can google for it if you want details, personally i'm
too tired from the last fifty times this topic came up to go into it again.

what you want to do is determine what folder it is you're really looking for,
and construct a path that points there unequivocally. say what it is you're
interested in in a follow-up question, and somebody can probably come up with
how you can locate said directory.

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rhnlogic@yahoo.com - 21 Dec 2005 07:13 GMT

> > The default directory of a Carbon OS X application as used by stdio
> > seems to be [...]
>
> do not assume any particular directory will be the default when your app is
> started. it can be different from one run to the next, depending on how the
> app is launched.

OK. I discovered that myself once I started launching my trial builds
from the Finder and command line instead of just the XCode debugger.

> this is probably the single-most-asked FAQ in the mac
> programming groups. you can google for it if you want details, personally i'm
> too tired from the last fifty times this topic came up to go into it again.

What search terms do you recommend? I tried googling on mixing
old FSSpec calls and stdio , but didn't find much about directory
defaults before I asked here.

> what you want to do is determine what folder it is you're really looking for,
> and construct a path that points there unequivocally. say what it is you're
> interested in in a follow-up question, and somebody can probably come up with
> how you can locate said directory.

I know what to do when the use specifies a folder, either by full
posix path or Navigation services. Now I'm trying to figure out some
simple thing to do when the user types in only a file name without a
directory, and not not save their data (and which works with both the
legacy Mac Classic or the unix stdio code base portions of the app).
chdir() & HSetVol to the users Documents directory? Or ?

Thanks.

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Ron
http://www.nicholson.com/rhn/basic

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Mac Forum / Programming / Mac Programming / December 2005

FSSpec and default stdio directory of a Carbon OS X app