Jump To:
Technical Notes: Carbon
File management consists of storing persistent information on a physical medium and retrieving that information later. Carbon provides several programming interfaces for gaining access to stored files, folders, and disc recordings. Developers can also create and display dialogs that solicit choices from users when they are opening and saving files.

Document Descriptions
On Off
Display

Sorted by
Title
Sort by
Date
The Death of typeFSSpec: moving along to typeFileURL (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN2022: Discusses the typeFileURL format and using it to pass file references between applications in Mac OS X.
2001-06-07
Exclusive File Access in Mac OS X (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN2037: Covers exclusive file access In Mac OS X
2002-05-01
FCBs, Now and Forever (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN1184: MacOS 9.0 changes the format of the FileControlBlock (FCB) table significantly. How to access FCB information.
1999-10-01
File Manager File Handling Q&As (HTML) (PDF)
FL515: Contains an archive of Q&As related to the Mac OS File Manager.
2000-08-14
File Manager Performance and Caching (HTML) (PDF)
FL16: Discusses traditional Mac OS file system input/output performance issues and the File Manager's volume cache.
2000-09-01
HFS Plus Volume Format (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN1150: Describes the physical layout of an HFS Plus volume.
2004-03-05
Locating Application Support Files under Mac OS X (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN2015: Describes different methods for an application to determine its location.
2001-03-27
Migrating to FSRefs & long Unicode names from FSSpecs (HTML) ()
TN2078: Answers and coding techniques to commonly asked questions about adopting FSRefs and long file names.
2003-05-06
On Launching an App with a Document (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN1002: Explains how to programatically launch an application and then tell it to open a document.
2000-07-01
The Preferences Problem (HTML) (PDF) ()
Deprecated - TN1134: Outlines typical problems with preferences files and some of their solutions.
1998-10-01
Programmatic Mounting of AppleShare Volumes (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN1111: Mount an AppleShare volume using PBVolumeMount. AFPVolMountInfo structure is defined along with the AFPXVolMountInfo structure.
1997-10-01
Resolving Alias Files Quietly (HTML) (PDF)
FL30: Describes how to resolve alias files on remote volumes without user interaction.
1999-11-01
Searching Volumes - Solutions and Problems (HTML) (PDF)
Deprecated - FL31: Discusses searching volumes using PBCatSearch.
1988-10-01
Using Launch Services for discovering document binding and launching applications (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN2017: Interface to starting applications, opening documents either with a specific application, or using the default application.
2001-04-17
Using the Drag Manager to Interact with and Manipulate File System Entities (HTML) (PDF) ()
TN1085: Details the data flavors provided by the Drag Manager for interacting with and manipulating file system entities.
1996-12-01
Version Territory (HTML)
Deprecated - OV12: Please see Technical Note 1132 - Version Territory.
1988-04-01
You Want Permission to do What?!! (HTML) (PDF)
FL37: Provides an-depth discussion of the File Manager and AFP permission models.
1999-04-01