Chameleon is a simple drag-and-drop utility which will allow you to change a MacOS file's type.
What is a file type?
A file type tells the MacOS which program a file is attributed to as well as its use. This information can usually be seen by clicking once on a file's icon and selecting "Get Info..." from the "File" menu in the Finder. There will be a line labelled "Kind:". This is a file's type. For instance, any document created by "SimpleText" (the program that created this Read Me file), will have a file type of "SimpleText text document" or "SimpleText read-only document". This tells you, the user, two things. This means that if you double-click the icon, the program "SimpleText" will open and automatically opent he document, and that the document is either a plain text file or a read-only file (the two types of files SimpleText can read).
How does the MacOS know of what file type each file is?
Unlike some of the clunkier methods of doing this on alternative operating systems (such as Windows), the MacOS uses a very unobtrusive, elegent method of giving each file a file type. Each file is assigned two different four-letter codes—a creator code and a type code. The creator code lets your Mac know to which application the file belongs and should be opened when the file is double-clicked. The type code tells both the MacOS and the owning application what type of file it is.
For instance, the creator code for SimpleText is "ttxt". Any file with a creator code of "ttxt" is assumed to belong to SimpleText. The type code for a SimpleText text document is "TEXT". So, any document with a creator code of "ttxt" and a type code of "TEXT" is assumed to be a SimpleText text document. (Incidently, the type code for a SimpleText read-only document (like this Read Me file) is "ttro"). Note that case does matter in these codes.
Why do I care?
Because, things do go wrong. Sometimes your Mac may forget these codes. Maybe someone sent you a file as an e-mail attachement, but when you download it, your Mac doesn't know what kind of file it is. Sometimes things go wrong when saving a file. Sometimes you may want to trick your Mac into thinking that a file is really a different type of file.
Unfortunately, the downside to the MacOS's elegent, unobtrusive method of giving each file a file type is that it is very difficult to change a files type without a tool designed to do so.
Enter Chameleon.
Chameleon is such a tool. It is designed specifically to show you a files creator and type codes as well as let you change them. There are other tools out there which allow you to do the same thing, but Chameleon has the advantage of allowing you to choose file-types easily from a single menu, without even needing to know the creator and type codes in advance!
Using Chameleon
The easiest way to use Chameleon is to simply drag a file on top of the Chameleon icon. When you do so, a window will appear which will give you the files file-type, its creator code and its type code.
This is the window which allows you to make any changes to the files type. You can make these changes two ways.
1. If you already know the creator and type codes of the type you want to change the file to, simply type them in the appropriate fields provided.
2. If you don't already know the creator and type codes of the type you want to change the file to, you can select from predefined types in the popup menu just below the file's filename. Chameleon already knows about 80 predefined filetypes. If none of these are what you want, you can define your own types (see Manging File Types).
If you drag a file on top of Chameleon of a type that it does not recognize, Chameleon will let you know and give you several options.
If you select "Open", Chameleon will show you the information it does know about your file (i.e. the Creator and Type codes), and tell you that it is an Unknown type. This allows you to change the file type to something that Chameleon does recognize, without having to define a new type.
If you select "Define Type..." then Chameleon will give you the opportunity to name the type of the unknown file and save its Creator and Type codes so that Chameleon will recognize files of the same type in the future.
Managing File Types
Chameleon allows you to customize the types of files it will recognize. As mentioned before, Chameleon, by default, recognizes about 80 different file types. However, you can add to or delete from this list. To do this, select "Manage File Types..." from the "Edit" menu. The following window will appear:
To add a new type to the list, click the "Add Type..." button. A window will appear that will ask you for the type's name, creator code and type code. Enter this information, and click "OK. Files with those Creator and Type codes will then be recognized by Chameleon.
If you select "Edit Type...", Chameleon will allow you to change information about a file type.
You can delete a type from the list by clicking the "Delete Type..." button.
WARNINGS and DISCLAIMERS
While Chameleon makes it very easy to change a file's type, it is very important to understand that you should only do so when necessary. Changing the creator or type codes can make a file unreadable by the application that created it, or cause applications not to open at all. SearchWare Solutions will not accept responsibility for any files which become unreadable or unopenable because of improper use of this software.
Chameleon does not actually change the format a file is saved in. For instance, if a file is saved in a PhotoShop JPEG format, but you use Chameleon to change its type code to that of a GIF format, the file is still saved in a JPEG format, however the MacOS will see the file as a GIF document.
If you don't understand MacOS file types or creator and type codes, DO NOT USE THIS SOFTWARE. You CAN mess up your files if you don't know what you are doing. I've tried to give a rudimentary introduction to MacOS file types in this Read Me file, but it is merely that, an introduction. For more information, see Inside Macintosh: Files (http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/Files/Files-2.html).
SearchWare Solutions can not provide general file-related support, only support related directly to Chameleon.
Chameleon is freeware. It may be freely distributed as long as only the original self-extracting archive is distributed, and not individual parts. If you want to include Chameleon in a for-profit compilation (such as CD's distributed with magazines), you MUST ask for written or e-mail permission from SearchWare Solutions first. Any not-for-profit archive or distribution may include Chameleon without permission. SearchWare Solutions can be contacted at the e-mail or web-address above. Please support shareware/freeware by following the author's requirments!
Please report any bugs or suggestions to SearchWare Solutions to the e-mail or web address above. The users are what make our products successful! I want to hear what you have to say! I will try to respond personally to each bug-report/feature request/comment that is sent to me.
