Create a folder with a custom extension - windows

So I've been looking around for a bit on a way to do this, and here is my idea:
I want to create a folder, with a custom extension. Similar to how java has their .jar folders, is there any way to package things like this, and still be able to move things between the folders?
For example, I want to use .map, and use it as a folder. So lets say I want to put a ma.png and ma.p inside of a test.map folder, and store all of that inside of a folder named maps, so the reference for the ma.p file would be "maps/test.map/ma.p".
Any ideas?

Windows cannot associate folders with programs the way OS X does. You can name folders with an 'extension', but it doesn't change its behaviour. In OS X, renaming a folder to something.app makes the OS treat the folder as a file (application). Windows doesn't do this.
You mentioned .jar files: Java archives are .zip archives, renamed to .jar.
You can do what you said in your last paragraph, but Windows doesn't care about 'extensions' in directory names. This is an OS X-only thing, if you ever see such a thing, I can almost guarantee it's a renamed .zip, rather than a directory with an extension.

Related

Is there any way to filter folders/directories by name in windows?

Is there any way to filter folders by Name in Windows?
Let's suppose I have 100 or 200 folders with different names in the directory.
Now I have a list of specific folder names that are in the folders and I want to filter/move those listed name folders to another directory.
In an easy word I want to copy/move listed folder names to another folder/directory.
How can I do that with any software in bulk? I am searching for it but I can't find any software to do this task for me. I can manually move the folder one by one but it's so time-consuming when I have hundreds of folders.
I am currently using XCOPY GUI software but in this software, I have to first filter the path exception folder before I get my final result.
Example:
Main Dir contains
1st folder
2nd folder
3rd folder
4th folder
and so on ...
I have a list of names in my notepad which folders I want to copy or move.
3rd folder,
4th folder
Final Dir:
3rd folder
4th folder
How can I do that in bilk using any software or any way?
Thanks
If you're using Java, you can use methods in the Files class, or instances of File.
For example, Files.move() might help. If you're using an IDE, type stuff that might be right, like Files.move(), and suggestions will pop up that might lead you down the right path. Also, you can look at the documentation. I am currently scraping the web and creating and filing files, so I know about this somewhat, although not specifically about moving folders rather than files. I'm using Java on a MacBook, so that might influence how relevant my suggestions are to you depending on what you're using.
Basically, look at the documentation for your language. You hopefully won't need any external libraries since moving folders should be a basic task.

Allowing a Macintosh application to write files

We market an application that runs on multiple platforms, including Macintosh. On the Macintosh the software gets packaged into a .dmg file, and when installed everything goes into the /Applications hierarchy.
Some of the files in our application's hierarchy are samples that users are supposed to be able to modify in place or copy to different files in the same directory. The problem is the permissions that seem to get applied within the /Applications hierarchy prevent our application from doing such operations.
So I either need to change the install so the directories and files in question within /Applications allow modification, or I need to segregate the sample files to a different location on the disk where they can be modified.
I've tried making sure the permissions on the files allow writing at the time the .dmg file is pulled together, but then when the product is installed the permissions get changed to more restrictive ones that don't allow file modification or copying.
I've been able to modify the packaging so the sample files get installed to a different location, but so far I haven't been able to find a suitable area on the Macintosh disk to put them so modification is allowed. I haven't been able to figure out how to tell the packaging that these sample files should be installed into the installer's home directory.
Anyone have any suggestions? I'm afraid I'm a bit of an Apple novice. The procedure to build the .dmg file employs a Makefile that invokes commands like pkgbuild and productbuild. The productbuild command uses a --distribution qualifier that references a .xml file. There don't seem to be any scripts invoked.

Unzip .app file without it turning into folders

A company I work with have an issue where a zipped .app file is resolving into its bundled folders once unzipped.
What is the best way to compress an .app so that it can be decompressed without that it resolves into folders, that is the want it to remain a single .app file?
Use another format than zip? Compress it in binary?
Thanks in advance
You shouldn't be having any problems with this. As I'L'I points out, an application on the Mac is a bundle of folders. It's just that the Finder presents it to the user as a single entity.
Zipping and unzipping the bundle won't change this. The Finder recognises the .app extension and acts accordingly. It is not necessary to set what used to be called the 'bundle' bit on the top-level folder. That would get lost by round-tripping the app through a .zip file, but that's not important anymore.
So the real question is, how are you inspecting the unzipped copy of your app? If it's via the command line, or some other tool that doesn't know (or care) that apps are really bundles then you will indeed get the behaviour you describe, even with the original.
I couldn't find any way to break the Finder's 'single entity' view of an app, even if I deliberately damaged it but maybe you have found a way. If so, I'd be interested to know how you did it.

Oneway sync of Windows folders

I have a folder where I don't want to modify any existing files in.
But I want to be able to add and remove files easily and recognize these files easily.
I thought in something like a SymLink but I want one folder where only the added files are shown and then the source folder with all files.
Is there anything like this? Or do you have a better idea?
Okay I found SyncToy from microsoft.
It has an echo mode which does what I wanted.

Creating a file bundle on OSX

For an application I would like to store a collection of files together, and have them appear in the filesystem as a single file so its easy to manage. I am currently storing everything in a folder.
I would like to keep things accessible so you can manually edit the inside contents if neccesary.
One way to do this would be to create a zip archive and give it a custom extension other then .zip. Then it appears as a filetype and if needed you can unpack and access the content, but for normal use keep it hidden.
I can't seem to find a convenient way to do this. Boost and zlib can do the compression but don't work with archives. I found libzip but I have a hard time understanding how to use it and to me it seems that it only reads/writes zip archives without doing the actual compression.
Is there a more convenient way to tackle this?
Can you call system functions for creating an archive on OSX from c++ / Carbon?
Is there another way to make a folder appear as a single file?
In OSX, you can create Document Packages (similar to application bundles) which are treated as a single file in the Finder, but are really just directories with some internal structure.
Apple does not zip these packages, but they do provide the functionality you describe and they can be created and accessed through CoreFoundation by using CFBundleRef .
From the documentation:
... The important thing to remember about creating a document package is that it is just a directory. As long as the type of the document package is registered (as described in “Registering Your Document Type”), all you have to do is create a directory with the appropriate filename extension. (The Finder uses the filename extension as its cue to treat the directory as a package.) You can create the directory (and create any files you want to put inside that directory) using the standard BSD file system routines ...
As 1st step, simple rename the folder and add the extension .bundle, e.g. Myappdir.bundle
That's will show the whole folder as one file with a lego-like bundle icon.
The next step is you must create one Info.plist file inside.

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