MacOS X, Finder Labels, and Eudora labels

AHunter3 · 05-12-2002, 01:50 AM

The following is from the newsgroup comp.mail.eudora.mac.

Reader's Digest Condensed Version: it would appear that MacOS X does have Finder labels--and Eudora is referencing them--but there is no prefs pane or Finder Preferences window from which to name them, nor any way to apply them to Finder items.

In my case, I'm only interesting in getting at the label names, to make them consistent with the ones I use under OS 9. Anyone got a clue?

====newsgroup excerpt begins====

From: Allan Hunter <ahunter3@earthlink.net>
Reply-To: ahunter3@earthlink.net
Newsgroups: comp.mail.eudora.mac, news.misc.mail.eudora.mac

Eudora's preferences for filters let you assign the names and colors for the
second set of filters (I think their default names were "Filter 8" through
"Filter 15" or something like that), and for the first 7 it says "The other
labels should be edited from either the Finder's Preferences menu item or
from the Labels control panel, depending on your version of MacOS." since I
dont' use Finder labels for very many other purposes, I named many of my
regular Finder labels to reflect the purposes for which they were being used
in Eudora.

Under MacOS 8 and 9, the correct place to edit Finder labels and names is
"the Finder's Preferences menu". The other option mentioned, the "Labels
control panel", would be the correct place if one were using System 7! But
this message persists under OS X, which doesn't HAVE any such thing as Finder
labels.

When setting up filters under MacOS X (or viewing filtered mail), you see
that under MacOS X, Eudora is using the MacOS 7/8/9 default filter names,
things like "Essential", "Hot", "Cool", "Project 1", "Project 2", etc.

Anyone got a clue as to where Eudora is pulling this information from? Did
QualComm hard-wire the old default names into the program itself for MacOS X
purposes? Is it storing the information in a MacOS X type preferences file
somewhere? Is it somehow picking up values from one of my OS 8 or OS 9
System Folders even though Classic is not running at the time? And, to get
to the point, is there a way to edit these names so as to give them the same
values I assigned to them under MacOS 9?

===========

Interesting question. They do seem to be coded into the settings since
labels in X have been removed. A quick search through the x-settings didn't
reveal a solution.

I sent off an email; when I hear something, I'll post it.

Greg

=================

Actually, I believe Eudora is still getting the info from OS X. I seem to
recall reading that the labels are still there inside the OS. There's
just no longer a way to modify them (at least, not from the GUI). I would
assume that one could edit one of the many files in your library to change
the labels, but as to which one, you'd need to ask someone else. I'd
repost this question c.s.m.system. Someone in there is bound to know.

=================

> > I seem to recall reading that the labels are still there inside the OS.
> > There's just no longer a way to modify them (at least, not from the GUI)
>
> Labels have been removed in X.

Not entirely. They are still supported by the HFS and HFS+ file
systems, and can be accessed from Carbon applications running natively.
For example, the Mac OS X version of Resorceror can display and set the
label, and Retrospect 5 (and its client) can access them. You can also
access and modify labels in Classic applications (e.g. ResEdit).

The only part that seems to be missing is that the Mac OS X Finder
doesn't provide any access to labels.

===============
Look at the OS X's Finder's AppleScript dictionary. Call it "removed"
or call it "not yet enabled", in any case there's evidence that they
will return.

==============

> Look at the OS X's Finder's AppleScript dictionary. Call it "removed"
> or call it "not yet enabled", in any case there's evidence that they
> will return.

You and David are correct. The core is still there, but there is no gui to
edit them. Not much can be done in Eudora until they're "exposed".

Greg

AHunter3 · 05-19-2002, 02:46 PM

Aww, c'mon, doesn't anybody know?

Phil St. Romain · 05-19-2002, 08:20 PM

All very interesting, A. I was familiar with the Applescript reference, but hadn't thought about how Eudora might be labeling from the OS somehow.

Don't know what else to say as I don't have the programming expertise to enable this feature. When I need labels, I use the SNAX Finder, which works very well, although I'm not sure what resource SNAX draws upon for its labeling feature.

AHunter3 · 09-08-2002, 01:54 PM

Reviving this thread on the basis of a small amount of additional information.

Rainer Brockeroff, who wrote the excellent utility XRAY, says

Quote:


	I started looking for that [an undocumented OS X routine for handling Finder labels]. Surprise, the old system call (GetLabel(), which returns the label name and color) still exists and works under Mac OS X, though it seems it always returns the default names/colors. I thought it wouldn't be there anymore, so I hardwired everything in. OK, so I'm changing the next version to call this - and Eudora apparently calls this, too. So if Apple ever reimplements labels, they'll change together. The call seems to be in Jaguar, too, although the resources containing the default strings changed places.

I would really like to know where the default strings for Finder labels are hidden under MacOS X (10.1 and Jaguar).

Anyone?

AHunter3 · 09-08-2002, 11:42 PM

Mr. Brockeroff was also kind enough to send me this information: The label names for MacOS X 10.1.x is at --

Quote:


	/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Resources/HIToolbox.rsrc

...and for Jaguar, it would be--

Quote:


	/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/HIServices.rsrc

So with HexEdit, after a quick search for Essential, I found the places in the rsrc file where the finder label strings are hidden. Went back, took screen shots in 9.0.4 (where I have the labels set up the way I want them) and 9.2.2 (which still has the default Apple names on the labels) so as to know what has to correspond with what. Then reopened the file in HexEdit and replaced the Apple default strings with the names I wanted to be reflected on the labels.

NOTE: I'm sufficiently overcautious about editing binary files that I only entered new strings of exactly the same length as the Apple default. Thus, for the label originally known as "Cool", I put in a short abbreviated version of what I put in 9.0.4, whereas "Essential" gave me a lot more room to play with.

The upshot of it is, though, that I have nice labels for use in Eudora!

In hopes this may be of use to another Eudora user...

AHunter3 · 10-08-2003, 08:12 PM

Just a quick note to confirm that this little trick does indeed work under Jaguar.

05-12-2002, 01:50 AM	#1
AHunter3 Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 3,032	MacOS X, Finder Labels, and Eudora labels The following is from the newsgroup comp.mail.eudora.mac. Reader's Digest Condensed Version: it would appear that MacOS X does have Finder labels--and Eudora is referencing them--but there is no prefs pane or Finder Preferences window from which to name them, nor any way to apply them to Finder items. In my case, I'm only interesting in getting at the label names, to make them consistent with the ones I use under OS 9. Anyone got a clue? ====newsgroup excerpt begins==== From: Allan Hunter <ahunter3@earthlink.net> Reply-To: ahunter3@earthlink.net Newsgroups: comp.mail.eudora.mac, news.misc.mail.eudora.mac Eudora's preferences for filters let you assign the names and colors for the second set of filters (I think their default names were "Filter 8" through "Filter 15" or something like that), and for the first 7 it says "The other labels should be edited from either the Finder's Preferences menu item or from the Labels control panel, depending on your version of MacOS." since I dont' use Finder labels for very many other purposes, I named many of my regular Finder labels to reflect the purposes for which they were being used in Eudora. Under MacOS 8 and 9, the correct place to edit Finder labels and names is "the Finder's Preferences menu". The other option mentioned, the "Labels control panel", would be the correct place if one were using System 7! But this message persists under OS X, which doesn't HAVE any such thing as Finder labels. When setting up filters under MacOS X (or viewing filtered mail), you see that under MacOS X, Eudora is using the MacOS 7/8/9 default filter names, things like "Essential", "Hot", "Cool", "Project 1", "Project 2", etc. Anyone got a clue as to where Eudora is pulling this information from? Did QualComm hard-wire the old default names into the program itself for MacOS X purposes? Is it storing the information in a MacOS X type preferences file somewhere? Is it somehow picking up values from one of my OS 8 or OS 9 System Folders even though Classic is not running at the time? And, to get to the point, is there a way to edit these names so as to give them the same values I assigned to them under MacOS 9? =========== Interesting question. They do seem to be coded into the settings since labels in X have been removed. A quick search through the x-settings didn't reveal a solution. I sent off an email; when I hear something, I'll post it. Greg ================= Actually, I believe Eudora is still getting the info from OS X. I seem to recall reading that the labels are still there inside the OS. There's just no longer a way to modify them (at least, not from the GUI). I would assume that one could edit one of the many files in your library to change the labels, but as to which one, you'd need to ask someone else. I'd repost this question c.s.m.system. Someone in there is bound to know. ================= > > I seem to recall reading that the labels are still there inside the OS. > > There's just no longer a way to modify them (at least, not from the GUI) > > Labels have been removed in X. Not entirely. They are still supported by the HFS and HFS+ file systems, and can be accessed from Carbon applications running natively. For example, the Mac OS X version of Resorceror can display and set the label, and Retrospect 5 (and its client) can access them. You can also access and modify labels in Classic applications (e.g. ResEdit). The only part that seems to be missing is that the Mac OS X Finder doesn't provide any access to labels. =============== Look at the OS X's Finder's AppleScript dictionary. Call it "removed" or call it "not yet enabled", in any case there's evidence that they will return. ============== > Look at the OS X's Finder's AppleScript dictionary. Call it "removed" > or call it "not yet enabled", in any case there's evidence that they > will return. You and David are correct. The core is still there, but there is no gui to edit them. Not much can be done in Eudora until they're "exposed". Greg

05-19-2002, 02:46 PM	#2
AHunter3 Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 3,032	Aww, c'mon, doesn't anybody know?

05-19-2002, 08:20 PM	#3
Phil St. Romain Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,350	All very interesting, A. I was familiar with the Applescript reference, but hadn't thought about how Eudora might be labeling from the OS somehow. Don't know what else to say as I don't have the programming expertise to enable this feature. When I need labels, I use the SNAX Finder, which works very well, although I'm not sure what resource SNAX draws upon for its labeling feature.

10-08-2003, 08:12 PM	#6
AHunter3 Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 3,032	Just a quick note to confirm that this little trick does indeed work under Jaguar.