Ext Wiz

Introduction Have you ever experienced the problem where you download a document from the internet, receive one as an e-mail attachment, or copy one from a network and you just can’t get it to open? Moreover, sometimes these documents will open, but in one of the last applications you’d want them to… …well, Extension Wizard is a utility created to help end these frustrating situations! How it Works Extension Wizard works by checking the document’s extension—the end of the document’s name that usually has a period and three characters (for example .jpg), and then converts the document into a more appropriate kind of document, allowing it to be easily opened. Documents such as these are often associated with an application which doesn’t exist on your computer, are associated with an inappropriate application, or worst of all, are altogether the wrong kinds of documents they should be! Usually, the problem is that these documents were created on a computer with a different operating system than your Macintosh, such as Windows or UNIX, and these other operating systems create documents that lack some necessary information called a creator code and file type that Macintosh documents need. The document’s creator code is a set of four hidden characters that designates which application created it, thereby allowing that same application to be the one that opens the document when it’s double-clicked. The document’s file type is also a set of four hidden characters that designates what kind of document it is, such as a picture or text. Together, the creator code and file type make it possible for your Macintosh to determine a document’s kind, for instance, a MoviePlayer movie. When Extension Wizard is requested to convert a document to another kind, what it actually does is change its creator code and/or file type. Please note that the document’s contents remain intact—no conversion to its contents takes place. Extension Wizard knows how to convert documents to other kinds of documents through the use of what’s called extension mappings. Extension Wizard comes with a standard set of hundreds of extension mappings that cover all kinds of documents such as pictures, text, HTML, sound, compressed archives, and much, much more. An extension mapping consists of one or more extensions and one or more document kinds. For example, the extension mapping for PICT picture documents consist of the extensions .pict, .pic, and .pct and the kinds AppleWorks picture, PictureViewer document, and SimpleText picture, among many others. When Extension Wizard is requested to convert a document with a name ending in one of these extensions, it then offers the document kinds included in the extension mapping for conversion choices. Converting Documents Converting documents using Extension Wizard can be done in several ways. One way is to simply open Extension Wizard. It will then present you with a standard Open dialog box from which you may choose a document for conversion.…