[TriLUG] Old Mac files: any ideas how to open them?

[Rick DeNatale]

Well, I guess I might as well be consistent with the top-posting.

It looks though, that he's trying to open these files on a non-mac, in
which case there's a problem.

The Macintosh file systems HFS and later HFS+ used forked files, each
file had a 'data' fork and a 'resource' fork.  Depending the
application, the 'data' could be stored in either fork or both.

These might give some ideas about how to access those files from linux
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Filesystems-HOWTO-7.html
http://www.mars.org/home/rob/proj/hfs/

But it seems that most of the mac compatibility tools work with file
systems and not individual files. Depending on how the files were
copied he may or may not be able to do anything with them.

On 8/23/06, Glenn Hennessee <Glenn_Hennessee at ncsu.edu> wrote:
> Mac Plus (introduced 1986, discontinued 1990) and 1991: it probably is a
> MacWrite or MacWrite II document. Word certainly existed then and had a
> ~50% market share. Try this (from
> http://emperor.tidbits.com/webx?14@733.RawlbmAqnOu@.3c71323e/28):
>
> Re: Opening old MacWrite files
>
> To open old WriteNow files (mine are from 85-86): I discovered that MS
> Word for Mac (10.1.4) will do it. Drop the WriteNow file on the Word
> icon in the Dock, a "Convert File" dialog appears, scroll to "Recover
> Text from Any File". The file will have some garbage with the text - but
> it is not difficult to clean up.
>
> Using the Open.. command on the file menu doesn't work, the WriteNow
> document icons remain dimmed. I don't have any of my old MacWrite files
> left to try.
>
> May be the only time MS was ever useful for me.
>
> Jack Corliss
>
> and
>
> Re: Opening old MacWrite files
>
> I open MacWrite files with Word 5.1. They open fine, except you have to
> use the Open dialogue. You can't drag them onto the icon. I then save
> them as Word 5.1 files and open in Word 2004.
>
> Since the MacIntel machines will not run OS 9, I was planning to do a
> final conversion of my thousands of MacWrite files through some
> automated process, with Quickeys, Applescript, HyperCard, Revolution or
> something else.
>
> There must be lots of people in this position. Does anyone know of a
> posted script or other solution for this?
>
> Bruce
>
>
> Try dropping the files on the Word icon in the dock. This may work no
> matter what the document format since it seems word for mac knows how to
> deal with a lot of old format files but just not as a File, Open operation.
> glenn
>
>
> Andrew Perrin wrote:
> > Greetings, folks.
> >
> > My wife has a folder of old (circa 1991) files created on her Macintosh
> > Plus during medical school. Neither of us can remember what word
> > processor she used to write these.
> >
> > They now reside in a folder on her computer, and we would like to be
> > able to open them. However, just opening them in emacs, Word, etc.,
> > produces gibberish. I get the following output from file:
> >
> > aperrin at joehill:/mnt/elianasdocs/OLDMAC$ file 3RDLAB~1
> > 3RDLAB~1: TTComp archive data
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Does this ring a bell to anyone? Any ideas where to go with it?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >


-- 
Rick DeNatale

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