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

[Andrew Perrin]

You're right, the files are now on a Windows machine, and I'm trying to 
open them from either a linux or Windows box. However, I think the 
MacWrite hypothesis is a good one, so I'm hoping to find a macintosh 
around campus I can try it out on. I'll keep y'all informed....

Andy

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew J Perrin - andrew_perrin (at) unc.edu - http://perrin.socsci.unc.edu
Assistant Professor of Sociology; Book Review Editor, _Social Forces_
University of North Carolina - CB#3210, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3210 USA
New Book: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/178592.ctl



On Wed, 23 Aug 2006, Rick DeNatale wrote:

> 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.
>> >
>
>
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> Rick DeNatale
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