setting a default program for specific file type

In OS 8.x there used to be a control panel called file exchange that allowed you to do this. I'm not sure if it still exists in OS9. You would launch the control panel> click the add button & navigate to the document that you would want & choose the application that you wanted to open the document with.

HI, mhamen. Yes, but not with Apple's software, and it isn't a preference, strictly speaking. What application a file "belongs to" is governed by its Type and Creator attributes, which OS 9 itself provides no way to edit. Many third-party programs are available to do the job, though. One of the simplest and most convenient is Snitch, a control panel that adds all the normally-invisible flags including Type and Creator to every file's Get Info window and allows you to edit them there. A far more powerful, versatile, and complex alternative is File Buddy 7.6.

Whatever software you use, deetermine what the four-character Creator attribute is for a file that does open in your desired application when double-clicked. Change the Creator attribute of the file that opens in the wrong application to that same four-character code (note that it is case-sensitive). The file should then open in the application you want it to, provided that it's a type of file that application can handle.

Hi, mhamen -

Perhaps.

OS 9 uses File Type and Creator codes, which are contained within each file, to let Finder know how to open the file - the Creator code lets Finder know what program to use, and the File Type code lets the program know how to process it.

If the Creator code in a file matches that of a program available on a mounted volume (hard drive, external drive, CD), then Finder will open it with that program. Short of changing the Creator code there is no real way to prevent that, other than to open the file using the Open command within the desired program, or dropping the file onto the program's icon (or an alias of it).

However - if the program designated by the Creator code is not available, then Finder looks to settings in the File Exchange control panel to determine if there is another program designated for it to open that file.

So, if the program that authored the file is not available, then you can create an appropriate file-program link in File Exchange control panel so that Finder will use the program you prefer.

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If you want to change the Creator code for existing files, so that Finder automatically uses the program you prefer, that can be done.

You can use Apple ResEdit for that purpose - but it is not fully intuitive, involves many steps, and only one file at a time can be changed.

It would be easier to use either FileTyper or FileBuddy. Either of those allow the creation of a droplet, which is a small, free-standing program. Any files dropped onto such a droplet will have their codes changed to your preference automatically.

Of those two, FileTyper is the easiest to use. It is, however, a one-trick pony - it creates a droplet and does nothing else.

FileBuddy is more useful, and well worth its modest shareware fee. In addition to being able to create droplets, it can alter the creation and modification dates for a file; change invisible files and folders to visible and vice versa; move or delete invisible items; rebuild the desktop; and many other useful file management things. I have used FileBuddy to alter the Creator and File Type codes for a folder full of thousands of files in a single operation.

Good luck -