Getting QT to recognize .m2p extension
We are developing a solution that requires viewing of MPG2 files with extensions other than .mpg or .mov. The extensions are proprietary and not typically used for MPG files. If we place the files in a folder on the Mac desktop, they are assigned a QuickTime icon. However, when we attempt to open them, QuickTime generates the following message: "QuickTime cannot open the file 'foo.foo' it is not a file that QuickTime understands (-2048)" -- (the grammatically incorrect message is verbatim).
If we simply change the file name to "foo.mpg", QuickTime launches and shows the video just fine. I.e., the actual file format is readable by QuickTime. Evidently, QuickTime will not even attempt to open the file because the name does not use an extension recognized by QuickTime. On a Windows PC, if an association is made between an extension and an application, that application will attempt to open it regardless. QuickTime refuses to. We have discussed this problem with Apple Technical Support and have run into dead ends. At this point, the only "solution" is to rename all of the files on the file server, which doesn't work because proprietary third-party software requires the non-standard extensions, or to duplicate all files on the file server, one copy having a .MPG extension. The RIGHT solution would be to (a) have the third party alter their software to accept the industry standard extension, or (b) get QuickTime to ignore the extension and attempt to open the file. Both avenues seem unreachable but I'm hoping that some Mac/QuickTime expert out there will have a solution on the client side.
".foo" is just a generic way to say that it's an unrecognized extension. In this case, it's actually .m2p. The actual file format is MPG2, so it uses the MPG2 codec that I had to buy separately from Apple. So what I have is an MPG2 file that I can't open if it has a .M2P extension but it works fine with a .MPG extension.
If we simply change the file name to "foo.mpg", QuickTime launches and shows the video just fine. I.e., the actual file format is readable by QuickTime. Evidently, QuickTime will not even attempt to open the file because the name does not use an extension recognized by QuickTime. On a Windows PC, if an association is made between an extension and an application, that application will attempt to open it regardless. QuickTime refuses to. We have discussed this problem with Apple Technical Support and have run into dead ends. At this point, the only "solution" is to rename all of the files on the file server, which doesn't work because proprietary third-party software requires the non-standard extensions, or to duplicate all files on the file server, one copy having a .MPG extension. The RIGHT solution would be to (a) have the third party alter their software to accept the industry standard extension, or (b) get QuickTime to ignore the extension and attempt to open the file. Both avenues seem unreachable but I'm hoping that some Mac/QuickTime expert out there will have a solution on the client side.
".foo" is just a generic way to say that it's an unrecognized extension. In this case, it's actually .m2p. The actual file format is MPG2, so it uses the MPG2 codec that I had to buy separately from Apple. So what I have is an MPG2 file that I can't open if it has a .M2P extension but it works fine with a .MPG extension.
