Can I convert EXEC files to PDF on my Mac?

would like to see them as pdf,

I don't think we addressed this part, but it doesn't much matter.

To see them as PDF, they would have to have been PDFs. If they were not PDFs, you would need to open them in the app that created them and print them as PDF.

The tiny AppleScript compiled app I threw together would be great for this issue. Assuming the files still have their Type and Creator codes, you could at least find out what app a file belonged to, and what type it is.

Unfortunately, I just found out you can't get it from MacUpdate at the moment. With my now dead business site linked as the "developer home page", it tries to send you there instead of downloading the file. I did contact them to fix the page, but haven't heard back yet.

Here's the link in case they fix it in the next day or so:

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/62161/typecreator

I, too, have old documents from 1987 and later. I started with the bundled WriteNow and later converted them to .doc when such utilities were still readily available.

Then I started using .txt to be future proof unless formatting was really needed. However .txt does have its own pesky specs, so with OS X I switched using UNIX LF line breaks instead the old Mac CR line breaks. And UTF-8 instead the old ISO Latin 1. With BBEdit those conversions are relatively easy.

If I ask System Events in an AppleScript to get properties of a selected AppleWorks document, the following is returned:

file type: missing value

creator type: missing value

type identifier: "dyn.ah62d4rv4ge80g75p"

The last item is also shown in mdls output as kMDItemContentType.

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Yes, it's still down. Though it isn't the actual MacUpdate page that's down. The notice a user sees is the one generated by InMotion Hosting, where www.jklstudios.com used to be.

Why it tries to go there when a person clicks the Download button makes no sense to me.

But there's also nothing highly secretive or proprietary about the code. Here's the whole thing:

repeat -- forever

	set selectedFile to (choose file)

	tell application "Finder"
		set fType to the file type of selectedFile
		set cType to the creator type of selectedFile
	end tell

	display dialog "Creator:	" & cType & return & "Type:	" & fType with title "" & selectedFile

end repeat

Copy/paste that into a new Script Editor window, then do a File > Save As to whatever name you want to give it, and File Format: Application.

Yes, that's what the little script app will also show if the file has no resource fork data, or it does, but that data contains no type and creator codes.

This file had no entries:

This one did:

You can just keep going to one file after another. Click Cancel either on a result window such as a above, or at a Finder window to select the next item to exit.

Oh, duh! I know why MacUpdate (actually, InMotion Hosting) throws out that error. It's because the download itself was located in my web space, not on MacUpdate's server.

Put the file on Google Drive. Now I just need to wait for MacUpdate to fix/approve the changes.

Go to settings/ general / startup items , disable them all .exec then reboot your Mac , to be clear that .exec are not words docs no even windows extensions

I got your script working, thanks!

Most of my documents do not have creator & type codes anymore so I used GraphicConverter to insert them when testing the script: