Can't open documents from documents folder

Question

Level 2

180 points

Can't open documents from documents folder

AppleWorks developed a quirk this afternoon. When I go to finder, open my documents folder, and double click an AppleWorks file, AppleWorks opens but not the document. I can only open the document from AppleWorks. On the other hand, Word documents open from the documents folder as they always have. Any suggestions?

emac, Mac OS X (10.4.6), 640 megs RAM

Posted on Jun 14, 2006 5:34 PM

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Answer 1

Barry

Level 9

59,861 points

Jun 14, 2006 6:43 PM in response to thaxted

Two suggestions:

OS X has lost track of whch application to use to open the file. (Unlikely, as double-clicking launches the correct application.) Single click one of the files, press command-I to Get Info, reset the "open with" specification, and apply the change to all files of this type.

Do the housekeeping described in http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=607287

Regards,
Barry

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Answer 2

thaxted Author

Level 2

180 points

Jun 14, 2006 7:16 PM in response to Barry

Thanks for the advice, Barry. You were right to suspect that OS X hadn't lost sight of which application to use to open my AppleWorks files. All the files are set to be opened by AppleWorks.

I'll try trashing the preference files as you and Peggy suggest, but before I do I wanted to check to make sure I know what I'm doing. In addition to getting rid of the com.apple.appleworks.plist folder, should I get rid of the entire AppleWorks folder in Preferences or only the AppleWork 6 preferences in the AppleWorks folder? I suspect that it's the former, but better safe than sorry.

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Answer 3

Peggy

Level 8

41,601 points

Jun 14, 2006 7:31 PM in response to thaxted

It seems that my user tip is not as clear as I'd like. You need to delete the com.apple.appleworks. plist & three of the four preferences in the AppleWorks folder in preferences. You can delete the whole folder, but you'd have to reset your Button Bar if you've customized it. If you don't delete all of these at the same time, your problems, if they go away, will return soon.

The information in another tip, AppleWorks 6 won't open my AW 5 files, might help you with your document opening problems if deleting the preferences didn't.

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Answer 4

thaxted Author

Level 2

180 points

Jun 14, 2006 10:37 PM in response to Peggy

Peggy,

Thanks so much for clarifying your tip. I followed your instructions, but I still can't open my documents from the documents folder. They all have the proper .cwk suffix, and AppleWorks has no trouble opening them from its own file menu or when I use command + O, so this it seems is different from the problem of getting AppleWorks 6 to open AW 5 files. What I find especially puzzling is that clicking on the files in the documents folder does open AppleWorks. It's just that AppleWorks won't open the files from that location.

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Answer 5

Jun 15, 2006 5:48 AM in response to thaxted

Peggy,

Thanks so much for clarifying your tip. I followed
your instructions, but I still can't open my
documents from the documents folder. They all have
the proper .cwk suffix, and AppleWorks has no trouble
opening them from its own file menu or when I use
command + O, so this it seems is different from the
problem of getting AppleWorks 6 to open AW 5 files.
What I find especially puzzling is that clicking on
the files in the documents folder does open
AppleWorks. It's just that AppleWorks won't open the
files from that location.

Other than Peggy's suggestion, the only other two possible reasons I could see for this behaviour are: 1) file corruption, and 2) the file permissions have been changed.

File corruption can't be the cause as you're able to open the file using the Cmd+O key combo.

You can check file permissions from the Finder by selecting an AppleWorks file and then choose the File > Get Info menu command. Look in the Ownership & Permissions section of the resulting window and ensure that 'You can Read & Write' the file.

NB Using Disk Utility's 'Repair Permissions' won't help here. It doesn't repair AppleWorks or AppleWorks documents.

This is very strange. From a technical point of view, using Cmd+O is exactly the same as double-clicking a file to open it. If my permissions suggestion doesn't help, it'd be great if you 'talk' us thru how you're double-clicking the AppleWorks file. The extra detail you provide might give us a clue as to what's happening. Thanks.

Dale

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Answer 6

thaxted Author

Level 2

180 points

Jun 15, 2006 1:26 PM in response to Dale Gillard

Dale,

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

I wasn't as clear I should have been in my reply to Peggy, so here's the story as best I can tell it.

I have no difficulty opening AppleWorks documents from AppleWorks itself. Once AppleWorks is open I either pull down the file menu and open my documents from there OR once AppleWorks is open I use Cmd+O. What I can't do is open any of my AppleWorks documents from my documents folder. I open finder (no problem), double-click the documents folder to open it (no problem), and then I double-click an AppleWorks file. AppleWorks opens--its menu appears at the top of the screen as it should--but the document does not open. By the way, I've checked the ownership and permissions section as you suggested and all is in order.

As you say, this is very strange, so any insights will be gratefully received.

P.S. I moved one of my files to the desktop, double-clicked, and again AppleWorks opened but AppleWorks didn't open the document. I'm reminded of Alice's remark as she dropped into Wonderland that things are getting curioser and curioser.

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Answer 7

Peggy

Level 8

41,601 points

Jun 15, 2006 2:09 PM in response to thaxted

I think this is sounding more like an OS issue than an AppleWorks one. So, the first thing I suggest is repairing permissions using Disk Utility. Then, unless you leave your Mac on 24/7 & not asleep, run a utility to run the UNIX cron routines & clean caches. Two free ones are YASU & OnyX.

Also, make sure your hard drive isn't too full. It depends on how you use your computer, but for most normal users a minimum of 5 gigs free space at all times after installation is recommended. Power users may need more.

If this still doesn't work, repairing your hard drive with Disk Utility may help. Start up your Mac from the first Panther instal disk. Then, instead of running the installer, go to the Installer menu & choose Disk Utility. Select your hard drive in the left-hand panel & click Repair Disk. When it is done, quit Disk Utility then quit Installer & restart your Mac.

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Answer 8

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

Jun 15, 2006 2:11 PM in response to thaxted

thaxted,

Find and open your user's "AppleWorks User Data >Recent Items" folder, and see if removing a lot of the unnecessary alias files there changes anything. It's just a shot in the dark, but your symptoms are puzzling.

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Answer 9

thaxted Author

Level 2

180 points

Jun 15, 2006 3:33 PM in response to Peggy

Peggy,

I share your suspicion that this is an OS issue. I've downloaded OnyX and I'll clean the caches shortly, but which caches should they be? The default setting for OnyX is to clean the user and font caches. Should I check the system and kernel caches as well?

Thanks.

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Answer 10

thaxted Author

Level 2

180 points

Jun 15, 2006 3:34 PM in response to Brie Fly

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll delete the alias files and report back later.

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Answer 11

Peggy

Level 8

41,601 points

Jun 15, 2006 3:57 PM in response to thaxted

I prefer YASU because, unlike OnyX, you can't delete anything you shouldn't. The only thing not checked by default in YASU to check is the font cache.

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Answer 12

thaxted Author

Level 2

180 points

Jun 15, 2006 5:46 PM in response to Peggy

I've been relying on MacJanitor for ages, so for me this is uncharted territory. I'll certainly look into Yasu, but since I downloaded OnyX only a few hours ago, how should I proceed for the time being? When it comes to cleaning, the cache options are user, fonts, system, and kernel. Should I clean them all?

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Answer 13

Peggy

Level 8

41,601 points

Jun 15, 2006 6:07 PM in response to thaxted

Yes, I would clean all of those caches. It won't hurt but you will notice that the first time you start up, the process will take longer as your Mac rebuilds new, clean caches.

MacJanitor is a nice, simple piece of software, but it only runs the cron scripts, nothing more. OnyX has become very complex & I've seen people inadvertently mess up their systems to the point of needing to reinstall the system. YASU should be a quick download.

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Answer 14

thaxted Author

Level 2

180 points

Jun 15, 2006 6:51 PM in response to Peggy

Peggy,

I cleaned the caches and voilà, AppleWorks is opening documents from the Finder window without a hitch. You're a veritable treasure for those of us who use this forum.

Thanks also to Dale, Barry, and Brie for your suggestions. I enjoyed puzzling through this problem with all of you. And who knows? With advice like yours, I may eventually learn how my mac works!

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