What does the "f" mean after the name of folder

Sometimes, in the classic Mac OS, I can see a little "f" after a folder's name. I really wonder the meaning of that "f".

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I made a screenshot in this video Macintosh SE on dial-up Internet - YouTube. There is a little "f" shown after the folder's name "POPmail II". Is there anyone can help?

iBook, Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Dec 27, 2017 11:58 PM

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Posted on Dec 28, 2017 7:23 PM

You'll notice it is not a regular small "f" - it is a script small "f", thus - ƒ (which can be generated via an Option-F stroke on the keyboard).


This used to be used quite commonly as a visual indicator that the item is in fact a folder (especially useful in the event the icon had been changed to something other than a regular folder icon).


You can safely change the name to something else if you wish. Note that the 'classic' OS's did not rely on name.extensions in order to know what an item was nor how to manipulate it; that info was made available to the OS via each file's hidden Type and Creator Codes.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 28, 2017 7:23 PM in response to paizhangppppp

You'll notice it is not a regular small "f" - it is a script small "f", thus - ƒ (which can be generated via an Option-F stroke on the keyboard).


This used to be used quite commonly as a visual indicator that the item is in fact a folder (especially useful in the event the icon had been changed to something other than a regular folder icon).


You can safely change the name to something else if you wish. Note that the 'classic' OS's did not rely on name.extensions in order to know what an item was nor how to manipulate it; that info was made available to the OS via each file's hidden Type and Creator Codes.

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What does the "f" mean after the name of folder

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