Enable 'Change Application' button

Jul 24, '01 09:26:32AM

Contributed by: robh

If you go to change the default application to launch a file with a specific filename extension, say ".jpg", and you find that the "Change Application" button is disabled, you can fix this from the terminal as follows.

Note: you'll need the developer tools installed.

Let's say you have a directory of .jpg files that you want to fix.

cd my_jpeg_directory
foreach filename (*.jpg)
/Developer/Tools/SetFile -c "" $filename
end
This removes the "Creator" attribute from the file and this enables the "Change Application" button in the Finder's "Show Info" panel (command-I). To fix just one file use...
/Developer/Tools/SetFile -c "" filename
[Editor's note: There are also GUI apps that can delete creator codes; check macosxapps or versiontracker and search on 'creator']

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