To Create One or More Data Types for an Application

1. Define the action for the application using the procedure in the previous section, "To Create an Action for an Application".

2. Click the Advanced button in the Create Action window to expand the window.

   Figure 11-3 Advanced features in the main Create Action window

   
   

3. If you want the application icon to prompt for a file argument when the icon is double-clicked, type the text of the prompt into the ``When Action Opens, Ask Users for'' text field.

   Use these guidelines for this text field:

   • You must use this field if the application's command line has a required file argument.

   • You must leave this field blank if the command line does not include a file argument.

   • If the file argument in the application's command line is optional, you have a choice. If you supply the prompt text, the action icon will prompt for the file when double-clicked. If you do not supply the prompt text, the action will be executed with a null string as the file argument.

4. Specify the types of files that the action will accept as arguments:

   • If the action can accept any data type, select All Data Types.

   • If the action can accept only the data type(s) you create for the application, select Only Above List.

     Initially, the Datatypes That Use This Action list is empty. As you create data types for the application, they are added to the list.

5. Click Add beside the Datatypes That Use This Action list box to display the Add Data Type dialog box.

   Figure 11-4 Create Action's Add Datatype dialog box

   
   

6. Optional: If you don't want to use the default data type name, type a new name for the data type into the Name of Datatype Family text field.

   The name cannot include spaces. The data type name is not visible to application users; it is used in the actions/data types database to identify the data type definition.

7. Click the Edit button beside the Identifying Characteristics box to display the Identifying Characteristics dialog box.

   Figure 11-5 Create Action's Identifying Characteristics dialog box

   
   

   Characteristics of a data type are the criteria used to differentiate the data type from others. You can choose one or more of the following criteria:

   Files or Folder--the data type applies only to files or only to folders

   Name Pattern--data typing based on the file name

   Permission Pattern--read, write, execute permissions

   Contents--contents of a specified portion of the file

8. Select whether the data type represents a file or folder.

   Figure 11-6 Specifying a file or directory characteristic for a data type.

   
   

9. If the data typing depends on the name, select the Name Pattern check box and fill in the text field.

   Figure 11-7 Specifying the file name characteristic for a data type

   
   

   You can use * and ? as wildcards:

   *--matches any sequence of characters

   ?--matches any single character

10. If the data typing depends on the permissions, select the Permission Pattern check box and select the permissions for the data type.

    Figure 11-8 Specifying the permission characteristics for a data type

    
    

    On--the file must have the specified permission

    Off--the file must lack the specified permission

    Either--the specified permission does not matter

11. If the data typing depends on the contents, select the Contents check box and supply the requested information--Pattern to search for and Type of contents. Optionally, you can supply the byte location where the search should start.

    Figure 11-9 Specifying the contents characteristics for a data type

    
    

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    Note -

    Use of content-based data typing may affect the performance of the system.

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12. Click OK to close the Identifying Characteristics dialog box.

    The characteristics will be displayed in the Identifying Characteristics field using this coding:

    d--a directory

    r--the file has read permission

    w--the file has write permission

    x--the file has execute permission

    !--logical operator NOT

    &--logical operator AND

13. Type the help text for the data files into the Help Text text field.

14. Use the Datatype Icons controls to specify the icon for the data files. Initially, the default icon is shown.

    • To choose a different, existing icon, click Find Set to display the Find Set dialog box. See "Using the Find Set Dialog Box To Specify an Icon".

    • To create new icons, click Edit Icon to run the Icon Editor.

15. Verify the command in the Command to Open this Datatype text field. This is the command that will be executed when the user double-clicks a data file.

16. Optional: If the application supplies a print command for printing data files from the command line, type the command into the Command to Print this Datatype text field, using the syntax $n for a file argument.

17. Do one of the following to save the data type definition:

    • Click OK to save the data type and close the Add Datatype dialog box.

    • Click Apply to save the data type without closing the Add Datatype dialog box. This let you immediately proceed to define another data type for the action.