Infinite Mac: Resource Fork Roundtripping
2 days ago
- #Macintosh
- #File Compatibility
- #Resource Forks
- Infinite Mac users often want to import files they've used for decades, but web apps can only read the 'data fork' of files, not resource forks or metadata.
- Classic Mac OS used resource forks for structured data, a feature still supported by modern macOS but invisible to web apps.
- Historically, Mac files were distributed in container formats like MacBinary or StuffIt to preserve extra data, but this requires additional software.
- Modern macOS .zip archives preserve resource forks by creating a parallel __MACOSX directory with metadata in AppleDouble files.
- Infinite Mac now detects and generates .zip files using this convention, allowing full content reconstruction by the Finder.
- A workaround allows reading resource forks when dragging a whole folder into the window via a magic file path, used to notify users about .zip capabilities.
- A video demonstrates importing an old app, editing its resource, and exporting it back, showing compatibility with today's Finder.
- Improvements include making pointer lock for emulators more discoverable, using GitHub releases for large file storage, fixing audio playback issues, and resolving stuck modifier keys.