Re: .csv files - inconsistency with quicklook/icons
On 28/11/2008, at 11:01 AM, Neil Houghton wrote: Hi all, Anybody got any thoughts on how to get my system back to downloading .csv files as kind = text? Anybody know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is actually set - because I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Neil, I suspect this might be involved with the info you can find if you go to Safari Help and click onInstalled Plugins Don't know what you need or how to alter those settings Bob As per my previous post, I have now worked out how to change the file kind of the files already downloaded - so I now have the fix - I'd just like to remove the actual problem!! TIA Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 23/11/08 5:09 PM, Neil Houghton at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Ronni, The thing is quicklook has no problem seeing all my .csv files which were downloaded before something' changed when I re-installed everything in October. So my Commsec .csv files downloaded previous to the problem appearing show just fine in quicklook ie file type 1) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as text and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is an Excel icon But since the re-install and my telling finder to open all .csv with Excel (I'm not sure of the chicken egg effect here) my Commsec .csv files download differently - ie file type 2) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as Microsoft Excel Document and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is a blank page icon So my problem is not getting quicklook to preview .csv files (comma-separated values) - which after all are basically just (delimited) text files - as long as the file kind is text both quicklook and the get info preview pane can handle the .csv file just fine. The problem is that now the .csv files are downloading with the file kind as Microsoft Excel Document Excel itself doesn't care and opens up both types (as a microsoft application it possibly only works on the .csv extension?) and, in fact, is the default application set to open with for both file types. Quicklook (and the get info preview pane) however must expect a Microsoft Excel Document to have a certain format - and presumably deal with it accordingly (so they display real .xls excel files just fine) - so, presumably, since the .csv files don't meet their expectations they just show a generic blank page document preview. In other words, the way I see it, the problem is not trying to work out how to get quicklook to view .csv files - it does that just fine as long as it knows it is a text file - the problem is how to get the .csv files to download as text files rather than Microsoft Excel Document files. For the files that are already downloaded, I expect that I can eventually track down some terminal script to change the file kind - in the meantime I have no problems opening the files so I can live without the quicklook preview. What I am really trying to find out here is how to get my original download parameters back so that the .csv files just normally download as file kind = text - which is how it was all working until last month! The problem is that during the download process, I don't know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is set so I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Anybody got any ideas on this one? Cheers Neil -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: .csv files - inconsistency with quicklook/icons
Hi Bob, No, I actually use Firefox not Safari - but it got me thinking - I hadn't thought to blame the browser :) Anyway, I fired up Safari and gave that a shot but got the same result (same file kind) as for firefox. So my thinking is it's somewhere in the Apple system/finder prefs - but I can't find anything relevant :( Thanks for the idea though - now I know it's the same for both browsers! Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 28/11/08 5:46 PM, Robert Howells at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 28/11/2008, at 11:01 AM, Neil Houghton wrote: Hi all, Anybody got any thoughts on how to get my system back to downloading .csv files as kind = text? Anybody know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is actually set - because I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Neil, I suspect this might be involved with the info you can find if you go to Safari Help and click onInstalled Plugins Don't know what you need or how to alter those settings Bob As per my previous post, I have now worked out how to change the file kind of the files already downloaded - so I now have the fix - I'd just like to remove the actual problem!! TIA Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 23/11/08 5:09 PM, Neil Houghton at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Ronni, The thing is quicklook has no problem seeing all my .csv files which were downloaded before something' changed when I re-installed everything in October. So my Commsec .csv files downloaded previous to the problem appearing show just fine in quicklook ie file type 1) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as text and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is an Excel icon But since the re-install and my telling finder to open all .csv with Excel (I'm not sure of the chicken egg effect here) my Commsec .csv files download differently - ie file type 2) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as Microsoft Excel Document and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is a blank page icon So my problem is not getting quicklook to preview .csv files (comma-separated values) - which after all are basically just (delimited) text files - as long as the file kind is text both quicklook and the get info preview pane can handle the .csv file just fine. The problem is that now the .csv files are downloading with the file kind as Microsoft Excel Document Excel itself doesn't care and opens up both types (as a microsoft application it possibly only works on the .csv extension?) and, in fact, is the default application set to open with for both file types. Quicklook (and the get info preview pane) however must expect a Microsoft Excel Document to have a certain format - and presumably deal with it accordingly (so they display real .xls excel files just fine) - so, presumably, since the .csv files don't meet their expectations they just show a generic blank page document preview. In other words, the way I see it, the problem is not trying to work out how to get quicklook to view .csv files - it does that just fine as long as it knows it is a text file - the problem is how to get the .csv files to download as text files rather than Microsoft Excel Document files. For the files that are already downloaded, I expect that I can eventually track down some terminal script to change the file kind - in the meantime I have no problems opening the files so I can live without the quicklook preview. What I am really trying to find out here is how to get my original download parameters back so that the .csv files just normally download as file kind = text - which is how it was all working until last month! The problem is that during the download process, I don't know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is set so I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Anybody got any ideas on this one? Cheers Neil -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: .csv files - inconsistency with quicklook/icons
Hi all, Anybody got any thoughts on how to get my system back to downloading .csv files as kind = text? Anybody know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is actually set - because I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. As per my previous post, I have now worked out how to change the file kind of the files already downloaded - so I now have the fix - I'd just like to remove the actual problem!! TIA Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 23/11/08 5:09 PM, Neil Houghton at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Ronni, The thing is quicklook has no problem seeing all my .csv files which were downloaded before something' changed when I re-installed everything in October. So my Commsec .csv files downloaded previous to the problem appearing show just fine in quicklook ie file type 1) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as text and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is an Excel icon But since the re-install and my telling finder to open all .csv with Excel (I'm not sure of the chicken egg effect here) my Commsec .csv files download differently - ie file type 2) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as Microsoft Excel Document and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is a blank page icon So my problem is not getting quicklook to preview .csv files (comma-separated values) - which after all are basically just (delimited) text files - as long as the file kind is text both quicklook and the get info preview pane can handle the .csv file just fine. The problem is that now the .csv files are downloading with the file kind as Microsoft Excel Document Excel itself doesn't care and opens up both types (as a microsoft application it possibly only works on the .csv extension?) and, in fact, is the default application set to open with for both file types. Quicklook (and the get info preview pane) however must expect a Microsoft Excel Document to have a certain format - and presumably deal with it accordingly (so they display real .xls excel files just fine) - so, presumably, since the .csv files don't meet their expectations they just show a generic blank page document preview. In other words, the way I see it, the problem is not trying to work out how to get quicklook to view .csv files - it does that just fine as long as it knows it is a text file - the problem is how to get the .csv files to download as text files rather than Microsoft Excel Document files. For the files that are already downloaded, I expect that I can eventually track down some terminal script to change the file kind - in the meantime I have no problems opening the files so I can live without the quicklook preview. What I am really trying to find out here is how to get my original download parameters back so that the .csv files just normally download as file kind = text - which is how it was all working until last month! The problem is that during the download process, I don't know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is set so I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Anybody got any ideas on this one? Cheers Neil -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: .csv files - inconsistency with quicklook/icons
Generally excel will want to convert the .csv file format by default. I think from memory .csv is comma delimited text. If you want it to be opened by a text editor like TextEdit you can either drag it over the TextEdit icon on the dock or right click and select open with. (Command i if you don't have a right mouse button) To make the operation a default: click on the document once. Go Command i select Open with Then hit the button Change all Hope this helps Regards, Eugene On 28/11/2008, at 11:01 AM, Neil Houghton wrote: Hi all, Anybody got any thoughts on how to get my system back to downloading .csv files as kind = text? Anybody know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is actually set - because I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. As per my previous post, I have now worked out how to change the file kind of the files already downloaded - so I now have the fix - I'd just like to remove the actual problem!! TIA Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 23/11/08 5:09 PM, Neil Houghton at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Ronni, The thing is quicklook has no problem seeing all my .csv files which were downloaded before something' changed when I re-installed everything in October. So my Commsec .csv files downloaded previous to the problem appearing show just fine in quicklook ie file type 1) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as text and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is an Excel icon But since the re-install and my telling finder to open all .csv with Excel (I'm not sure of the chicken egg effect here) my Commsec .csv files download differently - ie file type 2) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as Microsoft Excel Document and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is a blank page icon So my problem is not getting quicklook to preview .csv files (comma-separated values) - which after all are basically just (delimited) text files - as long as the file kind is text both quicklook and the get info preview pane can handle the .csv file just fine. The problem is that now the .csv files are downloading with the file kind as Microsoft Excel Document Excel itself doesn't care and opens up both types (as a microsoft application it possibly only works on the .csv extension?) and, in fact, is the default application set to open with for both file types. Quicklook (and the get info preview pane) however must expect a Microsoft Excel Document to have a certain format - and presumably deal with it accordingly (so they display real .xls excel files just fine) - so, presumably, since the .csv files don't meet their expectations they just show a generic blank page document preview. In other words, the way I see it, the problem is not trying to work out how to get quicklook to view .csv files - it does that just fine as long as it knows it is a text file - the problem is how to get the .csv files to download as text files rather than Microsoft Excel Document files. For the files that are already downloaded, I expect that I can eventually track down some terminal script to change the file kind - in the meantime I have no problems opening the files so I can live without the quicklook preview. What I am really trying to find out here is how to get my original download parameters back so that the .csv files just normally download as file kind = text - which is how it was all working until last month! The problem is that during the download process, I don't know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is set so I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Anybody got any ideas on this one? Cheers Neil -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Disclaimer: This message and any attached files may contain information that is confidential intended for the named recipient/s named only. If you are not an intended recipient/s or the person responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient/s, be advised that you have received this message in error and that any use, disclosure, copying, circulation, forwarding, printing or publication of this message or the attached files is strictly forbidden, as is the disclosure of the information contained therein. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete all copies from your computer system, including attachments and your reply email. -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines -
Re: .csv files - inconsistency with quicklook/icons
Hi Eugene, Thanks for the reply, but this isn't really the problem - see my previous post. I don't have a problem opening the .csv files and Excel is already the default application to do so - I don't want to open them in a text editor (but could easily do so if I wanted). The problem is how my system is downloading the .csv files: They used to download as kind = text (which a csv file really is) and quicklook and finder would preview just fine. They now download as 'kind = Microsoft Excel Document (which, strictly speaking, it isn't) and which stops quicklook and finder from previewing them. It's not a major problem - both kinds open fine in Excel - it's just that I used to be able to quicklook these as they were downloaded - but now I can't without first converting the file kind to text - and it annoys me!! Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 28/11/08 2:03 PM, Eugene at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Generally excel will want to convert the .csv file format by default. I think from memory .csv is comma delimited text. If you want it to be opened by a text editor like TextEdit you can either drag it over the TextEdit icon on the dock or right click and select open with. (Command i if you don't have a right mouse button) To make the operation a default: click on the document once. Go Command i select Open with Then hit the button Change all Hope this helps Regards, Eugene On 28/11/2008, at 11:01 AM, Neil Houghton wrote: Hi all, Anybody got any thoughts on how to get my system back to downloading .csv files as kind = text? Anybody know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is actually set - because I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. As per my previous post, I have now worked out how to change the file kind of the files already downloaded - so I now have the fix - I'd just like to remove the actual problem!! TIA Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 23/11/08 5:09 PM, Neil Houghton at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Ronni, The thing is quicklook has no problem seeing all my .csv files which were downloaded before something' changed when I re-installed everything in October. So my Commsec .csv files downloaded previous to the problem appearing show just fine in quicklook ie file type 1) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as text and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is an Excel icon But since the re-install and my telling finder to open all .csv with Excel (I'm not sure of the chicken egg effect here) my Commsec .csv files download differently - ie file type 2) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as Microsoft Excel Document and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is a blank page icon So my problem is not getting quicklook to preview .csv files (comma-separated values) - which after all are basically just (delimited) text files - as long as the file kind is text both quicklook and the get info preview pane can handle the .csv file just fine. The problem is that now the .csv files are downloading with the file kind as Microsoft Excel Document Excel itself doesn't care and opens up both types (as a microsoft application it possibly only works on the .csv extension?) and, in fact, is the default application set to open with for both file types. Quicklook (and the get info preview pane) however must expect a Microsoft Excel Document to have a certain format - and presumably deal with it accordingly (so they display real .xls excel files just fine) - so, presumably, since the .csv files don't meet their expectations they just show a generic blank page document preview. In other words, the way I see it, the problem is not trying to work out how to get quicklook to view .csv files - it does that just fine as long as it knows it is a text file - the problem is how to get the .csv files to download as text files rather than Microsoft Excel Document files. For the files that are already downloaded, I expect that I can eventually track down some terminal script to change the file kind - in the meantime I have no problems opening the files so I can live without the quicklook preview. What I am really trying to find out here is how to get my original download parameters back so that the .csv files just normally download as file kind = text - which is how it was all working until last month! The problem is that during the download process, I don't know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is set so I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Anybody got any ideas on this one? Cheers Neil
Re: .csv files - inconsistency with quicklook/icons
Hi Ronni, The thing is quicklook has no problem seeing all my .csv files which were downloaded before something' changed when I re-installed everything in October. So my Commsec .csv files downloaded previous to the problem appearing show just fine in quicklook ie file type 1) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as text and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is an Excel icon But since the re-install and my telling finder to open all .csv with Excel (I'm not sure of the chicken egg effect here) my Commsec .csv files download differently - ie file type 2) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as Microsoft Excel Document and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is a blank page icon So my problem is not getting quicklook to preview .csv files (comma-separated values) - which after all are basically just (delimited) text files - as long as the file kind is text both quicklook and the get info preview pane can handle the .csv file just fine. The problem is that now the .csv files are downloading with the file kind as Microsoft Excel Document Excel itself doesn't care and opens up both types (as a microsoft application it possibly only works on the .csv extension?) and, in fact, is the default application set to open with for both file types. Quicklook (and the get info preview pane) however must expect a Microsoft Excel Document to have a certain format - and presumably deal with it accordingly (so they display real .xls excel files just fine) - so, presumably, since the .csv files don't meet their expectations they just show a generic blank page document preview. In other words, the way I see it, the problem is not trying to work out how to get quicklook to view .csv files - it does that just fine as long as it knows it is a text file - the problem is how to get the .csv files to download as text files rather than Microsoft Excel Document files. For the files that are already downloaded, I expect that I can eventually track down some terminal script to change the file kind - in the meantime I have no problems opening the files so I can live without the quicklook preview. What I am really trying to find out here is how to get my original download parameters back so that the .csv files just normally download as file kind = text - which is how it was all working until last month! The problem is that during the download process, I don't know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is set so I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Anybody got any ideas on this one? Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 23/11/08 10:46 AM, Ronda Brown at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 22/11/2008, at 6:15 PM, Neil Houghton wrote: Downloading a new .csv file gives me a file set to open automatically with Excel (which is what I want) but with a file kind of Microsoft Excel Document rather than text - which gives me the problem of no preview in either quicklook or the get info preview - which is, obviously, not what I want! Any ideas on what I need to change/reset here? Hi Neil, Quicklook needs extra plugins to view certain files. I have been looking for a .csv Quicklook Plugin for my Commsec download files for months, have not been able to find on yet! We might have to program our own . http://www.quicklookplugins.com/ http://www.qlplugins.com/ http://hrmpf.com/wordpress/218/quick-look-plugins-for-leopard Apple's Developer Documents: Introduction to Quick Look Programming Guide http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/Quicklook_ Programming_Guide/Introduction/chapter_1_section_1.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP 40005020-CH1-DontLinkElementID_14 Cheers, Ronni -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: .csv files - inconsistency with quicklook/icons
Just a quick follow up: For the files that are already downloaded, I expect that I can eventually track down some terminal script to change the file kind - in the meantime I have no problems opening the files so I can live without the quicklook preview. This actually proved to be even easier than I thought - Google pointed me to this automator action: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/changefiletypeandcreator.ht ml Using the select file button on the automator action to select a working csv file populated the file type box with TEXT and the creator box with XCEL. Then running the automator action on one of the problem files resets the kind to text and now quicklook and the get info preview pane preview the .csv file just fine. Which just leaves me with the main problem of how to get the .csv files downloaded with the correct settings in the first place! Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 23/11/08 5:09 PM, Neil Houghton at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Ronni, The thing is quicklook has no problem seeing all my .csv files which were downloaded before something' changed when I re-installed everything in October. So my Commsec .csv files downloaded previous to the problem appearing show just fine in quicklook ie file type 1) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as text and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is an Excel icon But since the re-install and my telling finder to open all .csv with Excel (I'm not sure of the chicken egg effect here) my Commsec .csv files download differently - ie file type 2) in my original post: - Get info shows kind as Microsoft Excel Document and open with as Microsoft Excel - Get info icon is a blank page icon So my problem is not getting quicklook to preview .csv files (comma-separated values) - which after all are basically just (delimited) text files - as long as the file kind is text both quicklook and the get info preview pane can handle the .csv file just fine. The problem is that now the .csv files are downloading with the file kind as Microsoft Excel Document Excel itself doesn't care and opens up both types (as a microsoft application it possibly only works on the .csv extension?) and, in fact, is the default application set to open with for both file types. Quicklook (and the get info preview pane) however must expect a Microsoft Excel Document to have a certain format - and presumably deal with it accordingly (so they display real .xls excel files just fine) - so, presumably, since the .csv files don't meet their expectations they just show a generic blank page document preview. In other words, the way I see it, the problem is not trying to work out how to get quicklook to view .csv files - it does that just fine as long as it knows it is a text file - the problem is how to get the .csv files to download as text files rather than Microsoft Excel Document files. For the files that are already downloaded, I expect that I can eventually track down some terminal script to change the file kind - in the meantime I have no problems opening the files so I can live without the quicklook preview. What I am really trying to find out here is how to get my original download parameters back so that the .csv files just normally download as file kind = text - which is how it was all working until last month! The problem is that during the download process, I don't know how, when or by what the file kind of the downloaded file is set so I don't really know where to look for any preferences which have been changed to cause this. Anybody got any ideas on this one? Cheers Neil -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
