Archive for February, 2008

Localized versions of Default Folder X

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

All of the localized versions of Default Folder X are now available. I’d like to express my thanks to these folks who have invested a great deal of time and care in creating and continually updating versions of DFX in their native languages:

It’s great to have them on the St. Clair Software team. If you use a localized version of DFX, drop the appropriate person an email and let him know how much you appreciate his efforts!

Default Folder 4.0.2 Released

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

Well, there were some remaining “gotchas” in 4.0.1 that I’ve ironed out in 4.0.2.  Most important were the troubles that Default Folder X was having with Open and Save sheets in Carbon applications when the app’s windows contained a toolbar.  These problems are now fixed, as are a couple of smaller issues.

You can grab a copy of version 4.0.2 and/or read the change log here:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/DefaultFolderX/release.html

As always, thanks to everyone who reported the problems they found and helped test the fixes!

   – Jon

Mac Recon gives Default Folder X a 10!

Monday, February 18th, 2008

In their Software Review :: Default Folder X 4, Mac Recon gives DFX 4 a 10 out of 10.  They say it’s “a must-have piece of software for your Mac.”  Thanks guys!!

MacFixit Marks Default Folder’s 20th Anniversary

Saturday, February 16th, 2008

Ted Landau at MacFixit has posted a column celebrating Default Folder’s 20th anniversary.  Ted’s a long-time Default Folder fan and one of the most knowledgeable guys around when it comes to troubleshooting Macs.  It was a real honor to get to sit down with him for a virtual interview 🙂  And embarrassingly, I hadn’t actually realized that this year marks Default Folder’s 20th anniversary until Ted actually asked me when the first version shipped.  We’ve gotta plan a party and a big sale or something!

Default Folder X 4.0.1 is out!

Monday, February 11th, 2008

I just posted Default Folder X version 4.0.1. Thanks to everyone that provided feedback on the functionality and the UI, tested various fixes for me, and helped sort out a few of the truly funky circumstances surrounding a couple of issues.

I’m very happy with the user interface at this point – the “old style” sidebar turned out very well (thanks for the push Warren)!  The preview generator is nice and fast, even under Tiger, and performance and reliability are solid on all machines, not just on the hopped up hardware here in the office and in the original beta group 🙂

You can read the change log and download the new version on this page:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/DefaultFolderX/release.html

Default Folder X 4.0.1 Beta 3

Friday, February 8th, 2008

Another new beta with further fixes to the preview server, corrections for visual glitches with MS Office, and refinements to the new “retro” look. Details and a download linke are on the Default Folder X Beta Testing page.

Here’s the latest iteration of the look – yes, those of you who missed the color icons, they’re back!

Determining if an app is running in 64-bit mode

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

OK, time for more geek-talk. I’ve spent a couple of late nights fussing with fat binaries, bundles, and mach-o architecture API’s to try and find a way to determine if an app is running in 64 bit mode. Surprisingly, I couldn’t just Google it and get an easy solution.

Looking at the darwin source, I found there’s a sysctl() token to get this information. This code will return the processor type (including the 64-bit flag). Note that it uses the sysctlbyname_with_pid() function in Apple’s Universal Binary Programming Guidelines:

cpu_type_t GetProcessArchitecture(pid_t pid)
{
    cpu_type_t cputype;
    size_t cpusz = sizeof(cputype);    

    // Default values
#if __i386__
    cputype = CPU_TYPE_X86;
#else
    cputype = CPU_TYPE_POWERPC;
#endif

    if (sysctlbyname_with_pid("sysctl.proc_cputype", pid,
                              &cputype, &cpusz, NULL, 0) == -1)
    {
        fprintf(stderr, "proc_cputype: sysctlbyname_with_pid failed:"
                "%sn", strerror(errno));
    }
    return cputype;
}

Default Folder X 4.0.1 Beta 2

Monday, February 4th, 2008

I’ve posted a new beta version of DFX 4.0.1. Fixes include better compatibility with Mail.app, a correction for DFX’s hotkeys not working in the Finder, keyboard focus issues, and improvements to the new preview server for cases when images are corrupted (which used to cause the preview server to crash).

Grab your copy from the Default Folder X Beta Testing page.