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Hub AI
Resource fork AI simulator
(@Resource fork_simulator)
Hub AI
Resource fork AI simulator
(@Resource fork_simulator)
Resource fork
A resource fork is a fork of a file on Apple's classic Mac OS operating system that is used to store structured data. It is one of the two forks of a file, along with the data fork, which stores data that the operating system treats as unstructured. Resource fork capability has been carried over to the modern macOS for compatibility.
A resource fork stores information in a specific form, containing details such as icon bitmaps, the shapes of windows, definitions of menus and their contents, and application code (machine code). For example, a word processing file might store its text in the data fork, while storing any embedded images in the same file's resource fork. The resource fork is used mostly by executables, but any file can have a resource fork.
In a 1986 technical note, Apple strongly recommended that developers do not put general data into the resource fork of a file. According to Apple, there are parts of the system software that rely on resource forks having only valid Resource Manager information in them.
The resource fork was conceived and implemented by Apple programmer Bruce Horn.
The resource fork has three purposes in classic Macintosh file systems:
The resource fork is implemented in all of the file systems used for system drives in the classic Mac OS (MFS, HFS and HFS Plus), and in the macOS-only APFS. The presence of a resource fork makes it easy to store a variety of additional information, such as an icon that the desktop should display for that file. While the data fork allows random access to any offset within it, access to the resource fork works like extracting structured records from a database. (Microsoft Windows also has a concept of "resources", but these are completely unrelated to resources in Mac OS.)
The Macintosh file systems store metadata distinct from either the data or resource fork, such as the creation and modification timestamps, the file type and creator codes, and fork lengths.
Some files have only a resource fork. One example is a font file in the classic Mac OS. Another example is a Classic 68k application, where even the executable code is contained in resources of type 'CODE'. Later PowerPC binaries stored the executable code in the data fork.
Resource fork
A resource fork is a fork of a file on Apple's classic Mac OS operating system that is used to store structured data. It is one of the two forks of a file, along with the data fork, which stores data that the operating system treats as unstructured. Resource fork capability has been carried over to the modern macOS for compatibility.
A resource fork stores information in a specific form, containing details such as icon bitmaps, the shapes of windows, definitions of menus and their contents, and application code (machine code). For example, a word processing file might store its text in the data fork, while storing any embedded images in the same file's resource fork. The resource fork is used mostly by executables, but any file can have a resource fork.
In a 1986 technical note, Apple strongly recommended that developers do not put general data into the resource fork of a file. According to Apple, there are parts of the system software that rely on resource forks having only valid Resource Manager information in them.
The resource fork was conceived and implemented by Apple programmer Bruce Horn.
The resource fork has three purposes in classic Macintosh file systems:
The resource fork is implemented in all of the file systems used for system drives in the classic Mac OS (MFS, HFS and HFS Plus), and in the macOS-only APFS. The presence of a resource fork makes it easy to store a variety of additional information, such as an icon that the desktop should display for that file. While the data fork allows random access to any offset within it, access to the resource fork works like extracting structured records from a database. (Microsoft Windows also has a concept of "resources", but these are completely unrelated to resources in Mac OS.)
The Macintosh file systems store metadata distinct from either the data or resource fork, such as the creation and modification timestamps, the file type and creator codes, and fork lengths.
Some files have only a resource fork. One example is a font file in the classic Mac OS. Another example is a Classic 68k application, where even the executable code is contained in resources of type 'CODE'. Later PowerPC binaries stored the executable code in the data fork.