Unisyn file extensions, file suffix ?

Discussion of issues related to MOTU's Sysex Editor/Librarian program.

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ifwuh
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Unisyn file extensions, file suffix ?

Post by ifwuh »

Hi, I'm curious about file extensions for the files that Unisyn generates.

Say you have all the regular sorts of Unisyn generated files, Libraryies, Patches, Performances, Banks.
Under OS9 they didn't need any file extensions / file suffixes like other files .mid, .aif, .sd2, .pct, .sit etc.
Now say you move all those old files over to OSX and woops, they lose all their icons and you can't tell what file is what, right? Or did you, while they were in OS9, give them special file extensions ? is that even a good idea ?

I went in with ResEdit to see what officially were they file types for some Unisyn generated files and here is
what I found...
Unisyn bank = "XBnk"
Unisyn library = XLib"
Unisyn patch = "XPch"
Unisyn device setup file in the system folder = "XSet"
(unisyn used to be the app called Xor, right?)

I'm contemplating re-naming some of the important stuff with file extensions like "BestBankEver.Xbnk" or
"ThrillerPatch.Xpch" and "MainLibrary.Xlib"

I guess I am wondering if anybody who uses (used) Unisyn gave their files special extensions and if so, what ? Would doing this help when moving to OSX and Unisyn2.11 ?
NazRat
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Re: Unisyn file extensions, file suffix ?

Post by NazRat »

OS X still supports resource forks (ala OS9), so extensions are not needed. Unisyn has not been updated since it's initial OS X port and is still a PPC app, which means it runs under Rosetta on Intel boxes. I do not recollect any difficulties with icons, etc when moving to OS X, but that was many moons ago. I wish they would bring the product back under development some day - it really works well for us hardware guys. I figure at some point, an OS upgrade/update will break it forever (Snow Leopard being a prime candidate).
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ifwuh
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 10:01 pm
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Re: Unisyn file extensions, file suffix ?

Post by ifwuh »

NazRat, thank you for that info.
The problem I am running into is, on many backup CD-R of Unisyn1.x files, backups made in OS8 and OS9, when
these disks are viewed in 10.4 Tiger, the icons are just blank doc icons. I can't tell the difference between a patch
and a bank etc. Then again, other CD-Rs do maintain the icons, but don't know how and with what these CD-Rs were made.
It's not isolated to Unisyn files. The old SampleCell2 files banks and instruments also have blank icons and many
of the SoundDesignerII (.sd2) and audiointerchangeformat(.aif) files. But files like ".jpg" and ".gif" and ".htm" on the
same CD-R all appear to have different but still similar and recognizable icons.
All the old little Unisyn icons were kind of cool. (see image) I wish it was still under development too !

Wow, I just did a drag-copy of a folder full of Unisyn1x patches from a recent CD-R from OS9, showing all the little
icon, drag-copied it over to the harddrive of an OSX machine and poof! instantly all the icons turned into generic icons. This is bizarre because the window of the CD-R is open showing all the icons and the window of the OSX
freshly drag-copied files is open and all generic icons. I'm pretty sure that giving the files extensions isn't going to solve this but, with extensions at least I would know what file type is what file type.

I have not spent much time with Unisyn2. But I notice Unisyn2 does not assign any file extension to any
document it creates. Since Unisyn2 is OSX , should I be giving the files some kind of extension ?
NazRat wrote: I do not recollect any difficulties with icons, etc when moving to OS X, but that was many moons ago. I wish they would bring the product back under development some day - it really works well for us hardware guys.
Image
NazRat
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Re: Unisyn file extensions, file suffix ?

Post by NazRat »

Try opening the files directly from the DVD using Unisyn 2.11 on OS X. Then do a Save As to the new location. That is a really long and involved process if you have a lot of files - maybe someone else has a better way.
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ifwuh
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Re: Unisyn file extensions, file suffix ?

Post by ifwuh »

Thank you for that suggestion NazRat. I'm just curious if I anyone else has added file extensions that seem to be
the norm on the Mac these days. I'm not really having a problem reading the files, Unisyn1x read it's files and
Unisyn2 can read them also. It's just that, it's..--> me, that can't tell what file is what when it's on OSX and the
app that created the file isn't present. (files have no icon to indicate the app it was created by if that app isn't
on that system) Thanks again.
Blacklion
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Re: Unisyn file extensions, file suffix ?

Post by Blacklion »

Hello, I am frustrated to death with Unisyn. I have tried it on the Proteus 2000. Proteus Virtuoso, Proteus 2xr, Alesis QSR, Alesis SR4 and it bugs out. The MIDI request for patches do not work. The Proteus 2000 times out.
I own a new MAc Pro Nahalem with 32gb ram and 5 1.5TB drives. Is there another company that makes a patch editor that works? and was last updated before 2003?
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bayswater
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Re: Unisyn file extensions, file suffix ?

Post by bayswater »

Blacklion wrote: I own a new MAc Pro Nahalem with 32gb ram and 5 1.5TB drives.
What version of OS X? You know Unisyn doesn't work past 10.4?
Blacklion wrote: Is there another company that makes a patch editor that works? and was last updated before 2003?
You want something that was last updated before 2003? Perhaps you want something updated more recently. MIDIQuest is kept up to date.
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