[Pythonmac-SIG] Creator, type and other means of file detection

[Henning Hraban Ramm]

I know the MacOS module is deprecated, and now I know at least one  
detail of "why":

If I use MacOS.GetCreatorAndType(filename) on my Intel machine, I get  
for an EPS:
('09HF', 'FSPE')

That should read ('FH09', 'EPSF').
I didn't knew endian-ness affects the order of strings.
Very funny! ;-)


I'm trying once again to write a tool to detect the type of a file -  
my colleagues don't know what to do if a file lacks an extension or  
has a wrong one.

Unfortunately the "file" command and its Python counterparts don't  
know enough and the right types, e.g. for them a XPress or InDesign  
document is just "data".

(There are two different approaches of "magic.py": Jason Petrone's,  
updated by Gabriel Wicke, uses its own, pythonized list of magic  
numbers; the other by Thomas Mangin reads the usual Unix/Linux magic  
files and thus acts like the "file" command. I guess the first is much  
faster, but the second is more versatile.)


Anyway, the traditional MacOS type and creator would be a nice  
addition. The MacOS module is deprecated. I could ask the Finder via  
appscript, but I wonder if there's a more direct way - I'm surprised  
the mactypes module's Alias and File classes don't know type and  
creator.

Any ideas on that?


Greetlings from Lake Constance!
Hraban
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