Snitch

by Nifty Neato Software

Snitch is a control panel that extends the functionality of Get Info windows. With it one can:

• Change a file's type and creator codes 
• View a graphic file's preview from the Finder 
• Check the size of a file's data and resource forks 
• Toggle the visiblity of files and folders 
• Examine an application's code for 68K and PPC segments 

And with Snitch's plugin architecture, developers can implement their own features and capabilities. The control panel runs natively in 68K or PPC environments and reserves 328 K of memory. 

The Snitch control panel provides a couple of options for a user to customize.The control panel's functionality can be toggled on and off by the radio switches in the upper right hand corner, while the default plugin that is shown when a file's info window is displayed can be configured in the PlugIns section. The Initially Visible checkbox in the view section dictates whether the expanded Snitch section is appended to the Get Info windows initially after startup. The Remember View checkbox remembers whether the Snitch view was left visible or hidden when it was last used. The Startup section provides two options for visual feedback when Snitch is loading on startup.

The following snapshots will provide a preview of Snitch's capabilities. The Get Info window here is displaying the "More Info" plugin. Note the double triangles before the dividing line. This button collapses and expands the Snitch section, allowing the user to display the additional info only when it is needed. The popup menu to the left of the Snitch title provides access to the other plugins. "More Info," in my opinion, is the most used plugin in this utility's arsenal. With its functionality, one can alter a file's type and creator codes as well as its Finder attributes (like whether it has a custom icon or a BNDL resource). For applications, the Misc. Info section provides invaluable info such as:

• Whether the application contains 68K code, PPC code, or both 
• Whether the application is scriptable for use with AppleScript 

The "Preview" plugin provides the useful capability to display a graphic file's preview in the Finder. This will give the user a much better idea of what the full picture looks like compared to a custom icon. It also indicates the last time the preview was updated.

The "Dates and Sizes" plugin displays detailed info pertaining to the size of a file's data and resource forks, as well as an editable listing of the file's creation and modification dates.

Secret Tip: Change the modification date of a file to tomorrow and set the view of the enclosing folder to List view, making sure to show the Date Modified column. If you have Relative Dates turned on in the Finder Preferences, you'll notice that the edited file's modification date will display Tomorrow! Those Apple engineers have thought of everything!

Snitch's features are great for viewing or editing a specific file's attributes, but this powerful feature set can be used on a group of files as well! Snitch adds three extra menu items to the Get Info submenu under the File menu. They are, "Get Item Info...", "Get Original Info", and "Get Batch Info". The first item presents the user with an open dialog box. Simply select a file anywhere on any disk, and Snitch will pull up its info window. The second item is used for getting info on an alias' target. This feature is similar to the Finder's "Show Original" command except that Snitch takes it one step further and displays the original's info window. The last and most powerful item displays a list of the selected files, allowing the user to manipulate them with the Snitch plugins individually or in groups. This feature is a boon if one needs to change the creator code of a slew of files for easy opening in a favorite application. Besides selecting the tools in the Get Info window as previously described, a user can use the included Contextual Menu Module to access a plugin directly, a thoughtful and time-saving addition on Mitch Jones' (the author) part.

Overall, Snitch offers some solid features, is fast and runs natively on both 68K and PPC machines, and provides a wealth of features in one control panel.

This utility's hardware and software requirements are as follows:

• 68020 or PowerPC Macintosh. 
• System 7.0 or better including MacOS 8.x and MacOS 9. 
• 16MB RAM. 
• 2MB hard disk space 

Snitch is a $20 shareware program. If you find this control panel as useful as I do, make sure to reward Mr. Jones for the hard work he has put into this system enhancement. I give Nifty Neato Software high marks on this powerful addition and consider Snitch to be one of my personal favorites!

Jeremy Hoesly
Software Tester for ResExcellence