Some users have had trouble with Apple File Exchange when using AppleShare
PC and a PC drive to translate a file. During an ordinary text translation
from the PC drive, they can translate a file across and generate a
Macintosh file with a type of TEXT and a creator of MDOS, which can be seen
by an ordinary (non-shift-Option) open file dialog by Microsoft Word (or a
similar application).
However, if a PC on an AppleShare network puts the file on a server, and
they pull it down with a Macintosh and try the translation, they get a file
of type crlf and a creator of MDOS, which remains unseen to an ordinary
open file dialog in Microsoft Word. This makes it impossible to translate
it to type TEXT.
In the Special menu of the AppleShare PC DA, there is an option called
Extension Mapping. (Early documentation of AppleShare PC had this option
incorrectly listed in the Assignments menu.) This option automatically sets
the Macintosh desktop attributes, TYPE and CREATOR of an MS-DOS file, based
on its three-letter name suffix. For example, files created with a .DOC
suffix from Microsoft Word on a DOS system can automatically appear as a
Macintosh Microsoft Word icon on AppleShare; or .WKS files from Lotus 1-2-3
can appear as Excel icons. These files, though created directly from an
MS-DOS application, can be opened directly from Macintosh applications.
If you are porting ASCII text between the two environments, be sure that
DOS-Text is not selected in the Extension Mapping for .TXT files. This
appends a Carriage Return and Line Feed (crlf) on the end of each line and
gives it a type of crlf and a creator of MDOS (sound familiar?). Macintosh
word processing applications expect to see a type of TEXT for ASCII files.