AppleSingle / AppleDouble: Java parsing library

AppleSingle and AppleDouble files are used by certain Mac applications (e.g. Finder) to store Mac-specific file attributes on filesystems that do not support that.

Syntactically, both formats are the same, the only difference is how they are being used:

  • AppleSingle means that only one file will be created on external filesystem that will hold both the data (AKA "data fork" in Apple terminology), and the attributes (AKA "resource fork").
  • AppleDouble means that two files will be created: a normal file that keeps the data ("data fork") is kept separately from an auxiliary file that contains attributes ("resource fork"), which is kept with the same name, but starting with an extra dot and underscore ._ to keep it hidden.

In modern practice (Mac OS X), Finder only uses AppleDouble to keep compatibility with other OSes, as virtually nobody outside of Mac understands how to access data in AppleSingle container.

This page hosts a formal specification of AppleSingle / AppleDouble using Kaitai Struct. This specification can be automatically translated into a variety of programming languages to get a parsing library.

Usage

Runtime library

All parsing code for Java generated by Kaitai Struct depends on the Java runtime library. You have to install it before you can parse data.

The Java runtime library is published in the Maven Central Repository. Refer to the artifact page for instructions how to add it into your project with the build tool that you use.

Code

Parse a local file and get structure in memory:

AppleSingleDouble data = AppleSingleDouble.fromFile("path/to/local/file.bin");

Or parse structure from a byte array:

byte[] someArray = new byte[] { ... };
AppleSingleDouble data = new AppleSingleDouble(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(someArray));

After that, one can get various attributes from the structure by invoking getter methods like:

data.reserved() // => Must be all 0.

Java source code to parse AppleSingle / AppleDouble

AppleSingleDouble.java

// This is a generated file! Please edit source .ksy file and use kaitai-struct-compiler to rebuild

import io.kaitai.struct.ByteBufferKaitaiStream;
import io.kaitai.struct.KaitaiStruct;
import io.kaitai.struct.KaitaiStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.ArrayList;


/**
 * AppleSingle and AppleDouble files are used by certain Mac
 * applications (e.g. Finder) to store Mac-specific file attributes on
 * filesystems that do not support that.
 * 
 * Syntactically, both formats are the same, the only difference is how
 * they are being used:
 * 
 * * AppleSingle means that only one file will be created on external
 *   filesystem that will hold both the data (AKA "data fork" in Apple
 *   terminology), and the attributes (AKA "resource fork").
 * * AppleDouble means that two files will be created: a normal file
 *   that keeps the data ("data fork") is kept separately from an
 *   auxiliary file that contains attributes ("resource fork"), which
 *   is kept with the same name, but starting with an extra dot and
 *   underscore `._` to keep it hidden.
 * 
 * In modern practice (Mac OS X), Finder only uses AppleDouble to keep
 * compatibility with other OSes, as virtually nobody outside of Mac
 * understands how to access data in AppleSingle container.
 * @see <a href="http://kaiser-edv.de/documents/AppleSingle_AppleDouble.pdf">Source</a>
 */
public class AppleSingleDouble extends KaitaiStruct {
    public static AppleSingleDouble fromFile(String fileName) throws IOException {
        return new AppleSingleDouble(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(fileName));
    }

    public enum FileType {
        APPLE_SINGLE(333312),
        APPLE_DOUBLE(333319);

        private final long id;
        FileType(long id) { this.id = id; }
        public long id() { return id; }
        private static final Map<Long, FileType> byId = new HashMap<Long, FileType>(2);
        static {
            for (FileType e : FileType.values())
                byId.put(e.id(), e);
        }
        public static FileType byId(long id) { return byId.get(id); }
    }

    public AppleSingleDouble(KaitaiStream _io) {
        this(_io, null, null);
    }

    public AppleSingleDouble(KaitaiStream _io, KaitaiStruct _parent) {
        this(_io, _parent, null);
    }

    public AppleSingleDouble(KaitaiStream _io, KaitaiStruct _parent, AppleSingleDouble _root) {
        super(_io);
        this._parent = _parent;
        this._root = _root == null ? this : _root;
        _read();
    }
    private void _read() {
        this.magic = FileType.byId(this._io.readU4be());
        this.version = this._io.readU4be();
        this.reserved = this._io.readBytes(16);
        this.numEntries = this._io.readU2be();
        this.entries = new ArrayList<Entry>();
        for (int i = 0; i < numEntries(); i++) {
            this.entries.add(new Entry(this._io, this, _root));
        }
    }
    public static class Entry extends KaitaiStruct {
        public static Entry fromFile(String fileName) throws IOException {
            return new Entry(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(fileName));
        }

        public enum Types {
            DATA_FORK(1),
            RESOURCE_FORK(2),
            REAL_NAME(3),
            COMMENT(4),
            ICON_BW(5),
            ICON_COLOR(6),
            FILE_DATES_INFO(8),
            FINDER_INFO(9),
            MACINTOSH_FILE_INFO(10),
            PRODOS_FILE_INFO(11),
            MSDOS_FILE_INFO(12),
            AFP_SHORT_NAME(13),
            AFP_FILE_INFO(14),
            AFP_DIRECTORY_ID(15);

            private final long id;
            Types(long id) { this.id = id; }
            public long id() { return id; }
            private static final Map<Long, Types> byId = new HashMap<Long, Types>(14);
            static {
                for (Types e : Types.values())
                    byId.put(e.id(), e);
            }
            public static Types byId(long id) { return byId.get(id); }
        }

        public Entry(KaitaiStream _io) {
            this(_io, null, null);
        }

        public Entry(KaitaiStream _io, AppleSingleDouble _parent) {
            this(_io, _parent, null);
        }

        public Entry(KaitaiStream _io, AppleSingleDouble _parent, AppleSingleDouble _root) {
            super(_io);
            this._parent = _parent;
            this._root = _root;
            _read();
        }
        private void _read() {
            this.type = Types.byId(this._io.readU4be());
            this.ofsBody = this._io.readU4be();
            this.lenBody = this._io.readU4be();
        }
        private Object body;
        public Object body() {
            if (this.body != null)
                return this.body;
            long _pos = this._io.pos();
            this._io.seek(ofsBody());
            {
                Types on = type();
                if (on != null) {
                    switch (type()) {
                    case FINDER_INFO: {
                        this._raw_body = this._io.readBytes(lenBody());
                        KaitaiStream _io__raw_body = new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(_raw_body);
                        this.body = new FinderInfo(_io__raw_body, this, _root);
                        break;
                    }
                    default: {
                        this.body = this._io.readBytes(lenBody());
                        break;
                    }
                    }
                } else {
                    this.body = this._io.readBytes(lenBody());
                }
            }
            this._io.seek(_pos);
            return this.body;
        }
        private Types type;
        private long ofsBody;
        private long lenBody;
        private AppleSingleDouble _root;
        private AppleSingleDouble _parent;
        private byte[] _raw_body;
        public Types type() { return type; }
        public long ofsBody() { return ofsBody; }
        public long lenBody() { return lenBody; }
        public AppleSingleDouble _root() { return _root; }
        public AppleSingleDouble _parent() { return _parent; }
        public byte[] _raw_body() { return _raw_body; }
    }

    /**
     * Information specific to Finder
     * @see "older Inside Macintosh, Volume II page 84 or Volume IV page 104."
     */
    public static class FinderInfo extends KaitaiStruct {
        public static FinderInfo fromFile(String fileName) throws IOException {
            return new FinderInfo(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(fileName));
        }

        public FinderInfo(KaitaiStream _io) {
            this(_io, null, null);
        }

        public FinderInfo(KaitaiStream _io, AppleSingleDouble.Entry _parent) {
            this(_io, _parent, null);
        }

        public FinderInfo(KaitaiStream _io, AppleSingleDouble.Entry _parent, AppleSingleDouble _root) {
            super(_io);
            this._parent = _parent;
            this._root = _root;
            _read();
        }
        private void _read() {
            this.fileType = this._io.readBytes(4);
            this.fileCreator = this._io.readBytes(4);
            this.flags = this._io.readU2be();
            this.location = new Point(this._io, this, _root);
            this.folderId = this._io.readU2be();
        }
        private byte[] fileType;
        private byte[] fileCreator;
        private int flags;
        private Point location;
        private int folderId;
        private AppleSingleDouble _root;
        private AppleSingleDouble.Entry _parent;
        public byte[] fileType() { return fileType; }
        public byte[] fileCreator() { return fileCreator; }
        public int flags() { return flags; }

        /**
         * File icon's coordinates when displaying this folder.
         */
        public Point location() { return location; }

        /**
         * File folder ID (=window).
         */
        public int folderId() { return folderId; }
        public AppleSingleDouble _root() { return _root; }
        public AppleSingleDouble.Entry _parent() { return _parent; }
    }

    /**
     * Specifies 2D coordinate in QuickDraw grid.
     */
    public static class Point extends KaitaiStruct {
        public static Point fromFile(String fileName) throws IOException {
            return new Point(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(fileName));
        }

        public Point(KaitaiStream _io) {
            this(_io, null, null);
        }

        public Point(KaitaiStream _io, AppleSingleDouble.FinderInfo _parent) {
            this(_io, _parent, null);
        }

        public Point(KaitaiStream _io, AppleSingleDouble.FinderInfo _parent, AppleSingleDouble _root) {
            super(_io);
            this._parent = _parent;
            this._root = _root;
            _read();
        }
        private void _read() {
            this.x = this._io.readU2be();
            this.y = this._io.readU2be();
        }
        private int x;
        private int y;
        private AppleSingleDouble _root;
        private AppleSingleDouble.FinderInfo _parent;
        public int x() { return x; }
        public int y() { return y; }
        public AppleSingleDouble _root() { return _root; }
        public AppleSingleDouble.FinderInfo _parent() { return _parent; }
    }
    private FileType magic;
    private long version;
    private byte[] reserved;
    private int numEntries;
    private ArrayList<Entry> entries;
    private AppleSingleDouble _root;
    private KaitaiStruct _parent;
    public FileType magic() { return magic; }
    public long version() { return version; }

    /**
     * Must be all 0.
     */
    public byte[] reserved() { return reserved; }
    public int numEntries() { return numEntries; }
    public ArrayList<Entry> entries() { return entries; }
    public AppleSingleDouble _root() { return _root; }
    public KaitaiStruct _parent() { return _parent; }
}