The separation between type and creator had other beneficial side effects. The Type code told you which apps _could_ open a file (by drag and drop or via the file chooser dialog). The creator code told you which app _would_ be chosen when the file was opened in the Finder (e.g., double-clicked). So HTML documents I had created in some web authoring tool would open in it for editing, whereas those I had saved from a web browser would open in it for viewing.
I don't remember it being possible to change either code using tools that shipped with the OS. I obtained a tool on one of MacFormat's early cover disks...
ResEdit was the apple program that could change it. Unfortunately, I don't remember off the top of my head if it shipped with the system or only with some of the developer tools. I _think_ early versions had it.
I don't remember it being possible to change either code using tools that shipped with the OS. I obtained a tool on one of MacFormat's early cover disks...