# class Files.FileType

The FileType class provides a multi-platform representation of a file type, holding the metadata used by the various platforms to create and recognise files of a particular type. FileType instances are used by the standard file selection dialogs to restrict the set of selectable files, and by the FileRef class to enable creating a file of a specified type.

## Properties

name
  A short human-readable description of the file type.
suffix
  Filename suffix (without dot) used to recognise files of this type. This is the most generic way of specifying a file type, as it works across most platforms.
  This property is used by request_old_file() to filter the set of files that can be selected, and by request_new_file() to determine the suffix of the returned filename. Note, however, that it is ignored by FileRef.open() when creating a file. If you use a filename other than one returned by request_new_file(), it is your responsibility to add any necessary suffix.
mac_creator
  On the Macintosh, the 4-character creator code to be given to newly-created files of this type. This property is used by FileRef.open() when creating a file, but not by the file dialog functions.
  On other platforms, this property is ignored.
mac_type
  On the Macintosh, the 4-character type code. This property is used by FileRef.open() when creating a file, and by request_old_file() to filter the set of files that can be selected.
  On other platforms, this property is ignored.
mac_force_suffix
  On MacOSX, this property controls whether files saved as this type are forced to have the specified suffix even when a mac_type is specified. The default is true, which ensures that the application will always recognise saved files as being of this type on all platforms.
  By specifying a mac_type and setting this property to false, you can allow files to be saved on the Macintosh with any file name. On the Macintosh their type will be recognised by the mac_type, and files saved on other platforms will be recognised by their suffix. However, to ensure that files saved on the Macintosh will be recognised on other platforms, you will need to manually give them the correct suffix.
  This property only applies when the file type specifies both a suffix and a mac_type. When there is no mac_type, the suffix is always enforced. When there is no suffix, this property is ignored (since there is no suffix to enforce).
  On non-Macintosh platforms, this property is ignored, and the suffix, if any, is always enforced.

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