<s>
A	O
creator	B-Operating_System
code	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
mechanism	O
introduced	O
in	O
the	O
classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
to	O
link	O
a	O
data	O
file	O
to	O
the	O
application	O
program	O
which	O
created	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Creator	B-Operating_System
codes	I-Operating_System
are	O
four-byte	O
OSTypes	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Creator	B-Operating_System
codes	I-Operating_System
could	O
be	O
any	O
four-byte	O
value	O
,	O
but	O
were	O
usually	O
chosen	O
so	O
that	O
their	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
representation	O
formed	O
a	O
word	O
or	O
acronym	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
creator	B-Operating_System
code	I-Operating_System
of	O
the	O
HyperCard	B-Application
application	O
and	O
its	O
associated	O
"	O
stacks	O
"	O
is	O
represented	O
in	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
as	O
,	O
from	O
the	O
application	O
's	O
original	O
name	O
of	O
WildCard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
the	O
Marathon	B-Application
computer	O
game	O
had	O
a	O
creator	B-Operating_System
code	I-Operating_System
of	O
(	O
the	O
approximate	O
length	O
,	O
in	O
miles	O
,	O
of	O
a	O
marathon	B-Application
)	O
and	O
Marathon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Durandal	I-Application
had	O
a	O
creator	B-Operating_System
code	I-Operating_System
of	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
binding	O
are	O
stored	O
inside	O
the	O
resource	B-Operating_System
fork	I-Operating_System
of	O
the	O
application	O
as	O
BNDL	O
and	O
fref	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
resources	O
maintained	O
the	O
creator	B-Operating_System
code	I-Operating_System
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
association	O
with	O
each	O
type	O
code	O
and	O
icon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
macOS	B-Application
retains	O
creator	B-Operating_System
codes	I-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
supports	O
extensions	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
beginning	O
with	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	I-Device
X	I-Device
Snow	I-Device
Leopard	I-Device
,	O
creator	B-Operating_System
codes	I-Operating_System
are	O
ignored	O
by	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Creator	B-Operating_System
codes	I-Operating_System
have	O
been	O
internally	O
superseded	O
by	O
Apple	O
's	O
Uniform	B-Operating_System
Type	I-Operating_System
Identifier	I-Operating_System
scheme	O
,	O
which	O
manages	O
application	O
and	O
file	O
type	O
identification	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
type	O
codes	O
,	O
creator	B-Operating_System
codes	I-Operating_System
and	O
file	O
extensions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
avoid	O
conflicts	O
,	O
Apple	O
maintained	O
a	O
database	O
of	O
creator	B-Operating_System
codes	I-Operating_System
in	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
reserves	O
codes	O
containing	O
all	O
lower-case	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
characters	I-Protocol
for	O
its	O
own	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Creator	B-Operating_System
codes	I-Operating_System
are	O
not	O
readily	O
accessible	O
for	O
users	O
to	O
manipulate	O
,	O
although	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
and	O
changed	O
with	O
certain	O
software	O
,	O
most	O
notably	O
the	O
macOS	B-Application
command	O
line	O
tools	O
GetFileInfo	O
and	O
SetFile	O
which	O
are	O
installed	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
developer	O
tools	O
into	O
/Developer/Tools	O
.	O
</s>
