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Reading FilmX Picture Files?

Posted by Cliff on from the accessing-unconventional-file-types dept.

bzlman asks: "I just broke my finger and instead of conventional x-rays, the ER gave me a CD with huge picture files on it from the company called FilmX from sorna.com. Unfortunately, the software to read the pics is for Windows, and the file type for the images (each about 10 MB) is 'command line' (the files are of no conventional type). I've tried opening the files with every image program for Mac OS X and Classic, to no avail. These are high quality images I want to see, and I hope someone can help me find a Mac OS X way to view them. Thanks."

4 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Here we go again by ravenspear · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I really don't care if I burn Karma here.

    Why is Cliff intent on turning apple.slashdot.org into a tech support forum? I mean I could probably point to at least 10 stories he has posted in the last month or two which are basically some random person who needs help with an OS X issue that a two second search on Google or VT or the Macworld of Macfixit forums or any other number of places would have yielded the answer to.

    1. Re:Here we go again by zo219 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's not Cliff. (Okay, maybe it is Cliff, but that's another story.) Fact is, every damn OS X forum has been clogged - clogged, people! - with questions that a pulldown of the ol' Help Menu would answer. If Google is too much to ask. I don't get it. Why OS X? It is Switchers? Some kind of Learned Helpless that eventually besets all who use Windows?
      In which case one must be patient and charitable. But forget completely about Apple "My screen is all funny writing and grey" Discussions. The dumb-down is everywhere. I have even seen (gasp, I know) semi-boneheaded idling on macosxhints.com. Now, that's serious. Though by this time, Panther hints must be running pretty sparse on the ground. . .

    2. Re:Here we go again by DavidLeblond · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Its partly because when we switched we were told by our friends that we would not be able to find any software on the Mac, so we assume its not there (I'm a recent switcher.) Hell I even have heard people argue that "Apple doesn't have many applications because there aren't any development tools yet for the Mac."

  2. Thoughts by JavaRob · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A few other commenters seem to have found the answer for you already... but if this were a totally non-standard, proprietary format that was impossible to view on anything but Windows, I can still think of possible solutions. E.g., from what I understand Windows is becoming a fairly widespread operating system nowadays; perhaps you have a neighbor, or a friend, or a relative, or a coworker, who has one of these unusual machines? :)

    Seriously, though, you should complain. All they have to do is include a readme file that says "Users of other operating systems can open these images using any image viewer with DICOMM support" or something along those lines. It's not hard -- but they may not have bothered yet simply because they aren't getting any real complaints. It's like all of the websites out there that are only tested on IE. No complaints, so why change?

    Fortunately, as more people use Firefox, and (possibly?) more people use Macs, the common understanding that you're "safe" to only include support for Windows and IE will start to disappear.