Study how the four key timestamps of a file change when you create, edit, preview the file, using Dropera.
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Now warns if you drop a folder or app onto its window. You can disable MD5 hashes for added speed, and it works a treat for testing whether two files are identical.
Distinguishing conventional copies, clone files, symlinks, hard links and Finder aliases can be confusing. Here’s how to tell them apart with using Terminal.
Update adds two new datestamp fields, and gives decimal seconds in times. Use this app to explore how macOS sets those on files, as shown.
Understanding how APFS works: inodes, attributes, file extents, extended attributes, and how they change with editing and cloning.
Which of the cluster of hidden files and folders at the top level of an APFS volume should be preserved or copied to a copy of that volume?
If there’s one thing we’re learning about APFS, it’s that file sizes are flexible. That means that free […]
Unlike file data, metadata has varying persistence. Some is ephemeral, others sticky. macOS has inbuilt mechanisms for managing the persistence of extended attributes.
Explaining inodes, names, dates, permissions, file types, and specialised attributes used for iCloud.
Looking in more detail at newer tricks used by APFS on the data of files: sparse files, which can squeeze vast empty files almost to nothing; file clones; and compression, opening up in Big Sur.
The Eclectic Light Company 