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Hidden files and folders on APFS volumes

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?

December 9, 2021 Macs, Technology

Sparse files are common in APFS

If there’s one thing we’re learning about APFS, it’s that file sizes are flexible. That means that free […]

March 29, 2021 Macs, Technology

Controlling metadata: Tricks with persistence

Unlike file data, metadata has varying persistence. Some is ephemeral, others sticky. macOS has inbuilt mechanisms for managing the persistence of extended attributes.

November 2, 2020 Macs, Technology

There’s more to files than data: Attributes

Explaining inodes, names, dates, permissions, file types, and specialised attributes used for iCloud.

October 22, 2020 Macs, Technology

There’s more to files than data: Structure and data forks

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.

October 20, 2020 Macs, Technology

How to tell Intel code from Universal

How can you tell whether an app on your Mac is a Universal App, or only support Intel processors?

July 20, 2020 Macs, Technology

What’s that file then? How to identify unknown file types

You’re checking through old files. How can you tell which file type they are when you don’t recognise the extension, or they don’t even have that to help?

September 21, 2019 Macs, Technology

The recursive RTFD document: a seriously weird problem

Getting strange errors when trying to copy an RTFD package? Try looking inside it, to see if it has developed recursive structure, like Russian dolls.

August 6, 2019 Macs, Technology

What’s that? Using magic on your Mac

Telling what a file is – whether plain text, Unicode UTF-8, 32-bit code, and so on – can be hard. Just use a little magic, free in the command tool ‘file’. Includes Swift code to access magic numbers.

April 24, 2018 Macs, Technology
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