Skip to content

The Eclectic Light Company

Macs, painting, and more
Main navigation
  • Downloads
  • M1 & M2 Macs
  • Mac Problems
  • Mac articles
  • Art
  • Macs
  • Painting

forks

From resource forks to quarantine, ResEdit to Gatekeeper

T T Read More

ResEdit changed what was in the resource fork. With Mac OS X, Apple moved away from forks to extended attributes, now used for quarantine flags and more.

December 27, 2022 Macs, Technology

Extended attributes as a vulnerability

Thirty years ago, many Macs were hit by the Wdef virus, which exploited a vulnerability which remains today: it travelled in an extended attribute. Should we be worried now?

November 7, 2020 Macs, Technology

There’s more to files than data: Extended Attributes

All about xattrs: their origin, where they’re stored, how they’re named and typed, how to find and work with them, and their common problems.

October 24, 2020 Macs, Technology

Stick a fork in it, and other flashbacks

Classic resource forks passed into Mac OS X, but were deprecated by Apple in 10.8. Now in Catalina they can stop working: is this a new security measure?

December 10, 2019 Macs, Technology

Where are all those extended attributes?

I claimed (from a guess) that there might be 0.8 GB of xattrs in my Home folder. I was wildly wrong: there are actually over 3.8 GB. Here’s how xattrs are distributed.

February 14, 2018 Macs, Technology, xattr

Can macOS tell how large a file really is?

T T Read More

Many files in macOS are more than just their data, and contain metadata in extended attributes. Does macOS know the true size of any file, taking into account those attributes?

February 12, 2018 Macs, Technology

xattr: com.apple.ResourceFork, a classic Mac resource fork

A traditional ‘resource fork’ containing resource structures, lumped into a binary xattr. Still commonly used for image previews, and found in many older files.

December 12, 2017 xattr

An introduction to extended attributes, xattrs

General account of xattrs, their storage, types, tools for working with them, and common problems.

December 11, 2017 Macs, Technology

Last Week on My Mac: Forks and other system cutlery

T T Read More

One of the great hidden features in macOS, xattrs are rarely used by anyone outside Apple, largely because they are so poorly supported by functions calls and tools.

August 20, 2017 Macs, Technology

Extended Attributes: a draft example documentation page

A simple and concise example of a page from the documentation which we, as a community, could readily produce for macOS. Fancy giving us a hand?

August 19, 2017 Macs, Technology

Posts navigation

Previous1 2 Next
Blog at WordPress.com.
Footer navigation
  • About & Contact
  • Macs
  • Painting
  • Language
  • Tech
  • Life
  • General
  • Downloads
  • Mac problem-solving
  • Extended attributes (xattrs)
  • Painting topics
  • Hieronymus Bosch
  • English language
  • LockRattler: 10.12 Sierra
  • LockRattler: 10.13 High Sierra
  • LockRattler: 10.11 El Capitan
  • Updates: El Capitan
  • Updates: Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur
  • LockRattler: 10.14 Mojave
  • SilentKnight, silnite, LockRattler, SystHist & Scrub
  • DelightEd & Podofyllin
  • xattred, Metamer, Sandstrip & xattr tools
  • 32-bitCheck & ArchiChect
  • T2M2, Ulbow, Consolation and log utilities
  • Cirrus & Bailiff
  • Taccy, Signet, Precize, Alifix, UTIutility, Sparsity, alisma
  • Revisionist & DeepTools
  • Text Utilities: Nalaprop, Dystextia and others
  • PDF
  • Keychains & Permissions
  • LockRattler: 10.15 Catalina
  • Updates
  • Spundle, Cormorant, Stibium, Dintch, Fintch and cintch
  • Long Reads
  • Mac Troubleshooting Summary
  • LockRattler: 11.0 Big Sur
  • M1 & M2 Macs
  • Mints: a multifunction utility
  • LockRattler: 12.x Monterey
  • VisualLookUpTest
  • Virtualisation on Apple silicon
  • LockRattler: 13.x Ventura
Secondary navigation
  • Search

Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.

  • Follow Following
    • The Eclectic Light Company
    • Join 3,137 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Eclectic Light Company
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...