Want to make local Spotlight searches more effective? Add keywords to their metadata, such as Finder Comments. But there are some snags.
metadata
General account of xattrs, their storage, types, tools for working with them, and common problems.
Even a lean and simple High Sierra system has many xattrs of many types, and plenty of files still have ‘resource forks’. Plus details of some important xattrs used by Apple’s system files.
They’re almost invisible, but surprisingly widely used. xattrs come in very many different types, and contain valuable information. Here are results from analysing most of a Sierra startup volume.
This tool now has an overhauled interface, making it much easier to use. Currently the only way of viewing and editing xattrs without using the command line.
Explains how Time Machine knows what to back up, why it performs deep event scans, and how that system is different from HFS+ journaling.
A free tool to force full Gatekeeper checks without having to download an app, inspect, add, and remove xattrs from files and folders.
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?
They’re responsible for determining Gatekeeper’s checks, contain Finder information, and much more. With a new free tool too.
Time Machine backups are but one of 70-80 background services which are run by macOS dispatching systems. Here’s a list of some of the others.
The Eclectic Light Company 