The Desktop and Finder illusions are held together by Launch Services, which associates file types with apps. This and more now hinge on the UTI.
metadata
What metadata you are likely to encounter, where it is stored, and how you can view and edit it. A grand tour of the Finder’s Get Info dialog.
Want to make local Spotlight searches more effective? Add keywords to their metadata, such as Finder Comments. But there are some snags.
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?
The Eclectic Light Company 