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  • Smart Folder/Saved Search does not work properly on hidden files(Late 2013 MacBook Pro, OS X 10.13 High Sierra)

    From Dudley Brooks@[email protected] to comp.sys.mac.misc on Mon Jun 3 14:16:34 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.misc

    I have several files which I hid using

    chflags hidden

    They work properly in Finder: They originally do not show up, but shift-control-period toggles them between showing and not showing.

    I next made a Smart Folder/Saved Search:

    [All] of the following are true
    [File visibility] [Visible items]
    <further criteria>

    EVERYTHING satisfying <further criteria> shows up -- visible files AND invisible files!

    As an experiment, I also made

    [All] of the following are true
    [File visibility] [Invisible items]
    <further criteria>

    NOTHING shows up -- not visible files OR invisible files! A completely
    blank list!

    What is wrong?
    --
    Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
    Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
    San Francisco
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From Jolly Roger@[email protected] to comp.sys.mac.misc on Mon Jun 3 21:47:03 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.misc

    On 2024-06-03, Dudley Brooks <[email protected]> wrote:
    I have several files which I hid using

    chflags hidden

    They work properly in Finder: They originally do not show up, but shift-control-period toggles them between showing and not showing.

    I next made a Smart Folder/Saved Search:

    [All] of the following are true
    [File visibility] [Visible items]
    <further criteria>

    EVERYTHING satisfying <further criteria> shows up -- visible files AND invisible files!

    As an experiment, I also made

    [All] of the following are true
    [File visibility] [Invisible items]
    <further criteria>

    NOTHING shows up -- not visible files OR invisible files! A completely blank list!

    What is wrong?

    It seems the "File visibility" criteria is for whether you want dot
    files (files whose names begin with a period character) to appear in
    search results. It doesn't seem to consider files whose `hidden`
    extended attribute is set. When you use the `chflags` command-line tool
    you are setting an extended attribute on the file in question, which is different than adding a dot to the beginning of the name. I'm not sure
    whether the way search works is an oversight or just the way it was
    designed to work. Personally, I consider it an oversight and would
    encourage submitting feedback about it if it's something you care about.
    --
    E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
    I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

    JR
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114