tapping into finder events

[Scott Rossi]

Recently, Randall Lee Reetz wrote:

> The suggestions posted to my questions have all required polling, which is
> peridic comparison of what was with what is now.  This is scary inefficient
> compared with getting delta messages as they occure.

Not sure if you've already come across this, but it *looks* like the
underlying principles may be what you're after (for OS X only):

"... the FSEvents API. This API provides a mechanism to notify clients about
directories they ought to re-scan in order to keep their internal data
structures up-to-date with respect to the true state of the file system.
(For example, when files or directories are created, modified, or removed.)
It sends these notifications "in bulk", possibly notifying the client of
changes to several directories in a single callback. By using the API,
clients can notice such changes quickly, without needing to resort to
recursive polling/scanning of the file system."

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Reference/FSEvents_Ref/FSEve
nts/index.html

Regards,

Scott Rossi
Creative Director
Tactile Media, Multimedia & Design