._!

[Richard Gaskin]

Robert Brenstein wrote:
 > There is a way to tell Finder not to copy them to external volumes
 > but I seem to have misplaced the details of achieving that.

So far I've only been able to turn up a command to stop the ._DStore 
files, but not the others.


Paul Hibbert wrote:

 > It seems turning off the '._*' file creation could cause problems
 > with the Apple Finder and some MS Office apps.

If an app depends on Mac-specific metadata or the resource fork that 
would be the case.  But the res fork has been flagged for deprecation 
for more than a decade, so any dev relying on it can expect issues.  For 
anything else, the Mac works fine with files put onto such drives from 
other OSes, so any risk would seem very minimal.

Even so, I'm okay with the default being what it is.  It just seems 
reasonable that there be an option for the Finder to play nice with the 
other 90% of the world when copying to foreign-format drives.


 > After a quick search I found an old entry on Mac OS X Hints (MacWorld
 > forum) that states "using the 'mv' and 'cp' commands

Thanks.  I replaced Time Machine with some rsync scripts not long ago, 
which also copies only what I tell it to without creating extra files.

But this isn't for me, but for everyone I work with.  I love rsync, but 
it's not the sort of thing I'd recommend to all my friends. :)

If there was a setting for this, even if it was only accessible through 
the command line, I'd happily make a free tool to help people set it.

But I just can't find such an option....

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com