Just posted a few FAQs for folderol on ericasadun.com. This is a test post to make sure the “post to Twitter” functionality is all in place!
Archive for May, 2014
Folderol FAQ #2: Preserving the original modification date
Jeff writes:
Hi Erica,I just downloaded folderol. I bought your product. Please help. I’m a recent PhD who was very surprised with OS Mavericks taking away the colors of my files (not just the folders). I had a system whereby color coded files would indicate which version of the draft I was working with. Yellow for 1st, orange for 2nd, green for ready to go. It was great. When I use FOLDEROL to add color to a file, it sends that file to the top of the modified column on my macbookpro. It thereby loses the important DATE-TIME functionality. I no longer know which was my most recent version.Can you advise me on how to not have the modification be registered by time-date?
Thanks,
Jeff
Answer:
I created a drag and drop utility called Mod Date Holder (download). Drop your files on it before using folderol and then drop them on again after. It should preserve your original modification dates.
This app creates a metadata key that stores the most recent modification date. Folderol will modify the file icon and update the modification time. Once folderol-ized, return to the utility and drop the file on again. This time, Mod Date Holder finds the metadata key it created, which stores the original modification date and updates the file to return it to that date.
You can check the stored date in any file from the command line as such. This uses the “print” (p) option for the xattr metadata command. The date appears as a number, which is a time interval offset from the OS X Epoch.
/usr/bin/xattr -p com.sadun.CustomModificationDateHoldKey <path to file>
Folderol FAQs #1: Does it work with Dropbox?
Freddy writes:
The color disappears when I move the folder to Dropbox. Any solution to prevent that? It seems to work sometimes now, about every second time I add a folder to Dropbox. Another problem is that the folder doesn’t appear colored anymore if I am reading it in Dropbox from another of my Macs. Do Folderol need to be installed on every computer to have it work?
Answer:
The color should work on-your mac. It may not sync between macs. Dropbox’s folder icon sync problem is apparently longstanding.
More than you want to know:
The “dot” is specific to OS X Mavericks and will not be synced by Dropbox as it is part of the file metadata. You can see it from the command line by running “mdls”, e.g.
mdls -name kMDItemUserTags /path/to/your/folder
The icon is actually an invisible file inside the folder, placed there by the OS X workspace. You can see hidden files by running the two following lines in a terminal session:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUEkillall Finder
And to return the hidden files back to invisible:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSEkillall Finder