*How* to view hidden files in Leopard / 10.5 Finder?

[ppayne]

None of the old tools will enable viewing of hidden files in Finder, forcing me to use Terminal for stuff that was very quick before. Can anyone tell me how to view hidden files?

[trevor]

There are three methods for hiding files:

1. Beginning the files' name with a period
2. Using file metadata to set the invisibility flag
3. Including the file's name in the /.hidden file (only applicable for files in the root directory)

Which type of hidden files are you wishing to see?

Trevor

[ppayne]

I was trying to get into private/etc/httpd (which is inside apache now, I see) to change the folder for file sharing. However, I figured out that BBEdit can edit "hidden" files directly, so that did the trick.

[hayne]

Note also that "Go to Folder..." from Finder's "Go" menu will take you to whatever folder you want (hidden or not).

[roninuta]

#!/bin/bash
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder

or TRUE depending on what you want.
If you want to see how to make those finder plug-ins, go to:
http://roninuta.blogspot.com/2007/09...-files-in.html

it is valid Leopard/Tiger

HTH

[wealthychef]

Quote: Originally Posted by roninuta #!/bin/bash defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE killall Finder or TRUE depending on what you want. If you want to see how to make those finder plug-ins, go to: http://roninuta.blogspot.com/2007/09...-files-in.html it is valid Leopard/Tiger HTH

This actually doesn't do what the poster wanted, which is to show directories such as "/usr". There is no .hidden file any more. What's up?

[wealthychef]

BTW, TinkerTool does everything you might want, but unfortunately shows too MANY files! :-) I just want to see all the hidden directories in /, personally, not every .DS_store file. When will Apple stop using .DS_store files?

[wealthychef]

I forgot to mention XFile and PathFinder , two Finder substitutes

[Hal Itosis]

Quote: Originally Posted by wealthychef I forgot to mention XFile and PathFinder , two Finder substitutes

And RBrowser, which is both excellent and *free* (for "local" browsing).

-HI-

[xJSBx]

The above command works in Tiger, but not Leopard. Is there a way to get this to work in Leopard without getting a third party program to do it?

xJSBx

[ganbustein]

Quote: Originally Posted by wealthychef When will Apple stop using .DS_store files?

As soon as users give up the silly notion that they can move icons around in icon view, and have the positions remembered. Or attach comments to files. Or allow a folder to remember a view so that whenever a new window is opened on that folder it will open in the remembered view. And do it all even on non-HFS volumes.

[ASGR]

Personally, I prefer using TextWrangler for editing system and hidden files. It specifically allows you to open hidden files and it's a purpose built text editor for programming and these very eventualities.

With the 'defaults' command, I found that I had to log-out and then back in again before it took effect.

A.

[konch]

I've been struggling with this one too: In Leopard, lacking .hidden, how to see some hidden folders like /usr/local via the finder, but without having to also see those extremely annoying and borderline unethical .DS_Store files.

I seem to have hit upon a simple solution: First go to terminal and type

#defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
#KillAll Finder

like everyone says. Then find the folder or subfolder you care about in the finder, and drag it to the left menu (the "sidebar"), so that it becomes a favorite. Then run

#defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false
#KillAll Finder

If your system behaves like mine, you will still be able to see the hidden folder in the finder sidebar, and also, very happily, a trail of breadcrumbs for its tree, so that for instance I can put my tomcat folder there, and back out to other usr/local folders if I feel like.

It is possible also to use the finder menu's Go/Go to folder... to get this started, skipping the command line stuff entirely.

This does not make it possible to preferentially set individual files visible and invisible (I did see a way to do that in another forum), but it does make it possible to do basic web development via the finder, when the terminal isn't needed, without being spammed by .DS_Store files.

Preventing .DS_Store files from mucking up other systems is another question though -- don't forget they're there when preparing packages for deployment, for instance!

[nijm]

Here's a little script I call 'showall':

#!/bin/bash

showFiles="$(defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles)"
if [ "$showFiles" = 1 ]
 then defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool FALSE
 else defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool TRUE
fi

killall Finder

exit

This will toggle finder showing all files or not.