We can manage the way the Finder displays objects using the FXPreferredViewStyle key in the com.apple.finder defaults domain. There are four options in the Finder drop-down for view style and these are Icons (icnv), List (nlsv), Columns (clmv), and Gallery (glyv). Given that only communists use anything other than the list view, we’re going to set the default to that with a simple defaults command: defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle -string "nlsv" To undo our change and allow it to default to the last view, we can simply delete the key: defaults delete com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewSTyle
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Use Time Machine Server in OS X Server 5
The Time Machine service in OS X Server 5 hasn’t changed much from the service in previous operating systems. To enable the Time Machine service, open the Server app, click on Time Machine in the SERVICES sidebar. If the service hasn’t been enabled to date, the ON/OFF switch will be in the OFF position and no “Backup destination” will be shown in the Settings pane. Click on the ON button to see the New Destination screen, used to configure a list of volumes as a destinations for Time Machine backups. The selection volume should be large enough to have space for all of the users that can potentially use the Time…
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Show File Extensions
In OS X, we don’t see file extensions by default. However, in a number of environments it’s very useful to have them. To see them in the Finder, send a boolean AppleShowAllExtensions key to the NSGlobalDomain as True, then restart the Finder. defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true; killall Finder To change back to not seeing extensions: defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool false; killall Finder
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Who Needs Root When You Can Have Simple Finder
Here’s the thing: I’m not very good with computers. So to keep me from hurting myself too badly, I need the simplest interface available that allows me to run multiple applications. But most of the command keys shouldn’t work in this interface and I should only have Finder, file and Help menus. Luckily for my poor MacBook Airs, Apple thought of people like me when they wrote the Finder and invented something called Simple Finder which makes OS X even simpler than it is by default to use. To enable Simple Finder, just go to Parental controls, enable controls for a user and then check the box for Simple Finder.…
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Copy Files Status in Mountain Lion
Of the new features in Mountain Lion, one I have already started to love is the fact that when you’re copying folders, you see a status in the Finder screen that lists the folders. This allows me to do a bunch of Finder level copies and rather than tile out the screens that I’m using to copy, I can just watch them from the parent folder. Sometimes it’s the little things…
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Automatic Application Termination & Servers
One of the new features that was introduced in OS X Lion is automatic application termination. This feature stops any applications that haven’t been used for awhile and then when you start the app back up, it fires up using the saved application state. But some processes shouldn’t be stopped. I’ve recently run into 2 cases where I needed to disable automatic termination. To do so is pretty straight forward: defaults write -g NSDisableAutomaticTermination -bool TRUE Once run, read the key back from the global defaults domain to verify it was run correctly: defaults read -g NSDisableAutomaticTermination The output should just be a 1. Provided it’s correct, now test that…
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Finder: I Just Can't Quit You
defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool YESYou You can get a Quit menu for the Finder by editing the com.apple.finder.plist, which we can do here using the defaults command: defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool YES Now you can run a command to kill the Finder: killall Finder Then when it comes back to life you should see the new menu item.
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Hiding Finder Options
One of the nice little things about Cocktail is that it can hide things. Useful for certain types of projects. For the Finder specifically, Cocktail can hide: Under the Finder menu: Preferences Empty Trash Quit Finder File Menu: Eject Burn to Disc View menu: Customize Toolbar Show View Options Go menu: Go to Folder Connect to Server Apple menu: Restart Shut Down Log out
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Customizing the color and icons in the Dock
So I had a request that involved something I had never actually thought or bothered to do: customize the finder icon in the dock… I figured it would just be an image and therefore that it couldn’t actually be that difficult. And I was correct. Remarkably, the icon is actually called finder.png (you may have noticed that smaller iPhone and OS X images are almost always png files these days): /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/finder.png So I renamed it to finder.old using this command: sudo mv /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/finder.png /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/finder.OLD Then grabbed a new png icon and threw it in the same place with the same name (in this case the logo was called UGA.png before and…
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Mac OS X: Getting a Finder Window as Root
CD into the /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/macOS directory. Su and then run ./Finder. You’ll see an error, the system will complain, but then, automatically you’ll see a Finder Window with Root. Might crash the Finder after a few minutes though, so be careful…