FileUtils 1.0.1
Still, no matter how often I use an alternate file manager and constantly tracking progress of development of most of them, I still find myself manipulating files in Finder very often. Finder is just convenient. It’s always there, ready to be put into action. There are also some things, for which Finder is practically a must, since alternative file managers cannot do them due to lack of Apple support (private APIs, undocumented features changing unannounced, even with minor OS updates). Working with files in iCloud Drive and using Time Machine are some of those things, which come to mind. If only Finder could do just a few additional and more advanced things, like proper and full POSIX permission setting, or Access Control List (ACL), maybe showing a checksum of the selected file…
That’s where FileUtils comes from. About a decade ago, Apple came up with official way and API to extend Finder functionality, in a way that developers could add additional actions performed on files selected in Finder, invoked with additional, custom contextual menu items (actually, adding contextual menu items was possible a long time ago, before macOS 10.6 Snow Leopard, but it required tons of Carbon code and was eventually deprecated when going 64-bits). FileUtils does exactly that. While the application is running, you will notice some additional menu items in Finder’s contextual menu (and dedicated FileUtils toolbar item menu too). Each additional item invokes a particular action on files selected in Finder, action Finder cannot do on its own.
I love this idea. The initial features include checksumming, compression, secure delete, permissions and ACLs, renaming, and file sizes (in columns, like OmniDiskSweeper). The current version has worked well for me except that it sometimes crashes when viewing a folder that contains a large number of archives. I’m hoping that a future version will add some more developer oriented features, like getting Mach-O and code signing information.
There are separate non-sandboxed ($9.95), sandboxed, and Mac App Store ($9.99) versions, with the former providing more direct access to files, as well as privileged file operations.
Previously:
Update (2024-10-15): See also: Adam Engst.
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Also works in other file managers via the Services menu. (I'm using Nimble Commander.)
ACL direct access. Very neat.
Bought. 🙏
And FileUtils works with MacOS back to High Sierra! I love supporting developers with that kind of chutzpah.
