Sadly it looses its original timestamp, but gets the current one (equivalent to /usr/bin/touch). It seems to also depend on the file's overall or individual associated application (Finder "Open with" setting, Uniform Type Identifier (UTI), TYPE/CREATOR resource fork) and which QuickLook plugin handles the file type.Īn recreated file has a dramatically reduced file size (bout 1 KB). Out of these not all aliases get refreshed. Working, but only sometimes: PDF, JPEG, ZIP if BetterZip QuickLook plugin is the handler. In the newly opened window, QuickLook the alias files with SPACE.Issue "File > Show Original" (cmd-R) on the selected file.If you QuickLook a file via SPACE-key then no alias recreation occurs.Then you have the top file size culprits on top.The search criteria show up, set them as follows:.Finder > New window (cmd-N) > Search (cmd-F).Then you could do a simple Finder search, select the files of your liking (all or only certain) and then drag'n'drop them onto the batch process app or file service or Finder menu command.ĬURRENT WORKAROUND WITH QUICKLOOK ONLY WORKS PARTIALLY With an option to preserve the aliases' original timestamps, as they may have critical information value in some use cases. I propose to Apple to offer a batch process for reducing the file size of legacy alias files. PLEASE OFFER A FIX FOR THE BUG LEGACY AS WELL:ĭepending on how heavily aliases are used on a system, there is the potential to save multiple GBs for some users. (Simply by not including the icon resources, which where mostly anyhow redundant being just a copy of a generic file type icon.)
In macOS Sierra the file size of aliases was finally reduced dramatically, from multiple megabytes in Mac OS X 10.7-10.11 systems down to only about 1 KB now in macOS Sierra 10.12. Bug report to Apple, filed on įinder / HFS+ / filesystem - Refreshing legacy alias files to reduced filesize with batch process Would be cool, if we find a solution here, and offer it to the whole macOS community. But I think some skilled AppleScripter(s) here can come up with a solution within minutes. Recreate it at the original filepath with the determined filename, timestamp, label, tags.įollowup: I filed a bug report to Apple, see below.Get its filepath, filename, timestamp, label, tags.Is the file an alias? (avoid other file types supplied by user error).Per each file in the batch this should be done: If you are looking for a program that handles archives correctly and allows you to modify files without having to unzip them first, then BetterZip is the app that you need.Let us develop a utility to batch process legacy alias files. This makes system restore and file recovery very easy should something go wrong. BetterZip also acts like a journaling file system by tracking changes before they happen.
Unlike before, BetterZip rarely crashes and security vulnerability in the Quick Look generator has been enhanced to make the program safer to use. The latest version of BetterZip has some notable improvements which include stability, fluidity, and ease of access.
Another notable feature is that when you try to work on a damaged archive, BetterZip converts the damaged archive to a password protected archive. Though, this amazing feature does not work with Mac OS X keychain and therefore cannot be synced with your iCloud account. Better still, BetterZip can give you a preview of the passwords for you to pick any one you want. This feature makes it possible for you to automatically open any of the archived files without even unzipping them. There is a keychain feature that lets you have a list of archive passwords for files.
BetterZip for Mac allows you to easily manage archives without having to extract the files that are inside necessarily.