Member Avatar for salinae

My first posting, and it's because I need your help.

OS 10.3 is not seeing my OS 9.2 SimpleText files. I've even burned them onto a CD on an iMac, copied them to my G4 and, guess what, the folder is empty (but back-checking the CD on the iMac shows they're there).

What's going on? How can I get OS 10.3 to see these SimpleText files?

Hope someone can help me out. Many thanks.

john

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Quick summary rooted in the thread: found the root cause (leading-dot folder names) and was right to call it a Unix-style hidden-file convention. macOS/Finder hides items both when the filename begins with a dot and when an HFS+ “invisible” Finder flag is set; those are two different mechanisms to be aware of. (apple.stackexchange.com)

If the files are present (you can see them in Terminal) but not in Finder, use these safe, reversible options to inspect or reveal them.

Show all hidden files in Finder (toggle back when done)

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder

Run the reverse to re-hide: replace TRUE with FALSE. (appleinsider.com)

Unhide a specific file or folder (no rename required)

chflags nohidden /path/to/file-or-folder
killall Finder

Check flags with ls -lO (capital O) to see whether the file has a hidden/other flag set. Use chflags -R nohidden ~/Desktop to unhide everything on Desktop. (ss64.com)

If items were hidden with the Finder “invisible” attribute (older HFS metadata), the Developer Tools utilities GetFileInfo and SetFile can show and clear that bit (SetFile -a v <file> clears the invisible flag). Note: SetFile/GetFileInfo live in the Developer Tools (may not be installed by default), so chflags is the simpler, built-in alternative for most users. (leopard-adc.pepas.com)

One more caution about older OS 9 files: SimpleText documents sometimes relied on resource forks or Finder metadata. When moved to non‑Mac filesystems (or some CDs) the resource fork can be split into companion “._” AppleDouble files; that can affect how things behave if metadata gets lost. Keep a backup while you experiment. (loc.gov)

If you want an ordering trick instead of leading dots, numeric prefixes (01, 02) or Finder color labels are reliable and supported in Panther-era Finder. (oreilly.com)

(Commands shown are safe if used carefully; back up important data before batch changes.)

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Member Avatar for yellow

Do they show up in the Terminal on your 10.3.x box?

Member Avatar for salinae

Yes, they're visible in Terminal.

Member Avatar for salinae

Now I have emailed the SimpleText docs to myself (mailing from OS 9.2).

They arrive OK as an attachment and download to a Desktop folder (in OS 10.3).

Click the folder . . . and it's empty.

Do a Find, and the docs are located in the "empty" folder.

Drag copy the attachment to that folder, and a message comes up: "The item 'name.sit' cannot be replaced because it is invisible."

So, they're here on my HD, in the folder where I want them, but they're invisible. Why? How can I make them visible in 10.3?

(They're visible in 9.2, but only if I restart in 9.2 -- they remain invisible if I run Classic from 10.3.)

Baffled. Any one any ideas? Many thanks.

Member Avatar for salinae

Problem solved.

In OS 9 (and earlier OS's) I was in the habit of naming some folders with a dot (.), just to shuffle them to the top of the pile. Had done it for years, no probs. Now i find that in OS X you cannot do this, as files that begin with a dot are reserved for the System only (they're the invisibles). Simply by removing the dot in OS 9 has made the folder and its contents visible to OS X.

A simple fix. A lesson learned. A habit to get out of.

I'll probably use numbers (01, 02, etc) to order the folders in the non-alphabetical hierarchy I want (unless anyone says 'no', or can suggest an better way ...)

Member Avatar for yellow

LOL, I as just about to ask that when you solved it yourself. UNIX has always used .foo as hidden files. Glad you found it and it was an easy solution!

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