Filesystem Objects

This chapter covers the keywords for extracting information from the file system, like files, drives, pathnames, folders, etc. It also includes the keywords needed to identify and compare version information of files and patches.For more information on special Windows folders, see the Resources section at the end of this guide.

filesystem

The filesystem object can be used to inspect various aspects of mounted file systems, including the format of the file system. Here are some of the possible format types:affsext, ext2, ext2_oldhpfsisominix, minix_30, minix2, minix2_30 msdos ncpnfsprocsmbxenixsysv4, sysv2cohufsxia

Creation Methods

Declaration

Description

Platforms (?)

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

filesystem object

The <filesystem object> Inspectors provide handles for the various objects available in the file system.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
application	This Mac Inspector recursively finds all applications (bundles) and executables under the /Applications directory, as well as all of those under the Applications directories of all local users of the machine.	Mac
application <string>	Returns the named applications (bundles) and executables as filesystem objects.	Mac
hfs item <string>	Returns a filesystem object with the specified item name. The Macintosh has two different path types it can output. HFS (Hierarchical File System) was an OS9 format where the path separator was ':' and there were multiple roots (each volume). POSIX has superseded HFS and is single rooted with '/' as a separator. All of the Macintosh Inspectors that are not otherwise specified default to the POSIX version.	Mac:8.0
item <string>	Returns a filesystem object with the given name, either a file or a folder.	Mac:8.0
posix item <string>	Returns a filesystem object with the given name, either a file or a folder, using POSIX formatting.	Mac:8.0
sibling item <string> of <filesystem object>	The named sibling of a filesystem object (file, folder).	Mac
application of <folder>	Recursively finds executables in the supplied folder, returning a list of "application" objects, which are basically filesystem_objects. Example: applications of folder "/Users/fizzle/bin" - Returns a list of applications in the specified directory, such as /Users/fizzle/bin/p4, /Users/fizzle/bin/mylocaltool.	Mac
find item <string> of <folder>	Returns the filesystem objects matching the item wildcard string of the given folder. Macintosh 'items' are analogous to files and folders on other systems. A wildcard string uses an asterisk to stand for any number of characters (incuding zero), and a question mark to stand for exactly one character. Thus A??.txt would match All.txt and AXE.txt but not all.txt or a.txt.	Mac:8.0
hfs relative item <string> of <folder>	Returns a filesystem object with the given wildcard name from the specified folder, using HFS format. A wildcard string uses an asterisk to stand for any number of characters (incuding zero), and a question mark to stand for exactly one character. Thus A??.txt would match All.txt and AXE.txt but not all.txt or a.txt.	Mac:8.0
item <string> of <folder>	Returns the named item (file or folder) from the specified folder.	Mac
item ending in <string> of <folder>	Returns a list of items (files/folders) ending in "xxxx". Typically used to identify a dotted extension. Equivalent to a wildcard search for "*xxxx".	Mac
item of <folder>	Returns a list of the items (file or folder) in the specified folder. Example: names of items of applications folder - Returns a list of applications, such as DS_Store, .localized, AddressBook.app, AppleScript, Calculator.app, Chess.app, DVD Player.app, etc....	Mac
posix relative item <string> of <folder>	Returns a filesystem object with the given relative item name from the specified folder, using POSIX format.	Mac:8.0
relative item <string> of <folder>	Returns a filesystem object with the given relative item name from the specified folder, using POSIX format.	Mac:8.0

Operators

Declaration	Return Type	Description	Platforms (?)
<filesystem object> = <filesystem object>	<boolean>	Compares two Macintosh file system objects.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
<filesystem object> as file	<file>	Returns a file or nothing (if, for example, the filesystem object was a folder).	Mac
<filesystem object> as folder	<folder>	Returns a folder or nothing.	Mac
<filesystem object> as string	<string>	Casts a filesystem object as a string.	Win:8.0, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, Ubu:8.1
ancestor of <filesystem object>	<folder> Plural: ancestors	Returns all ancestor folders (recursive parent folders) of the given filesystem object (file or folder).	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
backup time of <filesystem object>	<time> Plural: backup times	The date of the last backup of the specified filesystem object (such as a file or folder). This corresponds to what is shown in the "Get Info" box for this object.	Mac
bundle version of <filesystem object>	<version> Plural: bundle versions	Returns the version of the filesystem object corresponding to the CFBundleVersion string, as distinct from the CFBundleShortVersionString.	Mac
creation time of <filesystem object>	<time> Plural: creation times	The date and time of creation of the specified file or folder. This corresponds to what is shown in the "Get Info" box.	Win, Mac, WM
hfs path of <filesystem object>	<string> Plural: hfs paths	Returns the path to a filesystem object in HFS terms (colons as delimiters).	Mac
modification time of <filesystem object>	<time> Plural: modification times	The date and time of latest modification of the file. This corresponds to what is shown in the "Get Info" box.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
name of <filesystem object>	<string> Plural: names	This returns the name of the file or folder.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
parent folder of <filesystem object>	<folder> Plural: parent folders	The folder containing the specified file or folder.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
pathname of <filesystem object>	<string> Plural: pathnames	Returns the full pathname of the specified file or folder (filesystem object) as a string.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
posix path of <filesystem object>	<string> Plural: posix paths	The POSIX file path for the file or folder.	Mac
sibling file <string> of <filesystem object>	<file> Plural: sibling files	A named property. A file in the same folder as the specified file object.	Mac
sibling folder <string> of <filesystem object>	<folder> Plural: sibling folders	A named property. A folder in the same folder as the specified file object.	Mac
sibling item <string> of <filesystem object>	<filesystem object> Plural: sibling items	The named sibling of a filesystem object (file, folder).	Mac
version of <filesystem object>	<version> Plural: versions	This returns the version information from "vers" resource 1 of the file. It is usually present in applications, and may exist in data files as well. It corresponds to what appears in the "Get Info" box for the specified filesystem object.	Mac

file

For each file in the file system, you can create a corresponding file object and inspect its properties. Inspectors are also provided to look at version data of executable files.Note: File systems that do not maintain the creation or last accessed times will often return the last modification time when queried for the creation or last accessed times or files. Modification times are preserved when files are copied. Thus, it is not uncommon to see a file that appears to have been modified before it was created.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
download file <string>	This inspector is available in relevance subsitution action processing. It returns a file object with the given name from the named folder or the download folder. This is equivalent to 'file "name" of download folder'. The file should exist or the result will not exist. Example: wait "{pathname of download file "update.exe"}" - In an Action script, this line causes the BES Client to perform relevance substitution to compute the full path to the downloaded file (previously collected by a download command in the same Action script). After relevance substitution, the Client launches the specified executable and waits for it to complete before moving on to other Action lines.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
file <string>	Returns a filesystem object corresponding to the full pathname provided in <string>.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
hfs file <string>	Returns the hierachical file system (HFS) file specified by <string>.	Mac
posix file <string>	Returns the POSIX file specified by <string>.	Mac
<filesystem object> as file	Returns a file or nothing (if, for example, the filesystem object was a folder). Example: application "iTunes.app" as file - Fails because that is in fact a folder.	Mac
sibling file <string> of <filesystem object>	A named property. A file in the same folder as the specified file object. Example: exists sibling file "iTunes.app" of application "iChat.app" - Returns TRUE if both applications are in the same folder.	Mac
descendant of <folder>	Returns a list of all the descendant files of the specified folder.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
file <string> of <folder>	Returns a file object for the named file located in the folder. Example: exists file whose (name of it contains ".pdf") of folder "name" - Returns TRUE if some file in the folder has a name including the string ".pdf".	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
file ending in <string> of <folder>	Returns a list of files ending in "xxxx". Typically used to identify a dotted extension. Equivalent to a wildcard search for "*xxxx". Example: files ending in ".a" of folder "/usr/lib" - Returns a list of files with the specified ending, such as: /usr/lib/libcpp_kext.a, /usr/lib/libfl.a, /usr/lib/libioabc.a, and others.	Mac
file of <folder>	Iterates through the files of a folder returning file objects. When combined with a whose clause you can select files with specific properties. See file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
find file <string> of <folder>	Iterates through the files of a folder returning file objects whose name matches the wildcard string provided in the name parameter. A wildcard string uses an asterisk to stand for any number of characters (incuding zero), and a question mark to stand for exactly one character. Thus A??.txt would match All.txt and AXE.txt but not all.txt or a.txt. See example below. Example: Number of find files "siteico.bmp" of client folder of current site = 3 - Returns TRUE if there are 3 files matching the wildcard pattern siteico.bmp. Example: names of find files "*.exe" of windows folder - Returns a list of the names of all the executable programs in the Windows folder.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac:8.0, WM, Ubu:8.1
relative file <string> of <folder>	Returns the file with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>. Example: relative file "Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari" of applications folder - Returns the concatenation of the specified folder and the given path, /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari.	Mac
relative hfs file <string> of <folder>	Returns the HFS file with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
relative posix file <string> of <folder>	Returns the POSIX file with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
masthead of <site>	Each site has a masthead, and the masthead is saved into the site data folder upon successful creation. This property returns a file object that corresponds to the copy in the site data folder. Example: modification time of masthead of current site < time "4 Aug 1997 01:00 pdt" - Returns TRUE if the masthead of the current site is older than the specified date.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
md5 of <file>	<string> Plural: md5s	Returns the md5 of the file, hex encoded as a string	Ubu:9.0, Lin:9.0, Mac:9.0, HPUX:9.0, AIX:9.0, Sol:9.0, Win:9.0
sha2_224 of <file>	<string> Plural: sha2_224s	Returns the sha2-224 of the file, hex encoded as a string	Ubu:9.0, Lin:9.0, Mac:9.0, HPUX:9.0, AIX:9.0, Sol:9.0, Win:9.0
sha2_256 of <file>	<string> Plural: sha2_256s	Returns the sha2-256 of the file, hex encoded as a string	Ubu:9.0, Lin:9.0, Mac:9.0, HPUX:9.0, AIX:9.0, Sol:9.0, Win:9.0
sha2_384 of <file>	<string> Plural: sha2_384s	Returns the sha2-384 of the file, hex encoded as a string	Ubu:9.0, Lin:9.0, Mac:9.0, HPUX:9.0, AIX:9.0, Sol:9.0, Win:9.0
sha2_512 of <file>	<string> Plural: sha2_512s	Returns the sha2-512 of the file, hex encoded as a string	Ubu:9.0, Lin:9.0, Mac:9.0, HPUX:9.0, AIX:9.0, Sol:9.0, Win:9.0
creator of <file>	<file signature> Plural: creators	This refers to the four-character identifier used in all MacOS files. The creator tells what application should open the specified file.	Mac
alias of <file>	<boolean> Plural: aliases	Returns TRUE if the file is an alias for another file.	Mac
array of <file>	<array> Plural: arrays	This Inspector creates an OSXArray from the specified XML Data file.	Mac:8.1
byte <integer> of <file>	<integer> Plural: bytes	Returns the numeric value of the byte located at the offset specified by number within the file. Byte 0 of the file is the first byte.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
content of <file>	<file content> Plural: contents	Returns an object that can be used to search for a string in the file. See content.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
type of <file>	<file type> Plural: types	This refers to the four-character identifier used in all MacOS files. The type describes the sort of file it is.	Mac
data fork of <file>	<datafork> Plural: data forks	Returns information about the data fork of the specified file.	Mac
dictionary of <file>	<dictionary> Plural: dictionaries	Returns the dictionary object for the specified file.	Mac
stationery of <file>	<filesystem> Plural: stationeries	Returns TRUE if the file is a stationery file.	Mac, Ubu:8.1
drive of <file>	<volume> Plural: drives	Returns the drive associated with the specified file.On Macintosh computers, this returns a <volume> object.On *nix computers, this returns a <filesystem> object.	Mac
filesystem of <file>	<volume> Plural: filesystems	Returns the UNIX filesystem flag for the given file. On a Macintosh, this returns a <volume> object.	Mac
key <string> of <file>	<string> Plural: keys	Returns a key and its value from the given structured text file. It iterates over lines that start with the key name (as specified by <string>) followed by an = or : character. When searching, white space is ignored.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, Ubu:8.1
length of <file>	<integer> Plural: lengths	The total length of the data and resource forks.	Mac
line <integer> of <file>	<file line> Plural: lines	Returns the nth line (specified by <integer>) from the given file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
line containing <string> of <file>	<file line> Plural: lines containing	Returns all lines from the given file that contain the specified string.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
line of <file>	<file line> Plural: lines	Iterates over all the lines of the specified file. Note that the lines are truncated to 1023 characters.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
line starting with <string> of <file>	<file line> Plural: lines starting with	Same as line <string> of <file>, returns the lines of the given file that start with the specified string.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
locked of <file>	<boolean> Plural: lockeds	Returns TRUE if the file is locked.	Mac
resource fork of <file>	<resfork> Plural: resource forks	Returns information about the resource fork of the file.	Mac
section <string> of <file>	<file section> Plural: sections	Returns a named section of a file. Useful for locating sections of 'ini' files. Section names are delimited by square bracket characters '[section name]'. See examples below.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, Ubu:8.1
sha1 of <file>	<string> Plural: sha1s	Returns the sha1 checksum of the file hex encoded as a 40 character long string.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
size of <file>	<integer> Plural: sizes	Returns the size in bytes of a file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
version <integer> of <file>	<version> Plural: versions	Returns the nth version information from the "vers" resource of the given file. Typically n=1, but other information may be stored in "vers" resources greater than 1.	Mac
version of <file>	<version> Plural: versions	Synonym for file version of <file>.	Win, Mac, WM
visible of <file>	<boolean> Plural: visibles	Returns TRUE if the file is visible.	Mac
volume of <file>	<volume> Plural: volumes	The volume containing the file.	Mac

application

Application objects derive from file objects. Therefore, application objects inherit all of the properties of the file object. This means that you can inspect properties such as 'modification time' or 'Product Version' of an application just as you would a file. See the properties of a file object for a complete list of these. The real power and primary purpose of the application object is their creation. The creation methods are optimized in anticipation of the importance of this object.Note: See File' for a list of the Application properties. Folder and file names may be case sensitive. Use "as uppercase" or "as lowercase" if you don't know the actual case when making comparisons. For Windows versions of these Inspectors, a properly installed application will register itself with the operating system. It does this by creating a registry sub-key usually named after the executable. The regapp Inspector uses the default value of this sub-key as a string that is the full pathname of the executable.

Creation Methods

Declaration

Description

Platforms (?)

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

folder

For every folder that exists in the file system, you can create a folder object. These Inspectors allow you to examine dozens of properties of folder objects. On the Macintosh, there are dozens of specialized folders; access to them depends on the domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
download folder	This inspector is available in relevance subsitution action processing. When the action is active, this inspector returns a folder object of __Download\, otherwise it returns a folder object of __Global\sitename\actionid\named. This inspector is designed for the prefetch process of action execution. Macintosh Note: Prior to version 7.2, this Inspector referred to the system download folder on the Macintosh. That Inspector is referred to as ISS Download as of version 7.2. Example: wait "{pathname of file "update.exe" of download folder}" - In an Action script, this line causes the BES Client to perform relevance substitution to compute the full path to the downloaded file (previously collected by a download command in the same Action script). After relevance substitution, the Client launches the specified executable and waits for it to complete before moving on to other Action lines.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.2
folder <string>	Returns a folder object for the name provided. See drive. Example: exists folder "c:\program files" - Checks for the existence of the program files folder. Example: exists folder "/usr/lib" - Checks for the existence of the usr/lib folder. Example: exists folder "/usr/lib" - Checks for the existence of the usr/lib folder.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
hfs folder <string>	Returns the hierachical file system (HFS) folder specified by <string>.	Mac
internet plugins folder	Returns the folder object corresponding to the internet plugins.	Mac
iss download folder	The Macintosh download folder. This Inspector was previously labeled "download," which now refers to a world object that performs dynamic downloading.	Mac
posix folder <string>	Returns the POSIX folder specified by <string>.	Mac
<filesystem object> as folder	Returns a folder or nothing.	Mac
ancestor of <filesystem object>	Returns all ancestor folders (recursive parent folders) of the given filesystem object (file or folder).	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
parent folder of <filesystem object>	The folder containing the specified file or folder. Example: posix paths of items whose (name of it starts with "i") of applications folder - Returns a list of the paths of applications starting with "i", such as /Applications/iCal.app, /Applications/iChat.app or /Applications/iTunes.app.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
sibling folder <string> of <filesystem object>	A named property. A folder in the same folder as the specified file object.	Mac
descendant folder of <folder>	Returns the descendant folders, recursively, of the given folder. The folder equivalent of "descendants of <folder>".	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
find folder <string> of <folder>	Finds the folder with the given wildcard name inside another folder. A wildcard string uses an asterisk to stand for any number of characters (incuding zero), and a question mark to stand for exactly one character. Thus A??.txt would match All.txt and AXE.txt but not all.txt or a.txt.	Win:8.0, Lin:8.0, Sol:8.0, HPUX:8.0, AIX:8.0, Mac:8.0, Ubu:8.1
folder <string> of <folder>	Returns a folder object for the named sub-folder. Trailing slashes should be omitted from the name. Example: exists folder "fonts" of the windows folder - Returns TRUE if fonts is a subdirectory of the Windows directory. Example: exists folder "tmp" of root folder - Returns TRUE if tmp is a subdirectory of the root directory. Example: exists folder "tmp" of root folder - Returns TRUE if tmp is a subdirectory of the root directory.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
folder ending in <string> of <folder>	Returns a list of folders ending in "xxxx". Typically used to identify a dotted extension. Equivalent to a wildcard search for "*xxxx".	Mac
folder of <folder>	Iterates through the folders of a folder returning folder objects. When combined with a whose clause, you can select folders with specific properties.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
relative folder <string> of <folder>	Returns the folder with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
relative hfs folder <string> of <folder>	Returns the HFS folder with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
relative posix folder <string> of <folder>	Returns the POSIX folder with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
apple extras folder of <domain>	Returns the apple extras folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
apple menu items folder of <domain>	Returns the apple menu items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
application support folder of <domain>	Returns the application support folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Application Support. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
applications folder of <domain>	Returns the applications folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Applications. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
assistants folder of <domain>	Returns the assistants folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
audio folder of <domain>	Returns the audio folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Audio. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
cache folder of <domain>	Returns the cache folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
carbon folder of <domain>	Returns the carbon folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Carbon. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
chewable items folder of <domain>	Returns the chewable items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
classic folder of <domain>	Returns the classic folder of the specified OS X domain, typically the /System Folder. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
color sync folder of <domain>	Returns the color sync folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/ColorSync. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain. Example: color sync folder of system domain - Returns /System/Library/ColorSync. Example: color sync folder of local domain - Returns /Library/ColorSync.	Mac
colorsync profiles folder of <domain>	Returns the colorsync profiles folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
component folder of <domain>	Returns the component folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Components. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
contextual menu items folder of <domain>	Returns the contextual menu items folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Contextual Menu Items. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
control panels folder of <domain>	Returns the control panels folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
control strip modules folder of <domain>	Returns the control strip modules folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
core services folder of <domain>	Returns the core services folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/CoreServices. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
current user folder of <domain>	Returns the current user folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /Users/username. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
desktop folder of <domain>	Returns the desktop folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users/Username/Desktop. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
developer docs folder of <domain>	Returns the developer docs folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /Developer/Documentation. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
developer folder of <domain>	Returns the developer folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /Developer. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
developer help folder of <domain>	Returns the help folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Developer/Documentation/Help. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled control panels folder of <domain>	Returns the control panels folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled extensions folder of <domain>	Returns the extensions folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled shutdown items folder of <domain>	Returns the shutdown folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled startup items folder of <domain>	Returns the startup items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled system extensions folder of <domain>	Returns the systems extensions folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
documentation folder of <domain>	Returns the documentation folder for the given OS X domain, typically found at /Library/Documentation. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain. Example: application support folder of user domain - Returns /var/root/Library/Application Support.	Mac
documents folder of <domain>	Returns the documents folder for the specified OS X domain, typically found at /User/Username/Documents. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
domain library folder of <domain>	Returns the domain library folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /Library. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
domain top folder of <domain>	Returns the top folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /System. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
extensions folder of <domain>	Returns the extensions folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
favorites folder of <domain>	Returns the favorites folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users/username/Library/Favorites. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
fonts folder of <domain>	Returns the font folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Fonts. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
framework <string> of <domain>	Returns a folder of the form "/System/Library/Frameworks/<string>.framework".Note: This Inspector appends .framework for you, so don't provide it. The framework inspector needs a domain, and without it defaults to the system domain. Example: framework "MyPrivate" of local domain - Returns /Library/Frameworks/MyPrivate.framework.	Mac
framework folder of <domain>	Returns the framework folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Frameworks. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
help folder of <domain>	Returns the help folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Documentation/Help. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
internet plugins folder of <domain>	Returns the internet plugins folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
iss download folder of <domain>	Returns the Macintosh download folder for the specified domain.	Mac
kernel extensions folder of <domain>	Returns the kernel extensions folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Extensions. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
locales folder of <domain>	Returns the locales folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
location manager modules folder of <domain>	Returns the location manager modules folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
location manager preferences folder of <domain>	Returns the location manager preferences folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
locations folder of <domain>	Returns the locations folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
macos read me folder of <domain>	Returns the Mac OS read me folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
modem scripts folder of <domain>	Returns the modem scripts folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Modem Scripts. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
preferences folder of <domain>	Returns the preferences folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users/username/Library/Preferences. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
printer descriptions folder of <domain>	Returns the printer descriptions folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Printers/PPDs. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
printer drivers folder of <domain>	Returns the printer drivers folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
printers folder of <domain>	Returns the printers folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Printers. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
printmonitor documents folder of <domain>	Returns the printmonitor documents folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Printers/PrintMonitor Documents. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
private framework folder of <domain>	Returns the private framework folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
quicktime folder of <domain>	Returns the quicktime folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/QuickTime. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
receipts folder of <domain>	Returns the receipts folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
scripting additions folder of <domain>	Returns the scripting additions folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Scripting Additions. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
shared folder of <domain>	Returns the shared folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users/Shared. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
shared libraries folder of <domain>	Returns the shared libraries folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/CFMSupport. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
shutdown items folder of <domain>	Returns the shutdown items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
sound folder of <domain>	Returns the sound folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Sound. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
speech folder of <domain>	Returns the speech folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Speech. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
startup items folder of <domain>	Returns the startup items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
system folder of <domain>	Returns the system folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
temporary items folder of <domain>	Returns the temporary items folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /private/tmp/. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
text encodings folder of <domain>	Returns the text encodings folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
themes folder of <domain>	Returns the themes folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
user temp folder of <domain>	Returns the user temp folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /private/tmp/uid where uid is the user ID number. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
users folder of <domain>	Returns the users folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
utilities folder of <domain>	Returns the utilities folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Applications/Utilities. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
voices folder of <domain>	Returns the voices folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Speech/Voices. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
volume settings folder of <domain>	Returns the volume settings folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
client folder of <site>	The folder containing the site content on the client machine. Site content is gathered into this location. Example: exists file "siteicon.bmp" of client folder of current site - TRUE if the specified file exists in the client folder.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
data folder of <client>	Returns the __BESData folder	Ubu:9.0, Lin:9.0, Mac:9.0, HPUX:9.0, AIX:9.0, Sol:9.0, Win:9.0
home directory of <user>	On a Mac, this Inspector returns the dsAttrTypeStandard:NFSHomeDirectory attribute of the specified user as a folder. Note: On a Windows system, this inspector has a different interpretation: it returns the directory (as a string) where the user files are stored for the specified user.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
system folder	folder Plural: system folders	Windows systems, returns the 32 bit "System32" folder. eg: C:\Windows\System32 or C:\Windows\SysWow64. Platforms other than Windows this is a synonym for <root folder>	Ubu:9.0, Lin:9.0, Mac:9.0, HPUX:9.0, AIX:9.0, Sol:9.0, Win:9.0
apple extras folder	folder Plural: apple extras folders	Returns the apple extras folder of the system domain	Mac
apple menu items folder	folder Plural: apple menu items folders	Returns the apple menu items folder of the system domain	Mac
application support folder	folder Plural: application support folders	Returns the application support folder of the system domain	Mac
applications folder	folder Plural: applications folders	Returns the applications folder of the system domain	Mac
assistants folder	folder Plural: assistants folders	Returns the assistants folder of the system domain	Mac
audio folder	folder Plural: audio folders	Returns the audio folder of the system domain	Mac
cache folder	folder Plural: cache folders	Returns the cache folder of the system domain	Mac
carbon folder	folder Plural: carbon folders	Returns the carbon folder of the system domain	Mac
chewable items folder	folder Plural: chewable items folders	Returns the chewable items folder of the system domain	Mac
classic folder	folder Plural: classic folders	Returns the classic folder of the system domain	Mac
color sync folder	folder Plural: color sync folders	Returns the color sync folder of the system domain	Mac
colorsync profiles folder	folder Plural: colorsync profiles folders	Returns the colorsync folder folder of the system domain	Mac
component folder	folder Plural: component folders	Returns the component folder of the system domain	Mac
contextual menu items folder	folder Plural: contextual menu items folders	Returns the contextual menu items folder of the system domain	Mac
control panels folder	folder Plural: control panels folders	Returns the control panels folder of the system domain	Mac
control strip modules folder	folder Plural: control strip modules folders	Returns the control strip modules folder of the system domain	Mac
core services folder	folder Plural: core services folders	Returns the core services folder of the system domain	Mac
current user folder	folder Plural: current user folders	Returns the current user folder of the system domain	Mac
desktop folder	folder Plural: desktop folders	Returns the desktop folder of the system domain	Mac
developer docs folder	folder Plural: developer docs folders	Returns the developer docs folder of the system domain	Mac
developer folder	folder Plural: developer folders	Returns the developer folder of the system domain	Mac
developer help folder	folder Plural: developer help folders	Returns the developer help folder of the system domain	Mac
disabled control panels folder	folder Plural: disabled control panels folders	Returns the dsiabled control panels folder of the system domain	Mac
disabled extensions folder	folder Plural: disabled extensions folders	Returns the disabled extensions folder of the system domain	Mac
disabled shutdown items folder	folder Plural: disabled shutdown items folders	Returns the disabled shutdown items folder of the system domain	Mac
disabled startup items folder	folder Plural: disabled startup items folders	Returns the disabled startup items folder of the system domain	Mac
disabled system extensions folder	folder Plural: disabled system extensions folders	Returns the disabled system extensions folder of the system domain	Mac
documentation folder	folder Plural: documentation folders	Returns the documentation folder of the system domain	Mac
documents folder	folder Plural: documents folders	Returns the documents folder of the system domain	Mac
domain library folder	folder Plural: domain library folders	Returns the domain library folder of the system domain	Mac
domain top folder	folder Plural: domain top folders	Returns the domain top folder of the system domain	Mac
extensions folder	folder Plural: extensions folders	Returns the extensions folder of the system domain	Mac
favorites folder	folder Plural: favorites folders	Returns the favorites folder of the system domain	Mac
fonts folder	folder Plural: fonts folders	Returns the fonts folder of the system domain	Mac
framework folder	folder Plural: framework folders	Returns the framework folder of the system domain	Mac
help folder	folder Plural: help folders	Returns the help folder of the system domain	Mac
kernel extensions folder	folder Plural: kernel extensions folders	Returns the kernel extensions folder of the system domain	Mac
locales folder	folder Plural: locales folders	Returns the locales folder of the system domain	Mac
location manager modules folder	folder Plural: location manager modules folders	Returns the location manager modules folder of the system domain	Mac
location manager preferences folder	folder Plural: location manager preferences folders	Returns the location manager preferences folder of the system domain	Mac
locations folder	folder Plural: locations folders	Returns the locations folder of the system domain	Mac
macos read me folder	folder Plural: macos read me folders	Returns the macos read me folder of the system domain	Mac
modem scripts folder	folder Plural: modem scripts folders	Returns the modem scripts folder of the system domain	Mac
preferences folder	folder Plural: preferences folders	Returns the preferences folder of the system domain	Mac
printer descriptions folder	folder Plural: printer descriptions folders	Returns the preinter descriptions folder of the system domain	Mac
printer drivers folder	folder Plural: printer drivers folders	Returns the printer drivers folder of the system domain	Mac
printers folder	folder Plural: printers folders	Returns the printers folder of the system domain	Mac
printmonitor documents folder	folder Plural: printmonitor documents folders	Returns the printmonitor documents folder of the system domain	Mac
private framework folder	folder Plural: private framework folders	Returns the private framework folder of the system domain	Mac
quicktime folder	folder Plural: quicktime folders	Returns the quicktime folder of the system domain	Mac
receipts folder	folder Plural: receipts folders	Returns the receipts folder of the system domain	Mac
scripting additions folder	folder Plural: scripting additions folders	Returns the scripting additions folder of the system domain	Mac
shared folder	folder Plural: shared folders	Returns the shared folder of the system domain	Mac
shared libraries folder	folder Plural: shared libraries folders	Returns the shared libraries folder of the system domain	Mac
shutdown items folder	folder Plural: shutdown items folders	Returns the shutdown items folder of the system domain	Mac
sound folder	folder Plural: sound folders	Returns the sound folder of the system domain	Mac
speech folder	folder Plural: speech folders	Returns the speech folder of the system domain	Mac
startup items folder	folder Plural: startup items folders	Returns the startup items folder of the system domain	Mac
temporary items folder	folder Plural: temporary items folders	Returns the temporary items folder of the system domain	Mac
text encodings folder	folder Plural: text encodings folders	Returns the text encodings folder of the system domain	Mac
themes folder	folder Plural: themes folders	Returns the themes folder of the system domain	Mac
user temp folder	folder Plural: user temp folders	Returns the user temp folder of the system domain	Mac
users folder	folder Plural: users folders	Returns the users folder of the system domain	Mac
utilities folder	folder Plural: utilities folders	Returns the utilities folder of the system domain	Mac
voices folder	folder Plural: voices folders	Returns the voices folder of the system domain	Mac
volume settings folder	folder Plural: volume settings folders	Returns the volume settings folder of the system domain	Mac
application of <folder>	<filesystem object> Plural: applications	Recursively finds executables in the supplied folder, returning a list of "application" objects, which are basically filesystem_objects.	Mac
bundle of <folder>	<bundle> Plural: bundles	Returns a bundle from a folder (if it has one like application folders do).	Mac
bundle version of <folder>	<version> Plural: bundle versions	Returns the version of the folder corresponding to the CFBundleVersion string, as distinct from the CFBundleShortVersionString.	Mac
descendant folder of <folder>	<folder> Plural: descendant folders	Returns the descendant folders, recursively, of the given folder. The folder equivalent of "descendants of <folder>".	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
descendant of <folder>	<file> Plural: descendants	Returns a list of all the descendant files of the specified folder.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
drive of <folder>	<volume> Plural: drives	Returns the drive associated with the specified folder.On Macintosh computers, this returns a <volume> object.On *nix computers, this returns a <filesystem> object.	Mac
file <string> of <folder>	<file> Plural: files	Returns a file object for the named file located in the folder.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
file ending in <string> of <folder>	<file> Plural: files ending in	Returns a list of files ending in "xxxx". Typically used to identify a dotted extension. Equivalent to a wildcard search for "*xxxx".	Mac
file of <folder>	<file> Plural: files	Iterates through the files of a folder returning file objects. When combined with a whose clause you can select files with specific properties. See file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
filesystem of <folder>	<volume> Plural: filesystems	Returns the filesystem on which the folder resides. On a Macintosh, this Inspector returns a <volume> object.	Mac
find file <string> of <folder>	<file> Plural: find files	Iterates through the files of a folder returning file objects whose name matches the wildcard string provided in the name parameter. A wildcard string uses an asterisk to stand for any number of characters (incuding zero), and a question mark to stand for exactly one character. Thus A??.txt would match All.txt and AXE.txt but not all.txt or a.txt. See example below.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac:8.0, WM, Ubu:8.1
find folder <string> of <folder>	<folder> Plural: find folders	Finds the folder with the given wildcard name inside another folder. A wildcard string uses an asterisk to stand for any number of characters (incuding zero), and a question mark to stand for exactly one character. Thus A??.txt would match All.txt and AXE.txt but not all.txt or a.txt.	Win:8.0, Lin:8.0, Sol:8.0, HPUX:8.0, AIX:8.0, Mac:8.0, Ubu:8.1
find item <string> of <folder>	<filesystem object> Plural: find items	Returns the filesystem objects matching the item wildcard string of the given folder. Macintosh 'items' are analogous to files and folders on other systems. A wildcard string uses an asterisk to stand for any number of characters (incuding zero), and a question mark to stand for exactly one character. Thus A??.txt would match All.txt and AXE.txt but not all.txt or a.txt.	Mac:8.0
folder <string> of <folder>	<folder> Plural: folders	Returns a folder object for the named sub-folder. Trailing slashes should be omitted from the name.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
folder ending in <string> of <folder>	<folder> Plural: folders ending in	Returns a list of folders ending in "xxxx". Typically used to identify a dotted extension. Equivalent to a wildcard search for "*xxxx".	Mac
folder of <folder>	<folder> Plural: folders	Iterates through the folders of a folder returning folder objects. When combined with a whose clause, you can select folders with specific properties.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
hfs relative item <string> of <folder>	<filesystem object> Plural: hfs relative items	Returns a filesystem object with the given wildcard name from the specified folder, using HFS format. A wildcard string uses an asterisk to stand for any number of characters (incuding zero), and a question mark to stand for exactly one character. Thus A??.txt would match All.txt and AXE.txt but not all.txt or a.txt.	Mac:8.0
item <string> of <folder>	<filesystem object> Plural: items	Returns the named item (file or folder) from the specified folder.	Mac
item ending in <string> of <folder>	<filesystem object> Plural: items ending in	Returns a list of items (files/folders) ending in "xxxx". Typically used to identify a dotted extension. Equivalent to a wildcard search for "*xxxx".	Mac
item of <folder>	<filesystem object> Plural: items	Returns a list of the items (file or folder) in the specified folder.	Mac
posix relative item <string> of <folder>	<filesystem object> Plural: posix relative items	Returns a filesystem object with the given relative item name from the specified folder, using POSIX format.	Mac:8.0
relative file <string> of <folder>	<file> Plural: relative files	Returns the file with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
relative folder <string> of <folder>	<folder> Plural: relative folders	Returns the folder with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
relative hfs file <string> of <folder>	<file> Plural: relative hfs files	Returns the HFS file with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
relative hfs folder <string> of <folder>	<folder> Plural: relative hfs folders	Returns the HFS folder with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
relative item <string> of <folder>	<filesystem object> Plural: relative items	Returns a filesystem object with the given relative item name from the specified folder, using POSIX format.	Mac:8.0
relative posix file <string> of <folder>	<file> Plural: relative posix files	Returns the POSIX file with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
relative posix folder <string> of <folder>	<folder> Plural: relative posix folders	Returns the POSIX folder with the path specified by <string> relative to the given <folder>.	Mac
version of <folder>	<version> Plural: versions	Returns a version for a folder representing an application.	Mac
volume of <folder>	<volume> Plural: volumes	The volume containing the specified folder.	Mac

drive

The <drive> object is available to inspect these aspects of the file system.

Creation Methods

Declaration

Description

Platforms (?)

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

bundle

On HPUX platforms, a bundle object is derived from a product type and used to inspect software installations as managed by the Software Depot. On Macintosh platforms, a bundle refers to a core foundation folder hierarchy derived from CFBundle.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
bundle <string>	Returns a bundle (CFBundle) by name. Example: bundle "com.apple.BigFixEnterprise" - Returns a bundle to hand to something that needs one. It doesn't print out, per se.	Mac
bundle of <folder>	Returns a bundle from a folder (if it has one like application folders do). Example: exists (bundle of applications folder) - Typically returns TRUE.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
bundle version of <bundle>	<version> Plural: bundle versions	Returns the version of the bundle corresponding to the CFBundleVersion string, as distinct from the CFBundleShortVersionString.	Mac
creator of <bundle>	<file signature> Plural: creators	The creator 4-letter code of the bundle (for example, FNDR for Finder).	Mac
global dictionary of <bundle>	<dictionary> Plural: global dictionaries	The bundle's information dictionary.	Mac
local dictionary of <bundle>	<dictionary> Plural: local dictionaries	The bundle's localized information dictionary.	Mac
type of <bundle>	<file type> Plural: types	Returns the file type of the bundle. Can be used only to compare equality between file types.	Mac
version of <bundle>	<version> Plural: versions	Version of the given bundle.	Mac

volume

The <volume> Inspectors refer to the mounted drive volumes.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
drive	Iterates through all valid drives on the system. Typically used to return a list of the drives (volumes, filesystems) on the client computer. On Windows computers, this returns a <drive> object.On *nix computers, this returns a <filesystem> object.Drives, volumes and filesystems are treated the same on the Macintosh and return a <volume> type. Example: drives - Returns a list of drives, eg., /, /Users/MyUserName, etcetera.	Mac
drive <integer>	Returns the volume corresponding to the numbered drive.	Mac
drive <string>	Returns the volume corresponding to the named drive.	Mac
filesystem	Returns the volume corresponding to the filesystem. Typically used to return a list of the filesystems (drives, volumes) on the client computer. Drives, volumes and filesystems are treated the same on the Macintosh and return a <volume> type. Example: filesystems - Returns a list of filesystems, eg., /, /Users/MyUserName, etcetera.	Mac
filesystem <integer>	Returns the volume corresponding to the numbered filesystem.	Mac
filesystem <string>	Returns the filesystem corresponding to the specified name. On a Macintosh, this Inspector returns a <volume> object.	Mac
volume	An iterated property. Examines all currently mounted volumes which will include the startup volume, CD-ROM, disk images and other removable media and file sharing volumes.	Mac
volume <integer>	A numbered property returning the specified volume.	Mac
volume <string>	A numbered property returning the specified volume.	Mac
drive of <file>	Returns the drive associated with the specified file.On Macintosh computers, this returns a <volume> object.On *nix computers, this returns a <filesystem> object. Example: file count of drive of file "/etc/passwd" - Returns the total number of files on the drive containing passwd.	Mac
filesystem of <file>	Returns the UNIX filesystem flag for the given file. On a Macintosh, this returns a <volume> object. Example: filesystem of folder "/Users/MyUserName/Library" - Returns /Users/MyUserName.	Mac
volume of <file>	The volume containing the file. Example: volume of (application "iTunes.app" as folder) is volume of system folder - Returns TRUE if iTunes is installed on the same volume as the system folder.	Mac
drive of <folder>	Returns the drive associated with the specified folder.On Macintosh computers, this returns a <volume> object.On *nix computers, this returns a <filesystem> object. Example: file count of drive of folder "/export/" - Returns the total number of files on the drive containing the folder export.	Mac
filesystem of <folder>	Returns the filesystem on which the folder resides. On a Macintosh, this Inspector returns a <volume> object.	Mac
volume of <folder>	The volume containing the specified folder.	Mac

Operators

Declaration	Return Type	Description	Platforms (?)
<volume> = <volume>	<boolean>	Compare two volumes.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
allocation block count of <volume>	<integer> Plural: allocation block counts	The number of allocation blocks, used or free, on the volume.	Mac
directory count of <volume>	<integer> Plural: directory counts	The number of directories on the volume.	Mac
file count of <volume>	<integer> Plural: file counts	The number of files on the volume.	Mac
flag of <volume>	<integer> Plural: flags	Returns the Mac-specific volume flags.More info on these flags can be found at the Apple developer site, under Carbon > Reference > File Manager.	Mac
free percent of <volume>	<integer> Plural: free percents	Returns the percentage of room available on the specified volume.	Mac
free space of <volume>	<integer> Plural: free spaces	The number of free bytes on the volume.	Mac
init date of <volume>	<time> Plural: init dates	Returns the initialization date of a disk volume.	Mac
modification time of <volume>	<time> Plural: modification times	Creates a time object corresponding to the time the volume was last modified.	Mac
name of <volume>	<string> Plural: names	The name of the volume.	Mac
size of <volume>	<integer> Plural: sizes	Returns a number corresponding to the total number of bytes (used and unused) on the specified volume.	Mac
total space of <volume>	<integer> Plural: total spaces	The total amount of space, used and free, on the volume.	Mac
type of <volume>	<string> Plural: types	This Mac Inspector returns the drive type as a string, such as 'DRIVE_FIXED'.	Mac:8.1
used percent of <volume>	<integer> Plural: used percents	Returns the used percentage of room on the specified volume (or drive or filesystem).	Mac
used space of <volume>	<integer> Plural: used spaces	Returns a number corresponding to the used bytes on the specified volume.	Mac

file shortcut

Shortcuts to files can be constructed in the file system. The shortcut contains some additional properties that can be inspected.

Creation Methods

Declaration

Description

Platforms (?)

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

file section

Many programs and utilities store their settings in 'ini' files. This object is designed to access these settings. An 'ini' file is composed of zero or more named sections, each with zero or more keys. Each key is identified by name and has a string value.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
section <string> of <file>	Returns a named section of a file. Useful for locating sections of 'ini' files. Section names are delimited by square bracket characters '[section name]'. See examples below. Example: exists Section "General" of file "oeminfo.ini" of system folder - Returns TRUE if a section named "General" appears in the named "ini" file. Example: key "Manufacturer" of section "General" of file "oeminfo.ini" of system folder - Returns the name of the computer manufacturer, such as "Dell Computer Corporation". Example: key "Manufacturer" of section "General" of file "/etc/oeminfo" - Returns the value of the "Manufacturer" key of the section named "General" of the specified file. Example: key "Manufacturer" of section "General" of file "/etc/oeminfo" - Returns the value of the "Manufacturer" key of the section named "General" of the specified file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, Ubu:8.1

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
key <string> of <file section>	<string> Plural: keys	Returns a string containing the value for the name provided. A case-insensitive search is performed through the section of the file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, Ubu:8.1

file content

Content objects can be constructed from file objects to inspect their contents.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
content of <file>	Returns an object that can be used to search for a string in the file. See content. Example: content of file "oeminfo.ini" of system folder as lowercase contains "dell" - Returns TRUE if the specified file contains the string "dell" anywhere in the file. Example: content of file "oeminfo.ini" of system folder as lowercase contains "emachines" - Returns TRUE if either of the strings "emachines" or "eMachines" is found in the file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
<file content> as lowercase	Returns a lowercase version of the content provided.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
<file content> as uppercase	Returns an uppercase version of the content provided.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

Operators

Declaration	Return Type	Description	Platforms (?)
<file content> contains <string>	<boolean>	Returns TRUE if the string is located in the content provided.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
<file content> as lowercase	<file content>	Returns a lowercase version of the content provided.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
<file content> as uppercase	<file content>	Returns an uppercase version of the content provided.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

version

This is the numeric method of indicating the file version, which is compact, convenient and fast. It makes use of a short string to define the version number. Version types are available as both client and core Inspectors, so if you don't find what you want in one guide, please check the other.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
<string> as version	Returns a version if the string can be parsed as a version. The first numeric set of characters delimited with period, comma or comma-space is returned.	Win, WM, Lin, Mac, HPUX, AIX, Sol, Ubu:8.1
quickdraw version	Returns the version of QuickDraw installed.	Mac
rom version	Returns the version of the system ROM. Example: version of bundle of folder "iTunes.app" of applications folder - Returns the version of the specified folder bundle, such as 4.2.	Mac
system version	Returns the version of MacOS.	Mac
version <string>	Short hand for 'file version'.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
bundle version of <filesystem object>	Returns the version of the filesystem object corresponding to the CFBundleVersion string, as distinct from the CFBundleShortVersionString.	Mac
version of <filesystem object>	This returns the version information from "vers" resource 1 of the file. It is usually present in applications, and may exist in data files as well. It corresponds to what appears in the "Get Info" box for the specified filesystem object. Example: version of primary application "ttxt" is greater than "1.3" - Returns TRUE if the default application for "ttxt" is more recent than version 1.3.	Mac
version <integer> of <file>	Returns the nth version information from the "vers" resource of the given file. Typically n=1, but other information may be stored in "vers" resources greater than 1. Example: version 0 of file "fname" = "1.0" - Checks for the zero version, if one exists.	Mac
version of <file>	Synonym for file version of <file>. Example: version of file (pathname of shortcut of file "BigFix.lnk" of folder "c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop") - Returns the version number of the application to which the shortcut points.	Win, Mac, WM
bundle version of <folder>	Returns the version of the folder corresponding to the CFBundleVersion string, as distinct from the CFBundleShortVersionString.	Mac
version of <folder>	Returns a version for a folder representing an application.	Mac
bundle version of <bundle>	Returns the version of the bundle corresponding to the CFBundleVersion string, as distinct from the CFBundleShortVersionString.	Mac
version of <bundle>	Version of the given bundle.	Mac
<string> as version	Returns a version if the string can be parsed as a version. The first numeric set of characters delimited with period, comma or comma-space is returned.	Win, WM, Lin, Mac, HPUX, AIX, Sol, Ubu:8.1
<version> as version	Reflexive cast of version.	Win, Lin:8.0, Sol:8.0, HPUX:8.0, AIX:8.0, Mac:8.0, WM, Ubu:8.1
maximum of <version>	Returns the maximum value from a list of <version> types.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
minimum of <version>	Returns the minimum value from a list of <version> types.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
version of <component>	The version of the component, as determined by the component maker.	Mac
version of <operating system>	Returns the version of the operating system.	Win:8.0, Lin:8.2, Sol:8.2, HPUX:8.2, AIX:8.2, Mac:8.0, Ubu:8.2
version of <scsibus>	Version of the SCSI bus.	Mac
version of <usb>	The version of the USB installed in the system. Taken from the Gestalt Manager.	Mac
version of <client>	The product version of the BES application (BESClient or QnA).Note: On the Macintosh only, this Inspector returns a <string>. Example: version of client as string - Returns a string like "4.0.3.7".	Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, Ubu:8.1
version of <current relay>	Returns a version object that is the version of the server that the client last registered with. This may be a BES Relay or the BES root server.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
version of <application usage summary instance>	Returns the version of the specified application instance.	Win:8.0, Lin:8.0, Sol:8.0, HPUX:8.0, AIX:8.0, Mac:8.0, Ubu:8.1
bundle version of <bundle>	Returns the version of the bundle corresponding to the CFBundleVersion string, as distinct from the CFBundleShortVersionString.	Mac
version of <bundle>	Version of the given bundle.	Mac

Operators

Declaration	Return Type	Description	Platforms (?)
<version> {cmp} <string>	<boolean>	Returns a boolean TRUE or FALSE, depending on the comparison operator, where:{cmp} is one of: =, !=, <, <=, >, >= .	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM
<string> {cmp} <version>	<boolean>	Returns a boolean TRUE or FALSE, depending on the comparison operator, where:{cmp} is one of: =, !=, <, <=, >, >= .	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM
<string> {cmp} <version>	<boolean>	Returns a boolean TRUE or FALSE, depending on the comparison operator, where:{cmp} is one of: =, !=, <, <=, >, >= .	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM
<version> {cmp} <version>	<boolean>	Returns a boolean TRUE or FALSE, depending on the comparison operator, where:{cmp} is one of: =, !=, <, <=, >, >= .	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
name registry version	version Plural: name registry versions	Returns the version of the Macintosh Name Registry.	Mac
stage of <version>	<stage> Plural: stages	The stage is represented by the letter in the version string. It may be 'a' for alpha, 'b' for beta, 'd' for development or 'f' for final. If absent, final is implied.	Mac:8.1
<string> as version	<version>	Returns a version if the string can be parsed as a version. The first numeric set of characters delimited with period, comma or comma-space is returned.	Win, WM, Lin, Mac, HPUX, AIX, Sol, Ubu:8.1
<version> as string	<string>	Turns a version type into a string of the form "1.2.3.4".	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
<version> as version	<version>	Reflexive cast of version.	Win, Lin:8.0, Sol:8.0, HPUX:8.0, AIX:8.0, Mac:8.0, WM, Ubu:8.1
bug revision of <version>	<integer> Plural: bug revisions	If the stage is present the bug revision is the number after the stage. If absent, zero is implied.	Mac
build revision of <version>	<integer> Plural: build revisions	Returns the final component of a version (Major.Minor.RevisionStageBuild).	Mac
extrema of <version>	<( version, version )> Plural: extremas	Returns the minimum and maximum extreme values of the given list of <version> types.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
major revision of <version>	<integer> Plural: major revisions	The number before the first period in the version string.	Mac
maximum of <version>	<version> Plural: maxima	Returns the maximum value from a list of <version> types.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
minimum of <version>	<version> Plural: minima	Returns the minimum value from a list of <version> types.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
minor revision of <version>	<integer> Plural: minor revisions	The number immediately after the first period in the version string. If absent, zero is implied.	Mac
unique value of <version>	<version with multiplicity> Plural: unique values	Returns the unique values of a given list of <version> types, removing duplicates and sorting by value.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

version with multiplicity

The <version with multiplicity> Inspectors deal with version arrays, allowing you to extract unique version values and count them.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
unique value of <version>	Returns the unique values of a given list of <version> types, removing duplicates and sorting by value.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
multiplicity of <version with multiplicity>	<integer> Plural: multiplicities	Sorts the list and returns the multiplicity, or count, of each unique element in the specified list of multiple <version> types.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

file version block

You can inspect the version blocks of a file. There may be several language-specific version blocks. Version blocks contain version and name information in a human readable form for the specified language. This is the information that Windows displays in the file properties dialog. This technique uses string values and has a limited array of comparators. For better speed, utility and compactness see the version object.

Creation Methods

Declaration

Description

Platforms (?)

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

strverscmp version

Uses the OS supplied strverscmp function, which may be useful for certain older-style version comparisons. For more information, see the man page for strverscmp.

Mac OS X defines several file system domains to control access to system resources on multi-user systems. These include the User, Local, Network, Classic and System domains. The domain for a given resource or folder determines its accessibility to the user. For example, while a user-installed font is only available to that user, an administrator-installed font is available to all network users. These Inspectors allow folder access to be parceled out according to domain.Note: The "user domain" refers to the root user, not the currently logged in user.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
classic domain	Returns a classic domain object.	Mac
local domain	Returns a local domain object.	Mac
network domain	Returns a network domain object.	Mac
on appropriate disk domain	Returns one of the Macintosh domains. In most cases, this is the equivalent of kOnAppropriateDisk. On Mac OS X, this constant is used instead of the constant kOnSytemDisk to indicate any disk. For more information, see the Apple documentation on Carbon domain constants.	Mac
on system disk domain	Returns the OnSystemDisk domain.	Mac
system domain	Returns a system domain object.	Mac
user domain	Returns a user domain object.Note: The "user domain" refers to the root user, not the currently logged in user.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
apple extras folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: apple extras folders	Returns the apple extras folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
apple menu items folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: apple menu items folders	Returns the apple menu items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
application support folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: application support folders	Returns the application support folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Application Support. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
applications folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: applications folders	Returns the applications folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Applications. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
assistants folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: assistants folders	Returns the assistants folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
audio folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: audio folders	Returns the audio folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Audio. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
cache folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: cache folders	Returns the cache folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
carbon folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: carbon folders	Returns the carbon folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Carbon. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
chewable items folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: chewable items folders	Returns the chewable items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
classic folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: classic folders	Returns the classic folder of the specified OS X domain, typically the /System Folder. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
color sync folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: color sync folders	Returns the color sync folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/ColorSync. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
colorsync profiles folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: colorsync profiles folders	Returns the colorsync profiles folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
component folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: component folders	Returns the component folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Components. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
contextual menu items folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: contextual menu items folders	Returns the contextual menu items folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Contextual Menu Items. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
control panels folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: control panels folders	Returns the control panels folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
control strip modules folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: control strip modules folders	Returns the control strip modules folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
core services folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: core services folders	Returns the core services folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/CoreServices. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
current user folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: current user folders	Returns the current user folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /Users/username. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
desktop folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: desktop folders	Returns the desktop folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users/Username/Desktop. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
developer docs folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: developer docs folders	Returns the developer docs folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /Developer/Documentation. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
developer folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: developer folders	Returns the developer folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /Developer. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
developer help folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: developer help folders	Returns the help folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Developer/Documentation/Help. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled control panels folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: disabled control panels folders	Returns the control panels folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled extensions folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: disabled extensions folders	Returns the extensions folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled shutdown items folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: disabled shutdown items folders	Returns the shutdown folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled startup items folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: disabled startup items folders	Returns the startup items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
disabled system extensions folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: disabled system extensions folders	Returns the systems extensions folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
documentation folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: documentation folders	Returns the documentation folder for the given OS X domain, typically found at /Library/Documentation. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
documents folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: documents folders	Returns the documents folder for the specified OS X domain, typically found at /User/Username/Documents. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
domain library folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: domain library folders	Returns the domain library folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /Library. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
domain top folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: domain top folders	Returns the top folder of the specified OS X domain, typically found at /System. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
extensions folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: extensions folders	Returns the extensions folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
favorites folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: favorites folders	Returns the favorites folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users/username/Library/Favorites. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
fonts folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: fonts folders	Returns the font folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Fonts. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
framework <string> of <domain>	<folder> Plural: frameworks	Returns a folder of the form "/System/Library/Frameworks/<string>.framework".Note: This Inspector appends .framework for you, so don't provide it. The framework inspector needs a domain, and without it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
framework folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: framework folders	Returns the framework folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Frameworks. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
help folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: help folders	Returns the help folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Documentation/Help. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
internet plugins folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: internet plugins folders	Returns the internet plugins folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
iss download folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: iss download folders	Returns the Macintosh download folder for the specified domain.	Mac
kernel extensions folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: kernel extensions folders	Returns the kernel extensions folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Extensions. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
locales folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: locales folders	Returns the locales folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
location manager modules folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: location manager modules folders	Returns the location manager modules folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
location manager preferences folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: location manager preferences folders	Returns the location manager preferences folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
locations folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: locations folders	Returns the locations folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
macos read me folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: macos read me folders	Returns the Mac OS read me folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
modem scripts folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: modem scripts folders	Returns the modem scripts folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Modem Scripts. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
preferences folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: preferences folders	Returns the preferences folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users/username/Library/Preferences. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
printer descriptions folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: printer descriptions folders	Returns the printer descriptions folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Printers/PPDs. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
printer drivers folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: printer drivers folders	Returns the printer drivers folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
printers folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: printers folders	Returns the printers folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Printers. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
printmonitor documents folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: printmonitor documents folders	Returns the printmonitor documents folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Library/Printers/PrintMonitor Documents. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
private framework folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: private framework folders	Returns the private framework folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
quicktime folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: quicktime folders	Returns the quicktime folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/QuickTime. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
receipts folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: receipts folders	Returns the receipts folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
scripting additions folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: scripting additions folders	Returns the scripting additions folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Scripting Additions. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
shared folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: shared folders	Returns the shared folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users/Shared. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
shared libraries folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: shared libraries folders	Returns the shared libraries folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/CFMSupport. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
shutdown items folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: shutdown items folders	Returns the shutdown items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
sound folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: sound folders	Returns the sound folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Sound. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
speech folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: speech folders	Returns the speech folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Speech. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
startup items folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: startup items folders	Returns the startup items folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
system folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: system folders	Returns the system folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
temporary items folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: temporary items folders	Returns the temporary items folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /private/tmp/. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
text encodings folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: text encodings folders	Returns the text encodings folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
themes folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: themes folders	Returns the themes folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
user temp folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: user temp folders	Returns the user temp folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /private/tmp/uid where uid is the user ID number. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
users folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: users folders	Returns the users folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Users. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
utilities folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: utilities folders	Returns the utilities folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /Applications/Utilities. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
voices folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: voices folders	Returns the voices folder of the specified OS X domain, typically /System/Library/Speech/Voices. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac
volume settings folder of <domain>	<folder> Plural: volume settings folders	Returns the volume settings folder of the specified OS X domain. If the domain is not specified, it defaults to the system domain.	Mac

mode

The <mode> inpector returns file type information and permissions. These are the possible values of mode:S_IFMT 170000 bitmask for the file type bitfieldsS_IFSOCK 140000 socketS_IFLNK 120000 symbolic linkS_IFREG 100000 regular fileS_IFBLK 060000 block deviceS_IFDIR 040000 directoryS_IFCHR 020000 character deviceS_IFIFO 010000 fifoS_ISUID 004000 set UID bitS_ISGID 002000 set GID bitS_ISVTX 001000 sticky bitS_IRWXU 000700 mask for file owner permissionsS_IRUSR 000400 owner has read permissionS_IWUSR 000200 owner has write permissionS_IXUSR 000100 owner has execute permissionS_IRWXG 000070 mask for group permissionsS_IRGRP 000040 group has read permissionS_IWGRP 000020 group has write permissionS_IXGRP 000010 group has execute permissionS_IRWXO 000007 mask for permissions for others (not in group)S_IROTH 000004 others have read permissionS_IWOTH 000002 others have write permissionS_IXOTH 000001 others have execute permission

Creation Methods

Declaration

Description

Platforms (?)

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

mode_mask

The <mode_mask> Inspector is a differently formatted version of the mode, created by shifting the key information down to the low three bits.

Creation Methods

Declaration

Description

Platforms (?)

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

file type

The <file type> Inspectors provide access to the four character file type associated with some types of files.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
file type <string>	The phrase 'file type' can be used to create a file type object from a string. Example: creator of "that file" of "that folder" is file type "ttxt" - Returns TRUE if "that file" is a TeachText file.	Mac
type of <file>	This refers to the four-character identifier used in all MacOS files. The type describes the sort of file it is. Example: type of 'that file' of folder 'that folder' is file type 'TEXT' - Checks to see if the given file is a text file type	Mac
type of <bundle>	Returns the file type of the bundle. Can be used only to compare equality between file types. Example: type of bundle of applications folder = type of bundle of domain library folder - Returns TRUE if the specified types are the same.	Mac
type of <bundle>	Returns the file type of the bundle. Can be used only to compare equality between file types. Example: type of bundle of applications folder = type of bundle of domain library folder - Returns TRUE if the specified types are the same.	Mac

Operators

Declaration	Return Type	Description	Platforms (?)
<file type> = <file type>	<boolean>	Compare two file types.	Mac

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

file signature

The <file signature> Inspectors provide access to each of the four character file signatures associated with some types of files.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
file signature <string>	Turn a string into a file signature (four letters, for example FNDR).	Mac
creator of <file>	This refers to the four-character identifier used in all MacOS files. The creator tells what application should open the specified file.	Mac
creator of <bundle>	The creator 4-letter code of the bundle (for example, FNDR for Finder). Example: creator of bundle of applications folder = creator of bundle of preferences folder - Returns TRUE if the creator of the application and preference folders are the same.	Mac
creator of <bundle>	The creator 4-letter code of the bundle (for example, FNDR for Finder). Example: creator of bundle of applications folder = creator of bundle of preferences folder - Returns TRUE if the creator of the application and preference folders are the same.	Mac

Operators

Declaration	Return Type	Description	Platforms (?)
<file signature> = <file signature>	<boolean>	Compares two Macintosh file signatures.	Mac

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

component

Components are handled by the MacOS Component Manager. These Inspectors provide access to the various software components available through the Component Manager. The information contained in a component is placed there by its maker. How it should be interpreted is also determined by the maker.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
component	Is an iterated property. The MacOS supports software "components", for example QuickTime codecs. This iterator can examine the components that are available.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
info of <component>	<string> Plural: infos	Returns information about the component, as determined by the creator of the component.	Mac
maker of <component>	<string> Plural: makers	Returns the name of the maker of the specified component.	Mac
name of <component>	<string> Plural: names	The name of the component, as determined by its maker.	Mac
subtype of <component>	<string> Plural: subtypes	The subtype of the component, as determined by the component maker.	Mac
type of <component>	<string> Plural: types	The type of the component, as determined by the component maker.	Mac
version of <component>	<version> Plural: versions	The version of the component, as determined by the component maker.	Mac

datafork

The <datafork> Inspectors refer to the data fork of a filesystem object.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
data fork of <file>	Returns information about the data fork of the specified file.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
length of <datafork>	<integer> Plural: lengths	The logical length of the data fork of the file.	Mac
size of <datafork>	<integer> Plural: sizes	Returns the size of the specified datafork.	Mac

resfork

The <resfork> Inspectors refer to the resource fork of a filesystem object.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
resource fork of <file>	Returns information about the resource fork of the file.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
length of <resfork>	<integer> Plural: lengths	The logical length of the resource fork of the file.	Mac
size of <resfork>	<integer> Plural: sizes	Returns the size of the resource fork.	Mac

dictionaryentry

The <dictionaryentry> inspectors provide access to the entries of a dictionary.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
entry of <dictionary>	A key-value pair of a dictionary. Example: keys of entries of dictionary of iokit registry - Returns the specified keys, for example: IOKitBuildVersion, IONDRVFrameBufferGeneration, IOConsoleUsers, IOKitDiagnostics, IORegistryPlanes, IOMaximumMappedIOByteCount, IOCatalogue.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
key of <dictionaryentry>	<string> Plural: keys	The key of the given dictionary entry.	Mac:8.1
value of <dictionaryentry>	<osxvalue> Plural: values	Values of the dictionary entry.	Mac:8.1

dictionary

The <dictionary> Inspectors provide access to an XML dictionary as used in .plist (property list) files.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
dictionary <integer> of <array>	Get, from an array, a dictionary keyed by the specified integer. Example: exists dictionary 0 of array "LogFileDicts" of preference "com.apple.Console" - See the Apple Developer documentation.	Mac
dictionary of <file>	Returns the dictionary object for the specified file. Example: exists dictionary of file "com.apple.scheduler.plist" of preferences folder - Returns TRUE if the specified dictionary exists.	Mac
global dictionary of <bundle>	The bundle's information dictionary. Example: string "CFBundleVersion" of global dictionary of bundle of folder "iTunes.app" of applications folder - Returns the specified bundle version.	Mac
local dictionary of <bundle>	The bundle's localized information dictionary. Example: keys of entries of local dictionary of bundle of folder "iTunes.app" of applications folder - Returns information in the default system langauge for bundles that include localized resources, such as Movie File, iTunes Remote Library URL, MP2 Audio File, WAVE Audio File, MP3 Audio File, CFBundleHelpBookName, Equalizer Settings, Tunes Database File, and more...	Mac
dictionary <string> of <dictionary>	Get, from a dictionary, a dictionary keyed by the specified string. Example: exists dictionary "Timer" of dictionary "SUCheckSchedulerTag" of dictionary "com.apple.SoftwareUpdate" of dictionary "AbsoluteSchedule" of dictionary of file "com.apple.scheduler.plist" of preferences folder - Returns TRUE if the specified dictionary exists.	Mac
dictionary of <osxvalue>	Casts the osxvalue (essentially untyped) to a dictionary.	Mac
dictionary <string> of <preference>	Get, from a preference, a dictionary keyed by the specified string. Example: exists dictionary "Timer" of dictionary "SUCheckSchedulerTag" of dictionary "com.apple.SoftwareUpdate" of dictionary "AbsoluteSchedule" of preference "com.apple.scheduler" - Returns TRUE if the specified dictionary exists.	Mac
dictionary of <registryroot>	Returns a dictionary from the root of the IOKit registry. Example: keys of entries of dictionary of iokit registry - Returns the specified keys, for example: IOKitBuildVersion, IONDRVFrameBufferGeneration, IOConsoleUsers, IOKitDiagnostics, IORegistryPlanes, IOMaximumMappedIOByteCount, IOCatalogue.	Mac
dictionary of <registrynode>	Returns a dictionary from a node in the IORegistry. Example: keys of entries of dictionary of usb plane of iokit registry - Returns the specified keys, for example: Device Speed, iSerialNumber, bNumConfigurations, IOUserClientClass, AAPL, current-available, bDeviceClass, USB Product Name, IOCFPlugInTypes.	Mac
global dictionary of <bundle>	The bundle's information dictionary. Example: string "CFBundleVersion" of global dictionary of bundle of folder "iTunes.app" of applications folder - Returns the specified bundle version.	Mac
local dictionary of <bundle>	The bundle's localized information dictionary. Example: keys of entries of local dictionary of bundle of folder "iTunes.app" of applications folder - Returns information in the default system langauge for bundles that include localized resources, such as Movie File, iTunes Remote Library URL, MP2 Audio File, WAVE Audio File, MP3 Audio File, CFBundleHelpBookName, Equalizer Settings, Tunes Database File, and more...	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
array <string> of <dictionary>	<array> Plural: arrays	Get, from a dictionary, an array keyed by the specified string.	Mac
boolean <string> of <dictionary>	<boolean> Plural: booleans	Get, from a dictionary, a boolean keyed by the string.	Mac
cstring <string> of <dictionary>	<string> Plural: cstrings	Get, from a dictionary, the string keyed by the specified string. Works for objects in a dictionary of type String or Data. If the type is Data, any null terminator will be stripped.	Mac
data <string> of <dictionary>	<string> Plural: datas	Returns the specified dictionary data as a string.	Mac
date <string> of <dictionary>	<time> Plural: dates	Get, from a dictionary, a date keyed by the specified string.	Mac
dictionary <string> of <dictionary>	<dictionary> Plural: dictionaries	Get, from a dictionary, a dictionary keyed by the specified string.	Mac
entry of <dictionary>	<dictionaryentry> Plural: entries	A key-value pair of a dictionary.	Mac
integer <string> of <dictionary>	<integer> Plural: integers	Get, from a dictionary, an integer keyed by the specified string.	Mac
key of <dictionary>	<string> Plural: keys	The keys of a dictionary.	Mac
size of <dictionary>	<integer> Plural: sizes	The size of the given dictionary.	Mac
string <string> of <dictionary>	<string> Plural: strings	Get, from a dictionary, the string keyed by the specified string. Works for objects in a dictionary of type String or Data. If the type is Data, any null terminator will be returned as part of the string. Use cstring if you expect a Data object containing a null terminated string.	Mac

country

The <country> Inspectors allow comparing countries (as seen in version numbers).

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
country <string>	Maps a country script string (for example verAfrikaans) to its region code. Example: exists (country "verChina") - Returns TRUE if there exists a Chinese script string.	Mac

Operators

Declaration	Return Type	Description	Platforms (?)
<country> = <country>	<boolean>	Compares two countries, as found in a Macintosh version.	Mac

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

osxvalue

The <osxvalue> Inspectors provide access to the elements of a dictionary.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
value of <array>	Values of the array. Example: strings of values of array "RecentSearchStrings" of preference "com.apple.safari" - Returns a list of the most recent search strings, in temporal order.	Mac
value of <dictionaryentry>	Values of the dictionary entry.	Mac:8.1

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
array of <osxvalue>	<array> Plural: arrays	Casts the osxvalue (which is essentially untyped) to an array.	Mac
boolean of <osxvalue>	<boolean> Plural: booleans	Casts the osxvalue (which is essentially untyped) to a boolean.	Mac
cstring of <osxvalue>	<string> Plural: cstrings	Strips off any trailing null from an osxvalue, returning a proper string from the dictionary.Note: In Version 6.0.9.54, the plural inspector is misspelled as csrings.	Mac
data of <osxvalue>	<string> Plural: datas	Casts the specified osxvalue to a string.	Mac
date of <osxvalue>	<time> Plural: dates	Casts the osxvalue (essentially untyped) to a date.	Mac
dictionary of <osxvalue>	<dictionary> Plural: dictionaries	Casts the osxvalue (essentially untyped) to a dictionary.	Mac
integer of <osxvalue>	<integer> Plural: integers	Casts the osxvalue (essentially untyped) to an integer.	Mac
string of <osxvalue>	<string> Plural: strings	The string of the osxvalue, cast to a string if necessary.	Mac
type of <osxvalue>	<string> Plural: types	The type of the osxvalue (for example boolean, string, integer, data, date, array, dictionary, or unknown type).	Mac

preference

The <preference> Inspectors provide access to application preference files.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
preference <string>	The named set of preferences. Example: boolean "autohide" of preference "com.apple.dock" - Returns TRUE if the autohide preference is set.	Mac

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
array <string> of <preference>	<array> Plural: arrays	Get, from a preference file, an array keyed by the specified string.	Mac
boolean <string> of <preference>	<boolean> Plural: booleans	Get, from a preference file, a boolean keyed by the specified string.	Mac
date <string> of <preference>	<time> Plural: dates	Get, from a preference, a date keyed by the specified string.	Mac
dictionary <string> of <preference>	<dictionary> Plural: dictionaries	Get, from a preference, a dictionary keyed by the specified string.	Mac
integer <string> of <preference>	<integer> Plural: integers	Get, from a preference, an integer keyed by the specified string.	Mac
string <string> of <preference>	<string> Plural: strings	Get, from a preference, the string keyed by the specified string.	Mac

stage

The <stage> objects are for inspecting the stage portion of version numbers, which is the penultimate section of a version string: Major.Minor.ReleaseStageBuild.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
stage of <version>	The stage is represented by the letter in the version string. It may be 'a' for alpha, 'b' for beta, 'd' for development or 'f' for final. If absent, final is implied.	Mac:8.1

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
<stage> as string	<string>	A Macintosh version is of the form: Major.Minor.ReleaseStageBuild. The stage directly precedes the final (Build) number. Most versioning schemes use a period, but the Mac allows for d, a, b and f standing for Development , Alpha, Beta and Final. The period has a higher value than Final. The stage is used in version comparisons and is ranked higher than the build number. For instance, 7.1.2a43 is less than 7.1.2f42 because a is lower than f, even though the final number is bigger.	Mac

fileset

The <fileset> objects represent the set of files required for installing a software package.

Creation Methods

Declaration

Description

Platforms (?)

Properties

Declaration

Return type

Description

Platforms (?)

file line

A <file line> object produces strings from a text file.

Creation Methods

Declaration	Description	Platforms (?)
line <integer> of <file>	Returns the nth line (specified by <integer>) from the given file. Example: line 2 of (file "printmon.inf" of system folder) - Returns the second line of the specified file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
line containing <string> of <file>	Returns all lines from the given file that contain the specified string. Example: lines containing "Signature]" of file "mmdriver.inf" of system folder - Returns a list corresponding to the top-level sections involving signatures in the specified .inf file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
line of <file>	Iterates over all the lines of the specified file. Note that the lines are truncated to 1023 characters. Example: lines of file "c:\autoexec.bat" - Returns all the lines in the specified autoexec.bat file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
line starting with <string> of <file>	Same as line <string> of <file>, returns the lines of the given file that start with the specified string. Example: lines starting with "[" of file "mmdriver.inf" of system folder - Returns a list corresponding to all the top-level sections (lines that start with "[") in the specified .inf file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
next line of <file line>	Returns the line after the specified line in a file (provided that it is not the last line). This Inspector can be chained indefinitely, eg., next line of next line of ... Example: next line of line containing "[mciavi]" of file "mmdriver.inf" of system folder - Returns the line after the one containing "[mciavi]", which is a string such as "1:MSVFW32.DLL".	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
previous line of <file line>	Returns the line before the nth line in a file, provided n>1. You may repeat this command up to three times. Example: previous line of previous line of previous line of line containing "[mciavi]" of file "mmdriver.inf" of system folder - Returns the line 3 lines previous to the one containing the specified phrase in the given file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

Properties

Declaration	Return type	Description	Platforms (?)
line number of <file line>	<integer> Plural: line numbers	Returns the line number of a given line. Can be used to locate specific lines in a file.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
next line of <file line>	<file line> Plural: next lines	Returns the line after the specified line in a file (provided that it is not the last line). This Inspector can be chained indefinitely, eg., next line of next line of ...	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1
previous line of <file line>	<file line> Plural: previous lines	Returns the line before the nth line in a file, provided n>1. You may repeat this command up to three times.	Win, Lin, Sol, HPUX, AIX, Mac, WM, Ubu:8.1

Terminology

Platform

Contents

Filesystem Objects

filesystem

Creation Methods

Properties

filesystem object

Creation Methods

Operators

Properties

file

Creation Methods

Properties

application

Creation Methods

Properties

folder

Creation Methods

Properties

drive

Creation Methods

Properties

bundle

Creation Methods

Properties

volume

Creation Methods

Operators

Properties

file shortcut

Creation Methods

Properties

file section

Creation Methods

Properties

file content

Creation Methods

Operators

Properties

version

Creation Methods

Operators

Properties

version with multiplicity

Creation Methods

Properties

file version block

Creation Methods

Properties

strverscmp version

Creation Methods

Operators

Properties

domain

Creation Methods

Properties

mode

Creation Methods

Properties

mode_mask

Creation Methods

Properties

file type

Creation Methods

Operators

Properties

file signature

Creation Methods

Operators

Properties

component

Creation Methods

Properties

datafork

Creation Methods

Properties

resfork

Creation Methods

Properties