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Full Discussion: Toggle Hidden Files Mac OS X
Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting Toggle Hidden Files Mac OS X Post 302212573 by Omniwheel on Monday 7th of July 2008 11:35:55 PM
Old 07-08-2008
Toggle Hidden Files Mac OS X

Hi all,

I have been using Ubuntu for 2 years now, and a few days ago I bought a Macbook. This is my first time using a Mac, so I have spent the better of two days learning the user interface, and configuring my Macbook. One thing I noticed is that there is no easy way to turn on and off hidden files, so I wrote a shell script to make it easy.

This is my first time ever making a script (I have previously never written a script on any OS), I hope you guys can comment on it, tell me whats good, bad, and how it can be done differently.

Specifically:

-Why does my terminal not close after the script is complete?

-Whats the best way to restart an application, ie one example has killall, the other uses osascript and envokes the quit command?

-Which application is safer?

-I named these files .command files so they can execute on double click, is the the best way to do it?

-Why do I have to execute 'open -a Finder' twice?

Code:
Example 1
#!/bin/sh
# This Application Makes Hidden Files Visible
# Note: The Application Will Close All Finder Windows
echo Warning This Application Will Close All Finder Windows!
echo Type y/n to Continue?
read answer
if [ "$answer" = "y" ]
then
    filesVisible=$(defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles)
    if [ "$filesVisible" = "0" ]
    then
        defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
        killall Finder
    else
        defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false
        killall Finder
    fi
else
    exit
fi
exit

Code:
Example 2
#!/bin/sh
# This Application Makes Hidden Files Visible
# Note: The Application Will Close All Finder Windows
echo Warning This Application Will Close All Finder Windows!
echo Type y/n to Continue?
read answer
if [ "$answer" = "y" ]
then
    filesVisible=$(defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles)
    if [ "$filesVisible" = "0" ]
    then
        defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
        osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to quit'
        open -a Finder
        open -a Finder    
    else
        defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false
        osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to quit'
        open -a Finder
        open -a Finder
    fi
else
    exit
fi
exit

Thanks,
Omniwheel
 

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lchage(1)						      General Commands Manual							 lchage(1)

NAME
lchage - Display or change user password policy SYNOPSIS
lchage [OPTION]... user DESCRIPTION
Displays or allows changing password policy of user. OPTIONS
-d, --date=days Set the date of last password change to days after Jan 1 1970. Set days to -1 to disable password expiration (i.e. to ignore --mindays, and --maxdays and related settings). Set days to 0 to enforce password change on next login. (This also disables password expiration until the password is changed.) -E, --expire=days Set the account expiration date to days after Jan 1 1970. Set days to -1 to disable account expiration. -i, --interactive Ask all questions when connecting to the user database, even if default answers are set up in libuser configuration. -I, --inactive=days Disable the account after days after password expires (after the user is required to change the password). Set days to -1 to keep the account enabled indefinitely after password expiration. -l, --list Only list current user's policy and make no changes. -m, --mindays=days Require at least days days between password changes. Set days to 0 or -1 to disable this requirement. If this value is larger than the value set by --maxdays, the user cannot change the pasword. -M, --maxdays=days Require changing the password after days since last password change. Set days to -1 to disable password expiration. -W, --warndays=days Start warning the user days before password expires (before the user is required to change the password). Set days to 0 or -1 to disable the warning. EXIT STATUS
The exit status is 0 on success, nonzero on error. NOTES
Note that "account expiration" (set by --expire) is distinct from "password expiration" (set by --maxdays). Account expiration happens on a fixed date regardless of password changes. Password expiration is relative to the date of last password change. libuser Nov 8 2012 lchage(1)
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