Xfile Update
Rixstep are pleased to announce an immediate update to their ‘Xfile
package’ trial download for Apple’s OS X. The package now includes fourteen
closely integrated file management utilities. It requires OS X 10.3.9 or
later and runs ‘every other day’ this summer.
Xfile from Rixstep is the only file manager for OS X capable of seamlessly
handling all file systems – fdesc, HFS+, HFS+ case- sensitive, UFS, volfs,
ZFS. It’s the only file manager capable of detailing all file information
available on OS X – and offering full editing capabilities for all these
system features.
Xfile manages ‘file flags’ (user and system append, immutable, etc);
‘sticky bits’; set user and group ID bits; it displays major and minor
device numbers, inodes (CNIDs), number of links, blocks used, optimal block
sizes, and file generation numbers for the superuser; it creates both hard
and symbolic links.
Additional utilities included allow manipulation of two Unix and five HFS
time stamps; batch and recursive mode and time stamping; the remarkable
Xshelf; the comprehensive ‘post mortem’ analysis tool Tracker; complete
access to ‘legacy Mac OS’ filesystem data; and more.
Scanned in 90 Seconds
The Xfile package also includes the file system scanner Xscan for quickly
locating items in the file systems and for conducting perfunctory system
security audits. Xscan can scan an entire OS X computer, listing all files
in eleven columns of file data, in a time span of one or two minutes even
on ‘yesterday’s hardware’. It can also scan entire networks at the same
speed.
All items with resource forks are clearly marked and sizes for each fork
available. The FileInfo utility allows manipulation of the special ‘Finder
flags’ found in HFS catalog node info blocks.
Xstrings dumps readable strings from binary files; Xfind searches given
files for specified search strings. And so forth.
All the utilities are tightly integrated – so much so that if you can
conceive of a way they work together, they probably do.
The Xfile package comes with the proprietary ACP framework, offering
seamless search capabilities in every program, full management of both the
imagery and documentation systems, and more. Information on the full ACP is
also available.
Part of the ACP
Xfile is part of the ACP – Rixstep’s ‘Apple Core Project’, a research
project into viable means to hone and optimise generic application
development on OS X for professional purposes. The ACP is intended for the
professional audience but extreme power users can also find benefit.
The Xfile package is part and parcel of the complete ACP and offers insight
into the full capabilities of this award winning product. The Xfile
application is the fastest file manager for OS X, capable of listing a full
ten columns of file system data for 10,000 files in one second real time.
It’s known as the ‘standard setter’ for OS X file management. As it’s the
only file manager capable of doing everything possible on OS X, it stands
in a class of its own.
Package Contents
The Xfile package contains 272 items. In addition to Xfile and the ACP
framework it contains the applications FileInfo, MD, Rixcomp, Rixmode,
Rixstamp, TMI, Tracker, Xattrib, Xfind, Xscan, Xsed, Xshelf, Xstamp, and
Xstrings.
System Requirements
OS X universal 10.3.9 or later (Tiger, Leopard); Very little disk
footprint; extremely frugal on RAM.
Trial Download
A special trial download for the summer months is available here.
(ftp://rixstep.com/pub/Xfile.tar.bz2)
This special trial download offers somewhat limited functionality in that
it runs only on the ‘odd days’ of June, July, and August. It fully expires
1 September 2007.
This new trial download requires 10.3.9 or later.
About Rixstep
Rixstep are a constellation of programmers and administrators concentrating
on Objective-C/NeXTSTEP/OpenStep/Cocoa software engineering. Their ‘ACP’
(AppleCore Project) has won considerable acclaim, in particular their file
manager Xfile and their GUI version of the Unix command line CLIX. They
also provide a series of free topical newsletters on security and industry
events and offer online courses in Unix and Cocoa programming.
Credentials include programming consulting and training assignments for
British Aerospace, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, SAAB Defence Systems,
IBM, Microsoft, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Barclays Bank, and
Sony/Ericsson.
http://rixstep.com/