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Hardcoded Folder Icons in macOS

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Re: Hardcoded Folder Icons in macOS

#41

Post by bbx »

notpushkin wrote: post #3
masswerk wrote: post #2

If you want to use any of these, 1) Navigate in the Finder to /System/Library/CoreServices/ 2) Open "CoreTypes.bundle" by right-clicking it and selecting "Sow Package Contents" from the centext menu, then open the "Contents" folder, then "Resources" 3) There they are! Find a suitable icon (preview either with "Get Info" or by double-clicking, which will open them in Preview) 4) In a second window, navigate to the fol…

You can also press Shift + Command + G and paste /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/ to go there directly. Unfortunately, even if you set a custom icon for a folder, it'll still show as default icon in the sidebar. I wanted to give my ~/dev sidebar entry the developer icon, but sadly it seems to be hardcoded ~/Developer indeed.

> You can also press Shift + Command + G

Ok, after 10 years of Mac OS, I'm only learning this right now?? And I'm stupid because it's right there in the "Go" menu… I used to just launch a terminal and use the "open" command…

Many thanks for this.

Re: Hardcoded Folder Icons in macOS

#42

Post by jeroenhd »

This reminds me of the "magical" CLSID folder names you can use in Windows to embed special folders in your filesystem. This can be quite useful as some of the hidden functionality includes an overview of many conntrol panel settings usually hidden deep within the directory structure. Plus, applications can register their own special panes if they wish, allowing you to use Windows Explorer as a front-end for your application.

I'm a little confused though; I've been using custom folder icons since at least Windows XP, surely you can just set a custom icon on your folders in macOS? I wouldn't want a clunky name like "Developer " in my home directory, "Development" or "Projects" would fit the context much better.

Edit: looks like you can. You need to open an icns file, hit the copy command, open a folder's properties and paste (https://support.apple.com/en-US/guide/mac-help/mchlp2313/mac). Bizarre that there's no UI for this, I would've expected a system icon selection popup at the very least.

Re: Hardcoded Folder Icons in macOS

#43

Post by grishka »

Aeolun wrote: post #39
unfunco wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to use Disco, the website is still alive: https://discoapp.com When a CD was burning, smoke would emanate from the app, and if you blew on your microphone the smoke would disperse.

I guess a mac only application for disk burning becomes a bit pointless when there’s no macs with disc drives any more.

Not entirely pointless. You can connect an external optical drive even to most modern of macs and it'll work. That contraption consisting of a full-size DVD drive and a SATA-USB adapter with external power, plugged into a USB-A/USB-C adapter and then my M1 macbook, for that one time when I was given a CD and was curious to see what's on it? It worked flawlessly. Though I've never tried burning discs on macOS, I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work.

Re: Hardcoded Folder Icons in macOS

#44

Post by grishka »

ricardobayes wrote: post #17

Developer is a weird string choice though, why not Development or Code. It would be like MS naming its product VS Coder (lol)

Some older versions of Xcode installed themselves and SDKs and other developer tools into /Developer. All that stuff lives in /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer now.

Re: Hardcoded Folder Icons in macOS

#45

Post by reaperducer »

Aeolun wrote: post #39
unfunco wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to use Disco, the website is still alive: https://discoapp.com When a CD was burning, smoke would emanate from the app, and if you blew on your microphone the smoke would disperse.

I guess a mac only application for disk burning becomes a bit pointless when there’s no macs with disc drives any more.

there’s no macs with disc drives any more

The drives still exist. They're just optional now. Like bucket seats.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-super...

Best optical drive I own. When nothing else will read a crusty disc, the SuperDrive always does.

Re: Hardcoded Folder Icons in macOS

#48

Post by rahoulb »

unfunco wrote: post #33
rahoulb wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be hard to believe now, but there was a time when iTunes was a great piece of software. It used to have two jobs - play your music and manage your music - and it had a good UI for both tasks. iTunes had a "brushed metal" interface - the Apple HIG said brushed metal was for apps that represent "devices", as opposed to standard "Aqua" (or "Platinum" if you go back far enough) for apps which represent "documents"…

I used to use Disco, the website is still alive: https://discoapp.com When a CD was burning, smoke would emanate from the app, and if you blew on your microphone the smoke would disperse.

Blowing the smoke away is a great touch.

I miss that kind of thing - the closest we get nowadays is when things bounce or shake a little bit as you interact with them.

I guess this is what Gruber was talking about recently - stuff that wouldn't go on a spreadsheet of features but make you want to use the app just because it does stuff like this.

Re: Hardcoded Folder Icons in macOS

#50

Post by soegaard »

spongeb00b wrote: post #40

For a few years now I've been using a ~/Uploads directory, as in the opposite of ~/Downloads Uploads is where I put any temporary files that I've just made, e.g. an attachment I need to email, or upload into an online service of some kind. Previously my desktop became littered with these files which I absolutely hated. I just wish I could set the sidebar icon to an upwards arrow.

You can use preview to edit the icon files.

For each icon size: Use the smart lasso to make a circular selection, then rotate left 2 times.

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