Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uunet!tellab5!wiseman From: wiseman@tellabs.com (Jeff Wiseman) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Re: How big is my folder? Message-ID: <3330@tellab5.tellabs.com> Date: 10 Aug 90 17:48:11 GMT References: Sender: news@Tellabs.COM Organization: Tellabs, Inc. Lisle IL Lines: 34 In article rq02+@andrew.cmu.edu (Richard Quadrel) writes: >If I display the contents of a folder "By Size", the Finder will tell me >the size of each of the files, but prints the size of a folder as "--". Just a thought on this subject (I've been asked about this a couple times). The mac file system behaves similar to a unix system. There are different "types" of file. A "folder" type file (similar to the unix "directory" type) does not really physically "contain" other files such as applications or document types. What it does contain is mainly POINTERS to each of the files "contained" in the folder. In other words, the size of the "folder" type file is based on the NUMBER of files in it and NOT the total disk storage allotted to the files "inside" the folder. Showing the SIZE of a folder file is kind of meaningless. It's the disk space MANAGED or LINKED TO through the folder file. The Get Info facility is smart enough to know that it's this MANAGED space information that the user really wants to see. Unix users have two commands for this. One, the "ls" command shows the SIZE of each file, regardless of where it is a directory, binary, or data file (obviously ls is NOT an ancronym :-). The other is "du" which will show the disk utilization of directories, disks, volumes, or partitions (which of course could ALL be viewed as different types of files and file collections). For Apple to do what you ask would theoretically be inconsistant. They would have to add some kind of "View By Disk Usage" thus making the mac more like a unix system (of course I WOULDN'T want to get into a discussion of whether or not THAT would be a good idea! :-) Anyway, hope this helps some. -- Jeff Wiseman: ....uunet!tellab5!wiseman OR wiseman@TELLABS.COM