Show hidden files on Mac OSX

The Mac OSX Finder is used to navigate through directories and to show files. Mysteriously Apple does not provide a function to show hidden files. Therefore it is only possible to view those files in the Shell. And it is also only via the shell possible to edit or work with these files, because most programs use the standard finder open dialog.

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Submitted by Tanja Maria Wenter on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 23:04
1 answer

Show hidden files on Mac OSX – Solution script

There does exist a quite easy solution, but it lacks usability. The solution is to provide two shell scripts which execute a command that show or hide the hidden files. However it is necessary the “Finder” application after these instructions (can be done by the script). Usability wise it is not a good solution, because you have to re-navigate to the path you were before. I was not able to find a solution that works “on the fly”.

Show hidden files:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -boolean true;killall Finder

Hide files:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -boolean false;killall Finder

Submitted by Tanja Maria Wenter on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 20:21

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