Harmless downloaded files can't be opened

etresoft wrote:

If you have an app that can open them like BBEdit, open them from within BBEdit. If you had an app that natively understood these file extensions, you would still be able to double-click them. You can't just say "they're text files" and be done with it. If they were text files they would have a ".txt" extension. Since they don't, and since you don't have an app that understands that extension, the operating system protects you from these files.

Yes, opening such .xmp with quarantine flag via BBEdit > File > Open... works.

In order to open such .xmp via the Finder (by double-clicking, or Open With > BBEdit, or drag and drop on top BBEdit) the fix is to remove quarantine flags by 'xattr -d com.apple.quarantine *.xmp' or via Privacy & Security but the latter works only for a single file.

Another option is to change .xmp suffix to .txt. Then BBEdit and TextEdit can open it via the Finder. Changing the suffix back to .xmp again prevents opening the file.

I asked this from BBEdit support and they said that the quarantine behavior is solely and completely under the behavior of macOS; the application (BBEdit or otherwise) plays no role. (At the point the alert is presented, the OS has not even asked the application to open the file, thus there is no opportunity in the application for acceptance or refusal.).

I have had no problem with .webp images but apparently none of my apps, workflow, or downloads have attached quarantine flag to them anyway.

p.s. You can generate such new .xmp with the com.apple.quarantine flag in Sequoia (15.5) Photos.app > select image > File > Export > Export Unmodified Original > Export IPTC as XMP.

Then try to open the exported .xmp with BBEdit or TextEdit and you are greeted with an alert: "image.xmp Not Opened. Apple could not verify image.xmp is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy". This did not happen in previous macOS versions. It does not help if you set BBEdit to open all .xmp by default. You can open that .xmp file via Privacy & Security but that does not fix it for other .xmp files.

This seems to be the same issue as Sequoia 15.4.1-15.5 being overprotective for pure data files such as .xmp, .webp, .mod, .dat etc if they happen to contain com.apple.quarantine flag.

For example, Photos.app inserts quarantine tag to the exported .xmp. My old .xmp files also have this tag but previous macOS versions have not refused to open them.

How to permanently allow opening .webp fi… - Apple Community

Silicon-Surfer wrote:

Interrestingly, if I change the file extension to TXT I can open them normally. So it's something to do with the extension, but I've been opening these types of files for many years and have never had a problem until now.

Apparently macOS no longer supports the extensions so you have to change the extension or open them from the File menu from any text editor.

Silicon-Surfer wrote:

The version of MacOS I'm using may be relevant, but suggesting that users shouldn't update doesn't help solve the issue. By that logic we'd all be using the OS that came pre-installed on our machines when we bought them.

That's not a bad approach. Your Mac will then always be as stable and reliable as the day you bought it.

If you want to upgrade to get some fancy new feature, there's nothing wrong with that. Just never do an upgrade hoping that it's going to magically "fix" some bug. You'll always be disappointed.

Simply changing the extension back to TXT removes the quarantine flag. This is likely the same issue that people have been complaining about with webp files.

That isn't quite what's happening, but it's definitely the same as the webp problem. You need to have apps that advertise support for webp or xyz files. That's the key.

I have read that it may not be intentional behaviour and could be caused by a problem with the filesystem, so still looking into that.

That is possible, hence my first point.

Hmmmm I’ve never heard of such a problem with text files before.

What permissions do they show when they come in?

Once you rename them with txt and quit them can you rename them the. Old exrention & do they open OK then?

Matti Haveri wrote:

This seems to be the same issue as Sequoia 15.4.1-15.5 being overprotective for pure data files such as .xmp, .webp, .mod, .dat etc if they happen to contain com.apple.quarantine flag.

The content of the files is irrelevant. It's the extension. If you don't have an app that advertises support for that particular type of file, then you can't double-click it. So this causes lots of problems with "generic" files like ".dat" and other things that were in common use as quasi-text files. It also applies to any relatively obscure formats like .xmp and .webp.

Matti Haveri wrote:

I asked this from BBEdit support and they said that the quarantine behavior is solely and completely under the behavior of macOS; the application (BBEdit or otherwise) plays no role. (At the point the alert is presented, the OS has not even asked the application to open the file, thus there is no opportunity in the application for acceptance or refusal.).

That's not true. The first time you launch an app, Gatekeeper performs its verifications on the app and either blocks it or allows it. As a side effect of allowing it, it also incorporates the app into the launch services database. This is where it records all of the file types that the app says it can open.

Then, years later, when you double-click on a downloaded, quarantined file, the operating system knows whether or not BBEdit could open the file. If BBEdit wants to explicitly support all of these myriad text file variants, it would have to make itself one of those grey market "opener" apps and advertise support for them all. It's possible, but I wouldn't recommend it.

What happens if you right click on one & chose Open? Or drop it on the Text Edit icon?

FWIW, perhaps Apple did not mean to block IES and LDT files. You can always send them feedback and perhaps things will change in a future update.

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Why are you using the latest version of Sequoia to begin with? Disregarding this new, unwanted behaviour, how does Sequoia meaningfully improve your use of these files?

The reason for this change is obviously a security protection. Apple's competitors regularly devise new security hacks and then publish them in viral social media outlets. So Apple has to regularly update the operating system to protect against them. In virtually all cases, these hacks are actually harmless, but most people don't know that. The whole system is based on exploitation of people who don't have detailed knowledge of computer security, which is practically everyone. So after one, two, or 12 of these "update your Apple device now!" stories, you did as you were told. Congratulations. You're now secure.

In the future, you will need to open such files using a safer method. If you have an app that can open them like BBEdit, open them from within BBEdit. If you had an app that natively understood these file extensions, you would still be able to double-click them. You can't just say "they're text files" and be done with it. If they were text files they would have a ".txt" extension. Since they don't, and since you don't have an app that understands that extension, the operating system protects you from these files. Your repeated installations of the latest version of macOS over the past 20 years have convinced Apple that this is the behaviour that you require.

dialabrain wrote:

FWIW, I've had zero problems with .webP files in Sequoia.

Neither do I. But some people do depending on how they got them if the .webp images (or other data files like .xmp generated by Sequoia Photos.app) happen to have com.apple.quarantine flag. Previous macOS (or Gatekeeper) versions did not complain about this.