Custom Icon Flags are Not Enabled so Custom Icons are not being Displayed

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Custom Icon Flags are Not Enabled so Custom Icons are not being Displayed

I am using Telling Folders from the App Store to quickly modify folder icons in the screencast below. But the same issue happens when I use Finders standard Get Info.

The issue here is often when I modify the icon I notice that the custom icon flag is not enabled. I only see this via Pathfinder.

Here's a screen cast which shows this issue:

http://screencast.com/t/kaDP2B3lB7g

I am also using Synk Pro to sync folders of application aliases between the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro. Sometimes I create folders for the aliases and modify the icons after the fact.

The icon file that resides within the folder is synced fine and the sync process works. It's just, often the custom icon is not displayed exhibiting the same behavior shown in the screen just above.

I was led to this post:

http://superuser.com/questions/111085/where-is-custom-icon-information-stored-in -mac-os-x-snow-leopard

In the last reply a user says the following:

The custom icon data for folders is the in resource fork of the "Icon\r" files (

ls -l folder/"$(printf 'Icon\r')"/..namedfork/rsrc

). But it there is also a special flag that controls whether it is used. If you move the "Icon\r" file from one folder to another you have to also set the “custom icon” flag for the destination folder:

/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a C /path/to/folder

Seedeveloper.apple.com/mac/library/DOCUMENTATION/Darwin/Reference/… – Chris JohnsenFeb 20 '10 at 3:18

I am wondering if there is some way I can run some sort of batch command to enable to custom icons flags for folders and files with custom icons? Can this be done via automator or apple script. I have no problem running the script on drives or folders, I just have no idea how to set this up. I guess this is essentially a humble script request, but I wonder if others are dealing with this same issue.

Thanks,

DR

Logic Studio, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 18 Gigs of RAM

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 12:50 AM

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Answer 1

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jsd2

Level 5

6,245 points

Apr 13, 2012 4:31 AM in response to drwebmail

Since you already have Path Finder, try the following.

From within Path Finder, make a selection of the multiple items for which you want to enable the flag - each item should already contain the custom icon itself. If the items are in one enclosing folder, you could open that enclosing folder in Path Finder and type command-A to select them all.

Then, from Path Finder, type option-command-I. This will open an "inspector" multiple-item Info window similar to Finder's, but it will have Path Finder's checkboxes for file attributes. Check the box for Custom Icon to add that flag to all the selected items:

.

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Answer 2

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Apr 13, 2012 4:49 AM in response to drwebmail

drwebmail wrote:

I am wondering if there is some way I can run some sort of batch command to enable to custom icons flags for folders and files with custom icons? Can this be done via automator or apple script.

I don't know if it can be done with Automator. I think it can be done with AppleScript or a shell script. I'm afraid I can't help you with the script, but I can suggest the outline.

First, you need to install SetFile (which comes with Xcode). The script would find all files named "Icon\r" (where \r stands for U+000D or carriage return control character). Then go through the found list and test each item's parent folder for the custom icon flag, using mdls. If kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon=0 (ie, the folder does have the hidden Icon\r file, but doesn't have the custom icon flag), the script uses SetFile to set it, as described in the text you quoted.

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