Get Info - Show URL Path of Downloaded Image

Works here. It's right under the Spotlight comments.

Hi Wesley, this issue drove me nuts in OS X for some time. It finally got sort of re-implemented awhile back, but in a rather useless form. If you expand the More Info section of the GetInfo you'll see the "Where from" listed. However it can't be copied. What I have taken to doing, when I remember, is to control click on the file in the Downloads list, select Copy Address, then click the magnifying glass next to the file to bring it up in the Finder, hit command-i to bring up the GetInfo window, and then paste into Spotlight Comments. That CAN be copied to use elsewhere. On those occasions when I forget to do this, and I want to be able to copy the address of something I downloaded, I either use the Metadata Examiner that Mark Douma wrote (there are others, do a search at VersionTracker), or, if I have Terminal open I type:

mdls

a space, then drag the file into the Terminal and drop it and hit Return. The last entry in the metadata list that appears is the URL, and it can be copied and pasted as needed.
Francine


Francine
Schwieder

Whether or not the URL of an image is added to Spotlight Comments when you either:

• download the image to disk; or

• drag-and-drop the image from a Web page to disk or your desktop;

is a function of the Web browser. Some browsers add the URL to Spotlight Comments, others do not.

For example, OmniWeb, my preferred browser, adds the URL to Spotlight Comments in either case above.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

Yes. For example, I just downloaded the VLC app, using Safari. I selected the dmg file, entered CMD+I, and under Spotlight comments found:

http://downloads.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/0.8.4a/macosx/vlc-0.8.4a.dmg

Note, for Francine: the posted URL was copied and pasted from the Spotlight Comments window. There's no Where under More Info on my GET INFO window.

Hi baltwo,
Hmm. I use Safari more often than not, and when I download something the location only appears in the "Where from" part of the More Info section of the GetInfo window. The only way it gets into the Spotlight Comments field is if I put it there. I took a cruise thru Safari prefs and the Debug menu to see if there is anything I missed, but didn't spot anything. I wonder if you have used something like Safari Enhancer to add this ability? Out of curiosity I downloaded something in Firefox and immediately did a GetInfo on the file. Firefox doesn't put any note about the source in either the Comments field nor the More Info section. Odd--it looks like Safari is putting the info one place for me and a different place for you. Evidently Wesley's experience is the same as mine. I think you did something clever to Safari somewhere along the line....
Francine


Francine
Schwieder

Nope. I've never used any of those 3rd-party Safari add-ons. I just checked the last five downloaded dmg files and the URLs show up under Spotlight comments. Also, there isn't any "Where from" under More Info. I only see that with non-dmg files. Finally, I don't use any other browsers except IE for testing Safari problems.

For anyone who is wondering what in the world we're on about, I clicked the link baltwo had in an earlier post (I'm using Safari), when the file downloaded I did a GetInfo command and took a screen shot of it. I put it up here:

http://homepage.mac.com/francines/.Public/GetInfoURL.jpg

As you can see the Comments field is quite empty, the More Info section has the URL of the site the dmg was downloaded from, plus the URL of the link I used to get there. I am completely mystified as to why Safari behaves one way for me and another for baltwo. Neither of us have used Safari Enhancer. I did enable the Debug menu, using the Terminal command. Have no idea whether that makes any difference or not. "It is a puzzlement."
Francine


Francine
Schwieder