File Appears in Terminal "ls" but not Finder

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Level 1

24 points

File Appears in Terminal "ls" but not Finder

I'm using some program designed for Linux machines that opens a pipe at a certain directory that I am supposed to open with VLC. I can "cd" into the directory with Terminal then "ls", and I see the file (and can use "rm" on it), but it doesn't appear in Finder. I tried giving it the non-hidden flag and tried showing invisibles in Finder. It won't appear no matter what I do. If I try to copy it with "cp" to another path, the command hangs forever, presumably because the file is constantly being edited by the program.

VLC can also see it if I'm using the old version that lets you type in the path. But I need to use the new VLC, which only allows me to open files using the standard Mac file browsing window that resembles Finder. The file browsing window can't see the file either. Any idea how to make this file visible?

Posted on Apr 24, 2014 8:51 PM

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Answer 1

bluepaua

Level 2

197 points

Apr 25, 2014 1:44 AM in response to AlecZ64

A pipe is a special file which is not displayed by Finder.

Do the following to access a pipe from VLC:

From the File menu, go to Open Network ...

Type in the URL of the pipe

For example, if the pipe is /tmp/fifo, then type in the following URL:

file:///tmp/fifo

The usual URL escape rules apply. For example, if the filename of the pipe contains embedded spaces, you will need to replace each space with a %20

e.g.

Filename = "/tmp/x y"

URL = file:///tmp/x%20y

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Answer 2

AlecZ64 Author

Level 1

24 points

Apr 27, 2014 7:44 PM in response to bluepaua

Thanks. That clears it up. I find it strange that Finder cannot see FIFO pipes, even with invisibles shown.

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