After a search of the forum I found some (very) old discussions about supporting Alternate Data Streams (ADS), but usually wrapped up in topics about NTFS permissions or such.
I run a prepress operation which mixes Windows servers and Mac OSX machines. Apple's AFP resource forks and other file metatdata, is handled in the Windows server world (using Microsoft's Services for MacIntosh, or Group Logic's ExtremeZ-IP) with ADS. Therefore this topic is of great interest to me, and anyone operating a mixed platform environment.
I have found that Windows Explorer will respect the Alternate Data Streams properly, allowing copying files and folders between local and network drives without a problem. I was shocked to discover DOpus didn't support complete Windows data copy functionality (at least not as complete as Windows Explorer itself). Other file management programs also fully support ADS, such as WinRAR, and RoboCopy, but as far as I can tell, DOpus does not.
I've played with all off the Copy Settings in the DOpus preference panel without success. DOpus apparently the Alternate Data Streams of all files and folders during a copy operation, which renders all files copied by DOpus to be unusable on the Macs afterward. This is a serious problem in the prepress world, as I'd expect any other situation where this well documented part of the file system is required.
Am I missing something, and this is easily fixed by changing a setting somewhere?
If DOpus truly doesn't support ADS, is there any plan to do so within DOpus?
If there is a plan to do so, a mechanism to display the ADS information would also be helpful.
There is an option in -> prefs -> file operations -> file copy -> preserve NTFS properties, or something similar. Maybe checking that box will allow you to copy those alternate streams.
I assume the "Copy NTFS file properties" is the setting you mentioned. Neither that setting, nor any other setting found in this section seems to enable support for copying Alternate Data Streams.
If one of these settings is supposed to do this, it doesn't appear to work on any of the 3 machines on which I have DOpus installed.
Hopefully there is something else that can be set to make this work, or hopefully ADS support is in the works.
The "Copy NTFS file properties" option copies a single ADS (\005SummaryInformation) that Windows uses to store file metadata. There's currently no option for copying arbitrary AD streams. We can certainly look at adding this in the future but until now no one has ever asked for this feature that I remember. Exactly what do you need it to do?
All I need it to do is exactly what Windows Explorer does. Copy all elements of folders/files, including alternate data streams.
My first post in this thread illustrates one use, Mac multiplatform environments require this function. But There are others. I don't beleive I am the first to request this, as I found a couple older threads dating back to 2007 discussing this as well.
In summary, I think DOpus is worlds above using Windows Explorer. I couldn't think about using a Windows machine without it, and it makes using a Mac painful without it. But I do believe DOpus should technically do at least as much as Windows Explorer. In this case it should copy everything in the file system structure. I can send you sample information about this issue if it will help.
Thank you for listening, for considering adding this function, and for such a great product.
@PRGeno: While Jon and Greg from GPSoft frequently post here on the forums, it is in fact a "user-run" community (Steve and Leo are enthusiastic supporters and friends of GPSoft)... it may be that while there have been a few posts here related to ADS support, that nobody ever made an official feature request...
You can do so through the GPSoftware Support form link in my signature, and by selecting a Support Issue: type of 'Program Suggestion'.
And yeah - seems to be pretty common for mixed Win/MAC environments to make use of ADS... Came across such a customer scenario not to long ago - they used Final Cut Pro in their Video editing environment, which seemed to be storing some meta-data in ADS that was important for their workgroup collaboration...
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction to make an official feature request. I should have done that fro mthe beginning, but I wasn't sure if I was just missing a setting to support the function. now that I know it isn't in there, I'll make the formal request.
As far as ADS in mixed Mac/PC environments, it's not only common, it in every mixed system. Windows servers store the Mac world's basic Type & Creator, as well as other meta data in ADS. Also, all Mac Postscript files store the actual font itself in an ADS stream, with the visible file shows up as empty on the PC side. So this is a critical issue in all mixed environments.
That being said, a more basic reason for having this function in DOpus is that Windows Explorer supports it. I'd think DOpus, being a file manager replacement for Windows, should support at least everything Windows Explorer supports, especially when it comes to something as basic as copying folders and files.
Thank you for your post, and pointing me in the right direction for getting the feature request logged.
Is this a new Preference item with new functionality, or is it a renamed version of the old Preference item called "Copy NTFS file properties (comments, keywords, etc)"? If it is the same as that old preferences with a new name, then that doesn't maintain ADS items during the copy.
I'm sure I'll be upgrading to 10.x anyway, and will be able to test it out for myself, but it would be nice to know ADS was intentionally addressed in this release but just didn't make it into the release notes.
Well that is somewhat disappointing. Emails directly to me from Dr. Perry about 18 months ago seemed to indicate this functionality was likely to be added in the next version. I would think something Windows Explorer does without an issue would be something DOpus should do also. It is pretty critical for my purposes.
Maybe it has a chance to be in the next update.
I think it makes sense for me to wait to upgrade all of my licenses to 10 until I see what direction this goes.
Its a workaround I know, but setting up buttons to use teracopy to copy/move is quite easy. If teracopy does support ADS (and its not an area I know anything about) perhaps you could set those up and use them instead until it works out of the box.
Thanks for the advice. I use a script with Robocopy now.
I think makes sense to expect DOpus, as the premier Windows file management tool, to handle a very basic file management task, which Windows Explorer, XCopy, and Robocopy all handle. I have a hard time understanding how DOpus cannot copy a file in its entirety, which would include all of the data streams that make up that file, as part of its base functionality.
I really hope this limitation is rectified some day (soon).
Leo, here's how to easily create ADS files to test with:
Start cmd.exe.
Type (or just copy it into a batchfile) this at the commandline (it should apparently work in Windows 95 to Windows 7 I think, as long as it's a ntfs partition):
echo This is the unnamed stream>afile.txt
echo This is stream 1 >afile.txt:stream1
echo This is stream 2 >afile.txt:stream2
echo This is stream 3 >afile.txt:stream3
echo This is stream 4 >afile.txt:stream4
Now you have a file named afile.txt with 4 additional streams.
However, as said, DO doesn't support copying them (only the unnamed stream is copied), no matter which options.
To easily verify if streams are actually present, or to scan for files with those get Streams from SysInternals/microsoft.
If you decide to support ADS, please make it an option, and not something it does by default because it obviously takes extra time to
copy (and those aren't used very much mostly because it is unknown to users I guess), and an identical copy w/streams requires the
target drive to be ntfs too, otherwise it's the main file (unnamed stream) only.
I'm back again just wondering if ADS Alternate Data Streams is ever going to be supported. We are up to 10.0.3 + and it seems to still be missing. Here is hoping 10.0.4 brings some love to mixed Windows / Apple shops like our prepress operation.
Don't be diappointed and don't misunderstand, but I can imagine that GP works on other features wanted from more than 1-2 users. I also wait for access drives by label (not letter), which lots of users would like to see. Or some modifications on copy queue (esp. this tiny font).