Program for unhiding /usr/local/bin/ on a Mac.

[Albatross]

I have decided to release this little piece of code to help everyone who knows their way around GNU/Linux but is working on a Mac (like me!), but is also no expert at using Mac OS X.

This program unhides and can also rehide every single hidden file on Mac OS X, which are all system files without any known exception.

How is this useful? Say you wanted to add a command to your repository of bash commands. On a GNU/Linux system, you'd just add it to the directory /usr/local/bin, as root or using sudo. On Mac OS X, you'd just add it to the directory /usr/local/bin. However, this directory doesn't exist? Yes it does, it is only hidden, along with many other critical system files. To verify this, open up Terminal and type /usr/local/bin into the command line. As you see, this is a directory. It is only hidden.

Unhiding all the hidden directories on a Mac is simple. Just type defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE into the command line, and restart Finder (can be done in the command line via killall Finder). However, that's a bit too much typing for me to do on a regular basis, especially considering how often I switch between files visible and files hidden (those system files are EVERYWHERE).

So, here's my program. It has two very highly intuitive options (named "show" and "hide") for showing and hiding system files. Feel free to use and abuse it however you want. It's well commented, I hope to claim, and even addresses how to properly use argv[] (I see threads all the time where people complain about argv[int] == "string" not working). Copy and paste the code into a c++ file, and compile it using g++, and enjoy your joyride around the Unix core of Mac OS X!

-Albatross

/*
 Syshider 1.0
 
 This is a nifty little program that hides/unhides all the hidden files on 
 a Macintosh system. This program is also Mac OS X specific: it will NOT 
 run on Windows or Linux. That said, it was created specifically for Mac OS 
 X because there is no simple and direct way to undo the file hiding.
 
 Be very careful about modifying the files after you've unhidden them. They
 were hidden for a reason.
 */
 
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string>

int main (int argc, char *argv[]) 
{
        if(!system(NULL))
        {
           return -1;
           //Just to ensure that there is a shell.
        }
	/*
	The following bit is required. If you omit it and the user doesn't input
	an argument, you will get back a segmentation fault or some related 
	error, and it will not look good at all.
	*/
	//Check if there is nothing stored at argv[1]
	if (argv[1] == NULL) 
	{
		printf("\nUsage: syshider <show|hide>\n");
		return 1;
	}
    if ("show" == std::string(argv[1]))
	/*
	Good exercise in argv usage. argv[int] == "string" will always return 
	false. It will always return false because you are not comparing 
	contents, you are comparing locations. To compare contents, use:
	 
	  std::string(argv[1]) == "string"
	 
	or maybe
	 
	  !strcmp(argv[1],"string")
	 
	However that last one never worked for me. Segmentation fault, always.
	 */
	{
		printf("\nShowing system files...\n");
		//Modify the system-wide defaults to show hidden files.
		system("defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE");
		//Restart Finder. No, it doesn't kill it permanently.
		system("killall Finder");
		printf("System files visible. Be careful.\n\n");
		return 0;
	}
	else if ("hide" == std::string(argv[1]))
	{
		printf("\nHiding system files...\n");
		//Modify the system-wide defaults to hide hidden files.
		system("defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE");
		//Restart Finder.
		system("killall Finder");
		printf("System files hidden.\n\n");
		return 0;
	
	}
	else 
	{
		//You typed in something else than "show" or "hide" as the first
		//argument. Time for a refresher?
		printf("\nUsage: syshider <show|hide>\n\n");
		return 1;
	}
	return 2;
	//I have no idea what happened if the program returned 2, but...
}

Enjoy!

[kbw]

If all you're doing is running some command line, why not use a shell script?

You don't validate your input.

Shouldn't you use sudo on the command line? I'm sure killall needs it.

The commands themselves are useful. Thanks.

[Albatross]

Thank you for the questions.

I like C++ so much more than bash, sh, or zsh scripting language, though the standard library does have its limits. And this IS a C++ forum, so...

Could you explain what you mean when you say that I don't validate my input?

I didn't need sudo when using killall. Actually, I find that all admin accounts on Snow Leopard run as root, something I've been trying to disable for some time.

-Albatross

[kbw]

What happens if you call your program with no parameters? It's indeterminate.

[Albatross]

Ah, if you call the program with no parameters, then argv[1] == NULL will be true. There is no first parameter, therefore, argv[1] cannot point to anything. Of course, if I left that if out, and ran it without any parameters, I'd get something along the lines of "Segmentation fault". Don't remember the exact error that was returned, but...

-Albatross

EDIT: Got this when I left the second if-then block out and run the program with no arguments:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::logic_error'
  what():  basic_string::_S_construct NULL not valid
Abort trap