[Pythonmac-SIG] MacOS 10.4: getxattr() etc. for Python?

[Christopher Petrilli]

On 5/4/05, Michael Hudson <mwh at python.net> wrote:
> Wolfgang Keller <wolfgang.keller.nospam at gmx.de> writes:
> 
> [xattr & co]
> > Dumb  question: How about integrating it "officially" in the Macpython
> > distribution, so that all file objects on MacOS X.4 automatically have
> > an xattr dict?
> 
> Are these functions in any way standard (eg. does FreeBSD have them?).
> If so, they should probably be detected at configure time.

I don't believe FreeBSD has them, but the SELinux project has them for
ACLs, though they are poorly documented.  They may also exist in other
file systems, such as ReiserFS.  Also, the concept exists on Solaris
as well.

The trick is that on Solaris and SELinux they're purely an ACL issue
as far as I know. I believe Tiger is the first OS to fully deploy an
abstract meta-data infrastructure in the FS. While ReiserFS has it,
from what I'm told, it's not widely deployed.
 
> Another question is if empty xattr dicts should appear on platforms
> with no support for them.

Yes, they should appear empty, and I would imagine, throw an Exception
on any attempt to set them.

Chris
-- 
| Christopher Petrilli
| petrilli at gmail.com