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

[Wolfgang Keller]

Hello,

>> > 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.

Basically _every_ "modern" file system has extended attributes.

> The trick is that on Solaris and SELinux they're purely an ACL issue
> as far as I know.

The  irony  is  that  it  seems  that  currently _no_ OS that supports
extended  attributes  allows  the  user  to actually use them. Because
there's no UI.

> I  believe  Tiger  is  the  first  OS  to  fully  deploy an abstract
> meta-data infrastructure in the FS.

Most definitely not. In fact MacOS X actually seems to be (one of) the
last OSes which supports user-definable extended attributes.

As  I've  been  told,  OS/400  had  even  a  real "filebase" including
relations  etc.  for  decades. VMS had EAs for decades as well. XFS is
probably  th  eoldest  unix  filesystem with EAs. OS/2's HPFS has them
since it existed etc...

BeOS  was/is  apparently the only OS that allowed end user to actually
use extended attributes. Through its "Tracker".

While  MacOS  X.4  doesn't  (provide  a  UI  to  user-defined extended
attributes). Still.

BTW:  How  many  years  after  Jobs generated all hype bubbles to drag
Amelio  away  from  Be,  hype bubbles which extremely ressembled those
that  MS  created around "Chicago" in order to FUD users and companies
away from OS/2...? It's been so long ago I can't even remember it.

>> 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.

Exactly.

And,  imho, the API (a dict) should be identical on all platforms that
support EAs, not just on MacOS X.

Best regards

Wolfgang Keller

-- 
P.S.: My From-address is correct