TITLE
    Get Info Command: File Size Differences (8/93)
Article ID:
Created:
Modified: 		13050
8/24/93
08/26/93
TOPIC

    Article Created: 25 August 1993


    I used the Get Info command on each folder on my hard drive to find
    the size, and added those numbers up. Then I used the Get Info
    command on my hard drive icon to find the size. The size difference
    is huge -- almost 30MB.

    Why is this?

DISCUSSION


    It isn't surprising to see a large size difference between the hard
    drive itself and the total folders on the hard drive.  Here are
    factors that explain the difference:

    * The invisible files (such as AppleShare PDS, Desktop DB, Desktop DF,
    and Desktop Folder) aren't counted in Get Info size for folders.

    * The size shown in the Get Info box for folders is the actual file
    size, which includes data and resource forks.  For example, a text
    file which contains only 30 bytes, showed Size: 3K on disk (480
    bytes used); 480 bytes (30 bytes for data, 450 bytes for resource)
    will be added to the folder Get Info size, and 3K will be added to
    the hard drive Get Info size.

    Since the hard disk is a block device, any file created must reside
    on the block factor boundary -- 3K, in this case, is the size that
    the disk drive allocates for this file.  This accounts for a lot of
    differences, especially if you have a lot of small files on the
    drive.


Document Information
Product Area: Mac OS System Software
Category: General OS
Sub Category: General Topics

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