Sync Mac OS (HFS+) Extended Attributes

[tsunagari]

Labels (previus mac os versions) or tags (Mac os Mavericks) shoud be sync so all computer can retrive files by labels or tags.

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[matteocorti]

Actually all the extended attributes (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_file_attributes) should be considered not only tags ....

[jf87]

This seems still an issue? Is this going to be fixed?

[danimo]

@jf87 It's a new feature, not a bug, so there is nothing to fix. The issue is not assigned and not scheduled, so unless noone picks it up, there is no fixed date for this. It shouldn't be too hard, but we (the main developers) unfortunately have other priorities right now.

[jf87]

@danimo I think the question of feature or bug depends on one's viewpoint ;-) I personally can't consider owncloud as sync solution for my documents if metadata is not synced as well and I guess I am not the only one like that. I might look into it if I find some time during the summer.

[Rene33]

I agree with jf87. Syncing the extended attribute would be a great feature as some software (like Ciel an accounting software) doesn't work without them.

[sehlen]

I am interested in this feature as well and I might do some work on it. I had a look at the codebase but since I didn't find any overview documents on how the sync client works, I found it hard to get started. I can see two possible solutions:

1. probably super simple but might not be wanted and might not scale very well: you can use xattr to write metadata to a file:

  xattr -lrx . > .metadata

then sync the file and use xattr to set the metadata again.
(You have to extract the values from the file/db and set it file-by-file).
One could have one central file/db or one per directory or so.
A diff would reveal the metadata changes that have to be applied.

1. probably better: set the extended attributes in the same way as the other metadata directly while syncing, if possible.
2. A combination of the two is also possible, I guess. E.g. use the xattr mechanism but use the csync db that already exists (if that's what's currently being used to record the sync state).

Can someone of the developers maybe give me short intro how the repo is structured and how the sync client works to get me started? Did I miss any documentation that is already available?

[moscicki]

This is an important feature, especially for Mac users.

Could we please start by specifying the protocol extensions needed for this feature?
C.f. #3199

[brunoc68]

I am migrating a Mac user from Dropbox to Owncloud.
Actually we noticed this issue ; if not solved, we will have to stay with Dropbox.
Very simple : some software - like Sage in our case - uses extended attributes with their files. If these attributes are not kept, the files are synchronized but become totally unusable with the software.
Concerning the debate bug vs feature, either Owncloud supports MacOS users and it is a bug, or it is a feature and you can not continue to state that Owncloud supports MacOS.

[fablarosa]

Brunoc68 is definitely right, ownCloud should sync extended attributes.

[adroste]

+1, but i think its never going to happen since the issue was opened 4 years ago, a shame

[guruz]

FYI this is what Dropbox syncs: https://help.dropbox.com/en-us/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/extended-attributes

[vkoechli]

Any news on this? I use owncloud to sync directories between my Macs and this destroys, in addition to any custom icons, all Finder aliases, as the alias property is stored in com.apple.FinderInfo extended attribute. So I figure syncing extended attributes would be really important for a lot of users.