Just a reminder that HFS+ support case sensitivity if you choose to enable it. And then it will get picky on you if you try to swap case unexpectedly.
OS X has an interesting take on case sensitivity. When you select "case sensitive", it becomes both "case sensitive" and "case-preferred". And iirc it prefers upper case. But not everything prefers. Testing for file existence for example does NOT prefer, it demands.
On a case-sensitive system, you can do the following dance:
create HELLO
edit HELLO
edit hello (also works, edits HELLO)
test for HELLO (found), hello (not found)
create hello (now you have HELLO and hello, HELLO will occur first in file listings)
test for HELLO (found), hello (also found)
edit hello again (but unlike before, this time you're editing hello, not HELLO)
edit Hello (and it will edit HELLO, not hello, because only HELLO starts with H)
Testing for existence requires exact case match. Everything else (iirc) prefers upper but will settle for lower. This causes weird problems when installing software not tested to run on case sensitive systems.
app start.
does preferences file exist? no.
create new Preferences file with default settings
save new settings
program runs and makes changes to prefs as user uses app.
app close
later...
app start.
does preferences file exist? no.
create new Preferences file with default settings
... where did my pref changes go?
of course this is the programmer's fault but easy mistake to make. You might also find you have both a Preferences and preferences file at the same time, causing additional weirdness. Occasionally you will run into software that will NOT work correctly on case sensitive HFS+ filesystems.
Last edited by Virtual1; 05/26/13 07:59 PM.