The Tracker - Get Info (incl. Permissions)

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OpenTracker.sf.net offers free, open-source versions of Tracker and Deskbar, the two applications that power the BeOS desktop.

The Tracker - Get Info (incl. Permissions)

The Tracker windows give you a lot of information about files and folders, but you will get a lot more information by bringing up the Get Info panel for a file (or folder). This is done by right-clicking on the item in a Tracker window (or on the desktop) and choosing Get Info from the context menu that pops up, or by selecting the item and pressing Alt+i.

The Get Info panel, provides information about the item, and also lets you do the following:

- Double-click the icon that's displayed in the panel to open (or launch) the file or folder.
- Right-click the icon to pop open a context menu. The contents of the menu depends on the item's type: All menus let you open and rename the item; the folder context menu also provides a submenu that lets you navigate the folder; the volume menu lets you unmount the volume, and so on.
- Drag and drop the icon into a different folder or onto the desktop; this moves the item (or copies it if the destintation is on a different volume). If you're getting info on a folder or volume, you can also drop files (and folders) onto the folder or volume icon that's displayed in the panel. This moves or copies the dropped item into the dropped-on folder or volume.
- Click on the Path: field to open the folder the item lives in.
- If you're getting info on a file, the panel includes an Opens with: menu that lets you open the file with a non-default application.
- If you're getting info on a link, the Link to: field shows the link's target (the file or folder it's linked to). Double-click the Link to: field to open a Tracker window on the target's parent, with the target itself highlighted. You can reset the target through the Set new link target in the item's context menu.

Permissions
Every file and folder on the system is governed by a set of security-related properties. The Permissions relates to the Owner, Group and Other, and the permissions are Read, Write and Execute.

Both ownership and permissions are assigned from default values when a file or folder is created. The owner of the file or directory can later change this information if needed. If you are to open your computer remotely for others, you should be familiar with these properties, so that you can control who is allowed to access sensitive data.

Knowing a bit about permissions, will also make you understand why you might not be able to access data belonging to others.

Information about Permissions can also be accessed through the Terminal with the ls command and the option l (ls -l).

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