[nebben123]

This has been a problem with OS X for as long as I can remember. Still not fixed in Panther.

A simple example:

If I have a folder containing 3 files, which are 1GB each and do "Get Info" it will show the folder size to be 3GB.

Now, if I delete one of those files, so that 2GB is left in the folder and do "Get Info" on the folder again, it will still say 3GB.

This drives me nuts!!!

I have tried closing windows, re-indexing the folder, moving the folder, and it still shows the wrong size information.

Is there any way to force it to look at the folder again to determine what size files it contains? The finder seems really bad at updating file status and information... come on Apple, it's 2003! Get with the program.

[Macfreak7]

I just tried this with two files. I deleted one, and then did a get info for the original folder and it shows the correct size before and after.

Want to elaborate some more?

[nebben123]

Originally posted by Macfreak7:
I just tried this with two files. I deleted one, and then did a get info for the original folder and it shows the correct size before and after.

Want to elaborate some more?

I haven't been able to nail it down. It doesn't seem to happen all the time, but it happens a lot. I've tried repairing permissions, quitting all applications... the only way I can get it to show correct info is if I restart... because it seems like for whatever reason, the Finder is caching the info, and not going back to update it when the folder has changed.

*sigh*

If only there was a "refresh" button like in Windows.

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by nebben123:
If only there was a "refresh" button like in Windows.

Use the Terminal to check was Mr. Unix says next time the Finder acts up.

Type (with a space after):
du -h

Then drag your folder to the Terminal window and hit enter.

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by [APi]TheMan:
Use the Terminal to check was Mr. Unix says next time the Finder acts up.

Type (with a space after):
du -h

Then drag your folder to the Terminal window and hit enter.

I think you mean du -H (that is, capital H). -h isn't a legal option for du.

Also, du -H displays the number of 512-byte blocks a file occupies. Most people are used to thinking in kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes, so seeing that a 2 MB file has a size of 4096 might confuse some people.

[redwood]

Yep, the prefered way for some is:

du -ks .

you don't have to look at a bunch of files scroll by and you get a nice # after it goes through the director(ies).

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
I think you mean du -H (that is, capital H). -h isn't a legal option for du.

from man pages

usage: du [-H | -L | -P] [-a | -s | -d depth] [-c] [-h | -k] [-x] [-I mask] [file ...]

-h "Human-readable" output. Use unit suffixes: Byte, Kilobyte,
Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte and Petabyte

I think I see a -h in there. Works for me.

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
I think you mean du -H (that is, capital H). -h isn't a legal option for du.

Also, du -H displays the number of 512-byte blocks a file occupies. Most people are used to thinking in kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes, so seeing that a 2 MB file has a size of 4096 might confuse some people.

Oh contraire:

Code:
[aorth@ssku225-100-c: ~]$ du -h /Users/aorth/Desktop/woohoo 
1.9G    /Users/aorth/Desktop/woohoo

But I forgot that I have coreutils 5.0 installed so my du is an enhanced version. Oops.

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by [APi]TheMan:
Oh contraire:

Code:
[aorth@ssku225-100-c: ~]$ du -h /Users/aorth/Desktop/woohoo 
1.9G    /Users/aorth/Desktop/woohoo

But I forgot that I have coreutils 5.0 installed so my du is an enhanced version. Oops.

Ok, so I get the same results. coreutils 5.0? I didn't install that. Forgive my oldtimers disease, is that part of CHUD?

When I do a Get Info, and move contents out of the folder, the Get Info window does not update. I see another one of those ' I wish the Finder was polling' thread coming. One more example of where it can be used.

It would be really useful here. However, that is not the original poster's problem. It works on all of my Macs. It is not Panther.

What does suck is how all of these damned animated GIFs slows down Safari when editing a post.

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by SMacTech:
Ok, so I get the same results. coreutils 5.0? I didn't install that. Forgive my oldtimers disease, is that part of CHUD?

What does suck is how all of these damned animated GIFs slows down Safari when editing a post.

I was under the impression that coreutils 5.0 gave that enhanced functionality. I was trying to get a more precise answer for you guys but it appears that du has no --version, -v, or anything that gives information on the version. Not even the man page. The coreutils version of ls outputs: "ls (coreutils) 5.0"

I think I was misunderstanding what coreutils' du added.

I don't know if coreutils is part of CHUD.

Originally posted by SMacTech:
What does suck is how all of these damned animated GIFs slows down Safari when editing a post.

Agreed. I was just noticing that.

[Landos Mustache]

Try it with an inspector window in the Finder and see if it still happens.

[neilw]

Interesting, the inspector window seems to be much more responsive. Good to know; I've also had the non-updating Get Info window problem.

Even more interesting, when the Inspector window is open, it will cause the Get Info window to stay updated as well.

This does not seem to solve the little problem I've had, though, where I'm trying to monitor a file that's being transferred onto my machine. There doesn't seem to be anything, Inspector included, that'll update in real time. At least, with Inspector, I can select a different file, then go back to the original, and get a new set of values. The alternative is the command line.

On the downside, I've just found that the Inspector is flaky. Sometimes it seems to go away and won't come back, although it will eventually reappear unexpectedly. Whatever.