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Leopard Reference Library: Darwin
Mac OS X provides several low-level programming interfaces for working with files and directories, such as the kqueue API. In addition to providing file access and statistics, these interfaces can also provide notification when a file is modified or deleted.

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Leopard Technology Series for Developers: OS Foundations (HTML)
Leopard Overview article on system-level updates.
Articles 2007-09-04
File System Overview (HTML) (PDF)
Conceptual information and guidelines describing the structure and usage of the Mac OS X file system.
Guides 2008-07-11
File System Events Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how applications can detect changes in the file system.
Guides 2008-03-11
FSEvents Reference (HTML)
Describes the API used to provide lightweight notification of directory changes in a file-system subtree.
Reference 2008-04-08
FSMegaInfo (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Prints information about various file system objects; helpful when debugging VFS plug-ins.
Sample Code 2008-02-25
EmptyFS (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
A very simple VFS plug-in that mounts a volume that is completely empty.
Sample Code 2006-11-09
MFSLives (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Sample VFS plug-in for the Macintosh File System (MFS) volume format, as used on 400KB floppies.
Sample Code 2006-11-09
VolumeToBSDNode (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to iterate across all mounted volumes and retrieve their BSD node names.
Sample Code 2006-10-16
Watcher (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Uses FSEvents to monitor a directory hierarchy to keep track of its total size
Sample Code 2006-08-04
filesystem_examples (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Collection of command line tools illustrating filesystem features.
Sample Code 2006-01-10
FileNotification (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
kqueue file notification introduced in 10.3. Notification API to detect file system modifications.
Sample Code 2005-10-27
MoreIsBetter (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Library providing indispensable wrapers and workarounds for many areas of Mac OS programming.
Sample Code 2003-10-27
Secrets of the GPT (HTML)
TN2166: Describes the new partition map format used by Intel-based Macintosh computers.
Technical Notes 2006-11-06
Developing for VFS (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1242: Describes Apple's position on developing external file systems (VFS plug-ins) for Mac OS X.
Technical Q&As 2006-12-22
Volumes Not Showing Up On The Desktop (HTML)
QA1491: Describes how to make a volume from a third party VFS plug-in show up on the desktop.
Technical Q&As 2006-12-20
Integrating With The Connect to Server Dialog (HTML)
QA1387: Describes problems integrating a third-party network file system with Finder's Connect to Server dialog.
Technical Q&As 2006-11-16
Directories Appear as Volume Aliases (HTML)
QA1351: Discusses how VFS plug-ins should handle device numbers to ensure compatibility with Carbon applications.
Technical Q&As 2004-05-25
Text Encodings in VFS (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1173: How to handle text encodings correctly when writing a file system (VFS) plug-in for Mac OS X.
Technical Q&As 2003-02-10
File Manager Text Encoding Hints (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1223: How to use Text Encoding Hints.
Technical Q&As 2003-01-20
The "/.vol" directory and "volfs" (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1113: Describes how the Carbon File Manager interacts with BSD via "volfs" and the "/.vol" directory.
Technical Q&As 2002-02-14