Monday's Mac Gadget by John F. Braun Take Control of Your Files, Buddy! November 29th, 1999 File Buddy 5.3.2 ($39.95 Trialware) SkyTag Software Sure, the Mac OS provide an intuitive way of organizing and interacting with your files in a graphical fashion. However, there are times when the Mac OS just doesn't cut it. You may want to create a customized list view, rename a group of files, or do some housekeeping to remove unnecessary files that have accumulated over time. File Buddy can do this, and more... File Buddy offers four major areas of functionality. The first is enhanced file operations. There is an enhanced File Info box, where you can view and edit all sorts of file info. You can also perform file operations such as copy, move and delete, either from the File menu or the new Info box. A compare feature will tell you if two files are the same. Second is a find feature, similar to that of the new Sherlock. Although the search options basically match those which can be selected with the Sherlock Find, this version has a Find Similar option. Rather than filling out all of that search criteria, just select a file using Find Similar, and the search criteria for that file will be filled in. Next is a customized List file view. You can select exactly which documents and folders appear in this customized view. Plus, this view window contains a handy row of icons across the top, which can be used for opening, printing, displaying information about, and otherwise manipulating the selected files and folders. Last, File Buddy contains a wealth of cleanup features. Over time, everyone accumulates files in the dark corners of their file system. Your drive may be cluttered with duplicates, invisible files, empty files, and preferences that no longer have an associated application. File Buddy will allow you to search for and remove these culprits, making sure you're not storing files that will never be used. File Buddy helps extend the functionality of current Mac OS features, as well as introducing some features which should have been included in the first place. Have any other gadgets you'd like us to look at? Let John know via email, or share it with the rest of us on the Mac Gadget Forum. Useful Link File Buddy Home Page New Improved File Info Window Find with Find Similar Fill-Out Feature Customized List View Monday's Mac Gadget is here to help you with those cool things that we all just have to have on our Macs. Shareware, Freeware, Postcardware, Emailware, and even commercial apps, Monday's Mac Gadget is here to help you find and use the best of these programs. John is a software engineer who works in the corporate R&D group of a Fortune 500 company, focusing on all aspects of communications technology. He has several degrees that claim he knows what he's doing when it comes to computers. After watching co-workers reinstall Windows, search for device drivers, and experience other horrors during the day, he's glad that he comes home to a Mac (compatible) computer. Have any comments, suggestions, or favorite Gadgets? Drop John a line at You can also Post Your Comments below. Current Monday's Mac Gadget Want to Supercharge Your Dock? Check Out Todos! - August 21st Worried About Your Mac Getting Jacked? Get JackSMS - June 12th Want iChat with Tabs? Try Chax! - April 3rd Visit Monday's Mac Gadget Archives for more great Mac Gadgets!