Lesson 16: Use Metadata, Spotlight, and Siri Flashcards
• Describe how macOS stores and uses file metadata. • Use metadata such as tags and comments to organize your files. • Use Spotlight and Siri to search for local and Internet resources.
What’s file system metadata?
What are some examples?
Metadata is information stored outside of a file or folder.
It provides additional information about files and folders.
Examples include file flags, extended file attributes, and permissions.
What are some of the common file flags used by macOS Big Sur?
Common file flags include the locked flag, which locks files from changes, and the hidden flag, which hides the item in the Finder.
See: man chflags
What are file system tags?
Where can you find tags in the user interface?
File system tags are a type of metadata that allows you to quickly assign keywords, or “tags,” to any item.
A user can customize the tag names and colors and can create multiple tags for a single file.
You can find file system tags in the Finder sidebar, Spotlight search, and any Open or Save document dialogs.
How does the Spotlight search service use metadata?
The Spotlight search service creates index databases of file system metadata so that it can perform normally time-intensive searches almost instantly.
Where does Spotlight store its metadata index databases and its plug-ins?
Spotlight metadata index databases are stored at the root of every volume in a /.Spotlight-V100 folder. For your startup volume, the folder is /private/var/db/Spotlight-V100.
However, a legacy FileVault user’s database is stored in the user’s encrypted home folder.
Also, the Mail app maintains its own database in each user’s home folder at ~/Library/Mail/V8/MailData/Envelope Index.
Spotlight plug-ins can be located in any of the Library folders in a folder named Spotlight.
What are some privacy and security concerns with Spotlight?
Although Spotlight indexes file and folder permissions, other users can search the contents of locally attached non-system volumes when ownership is ignored on those volumes.
How should you resolve an issue where a Spotlight search doesn’t find the correct items?
If you experience issues with local file searching, you can force Spotlight to rebuild the index databases by deleting them and restarting your Mac or by managing the Spotlight preferences.
How can you ensure that Siri doesn’t send audio recordings to Apple?
You can prevent Siri from sending audio to Apple by disabling Siri from Siri preferences.
