site_archiver@lists.apple.com Delivered-To: darwin-dev@lists.apple.com Can anyone tell me how it works? Or could anyone recommend an efficient method for determining when a file in a given directory or any of its subdirectories changes, for a potentially large number of subdirectories? As a general rule, there isn't one. You're making a common mistake in associating "file" with "location". = Mike _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Darwin-dev mailing list (Darwin-dev@lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/darwin-dev/site_archiver%40lists.appl... File paths are indices used to locate files. There is no guarantee that there is exactly one index for a file, nor is there any way to efficiently enumerate all of the indices for a file. Once a file is open, there is a direct relationship between the descriptor and the vnode that does not require the existence of an index; this is how you can delete open files. This means that when a file is modified, there's no guarantee that you know "where" the file may be looked up; nor where it was looked up by whomever is modifying it; nor where the user "thinks" it is. These may be three different locations. Spotlight makes a number of specific assumptions about the notifications that it receives, and it is interested in a view of files that sounds very different from yours. Without knowing a lot more about you application, I can't help you much more; perhaps you could describe what you're trying to achieve? This email sent to site_archiver@lists.apple.com