During the use of Manifest Maker at the ABC yesterday, we tried to run it on a Windows XP machine using an external NTFS disk that had been attached to a Mac running OSX.
When we selected the whole drive, Manifest Maker baulked at the hidden 'System Volume Information' directory, which it could not read (normal behaviour for windows to not allow access to that directory). This directory contains files that Linux can access, but would not warrant retention in the digital archive.
We then tried to select one of the sub-directories on the disk. Because the files had been copied with OSX, there were a couple of .DS_Store files and an invisible file for each of the 'real' files (eg File1.mov, .File1.mov)
It would be very useful if Manifest Maker could notice the invisible files/directories and either:
a) ignore them;
b) tell the user that there are invisible files in the chosen directory, and ignore them (after telling the user that they will be ignored, of course)
c) tell the user that there are invisible files in the chosen directory, and ask them if they want the invisible files included or excluded.
This is probably in order of complexity to code
Option a runs the risk that files are accidentally missed
Option b at least alerts the user that there are invisible files on the disk, which they may not have known
Option c should be the most user friendly, but it might cause complex decisions - how do you get the user to indicate that they want to include invisible file X, but ignore hidden directory 'system volume information'
Flagging invisible files will assist with the treatment of the nefarious Thumbs.db files that litter directories containing images. It will also combat the 'desktop.ini' files that Windows 7 scatters across the file system. I would think that the system volume information should always be ignored.
