Strip metadata from files in Snow Leopard

Question

I found the command "mdls" which will show the metadata but I can't see how to delete it.

I want to get rid of the comments "kMDItemFinderComment", "kMDItemWhereFroms" from my files.

Is there a way to do this?

Mcchesney

Answer 1

I think you're looking for the xattr command, available in Terminal:

xattr -pr com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment /

that will print all the finder comments for all files on your boot volume. To delete, use the -d switch:

xattr -dr com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment /

You should test this out on a single file before running it in bulk.

usage: xattr [-l] [-r] [-v] [-x] file [file ...]
       xattr -p [-l] [-r] [-v] [-x] attr_name file [file ...]
       xattr -w [-r] [-v] [-x] attr_name attr_value file [file ...]
       xattr -d [-r] [-v] attr_name file [file ...]

The first form lists the names of all xattrs on the given file(s).
The second form (-p) prints the value of the xattr attr_name.
The third form (-w) sets the value of the xattr attr_name to the string attr_value.
The fourth form (-d) deletes the xattr attr_name.

options:
  -h: print this help
  -r: act recursively
  -l: print long format (attr_name: attr_value and hex output has offsets and
      ascii representation)
  -v: also print filename (automatic with -r and with multiple files)
  -x: attr_value is represented as a hex string for input and output

Aleksandrovsk

Oh wow, there is a way, didn’t think it was possible, thank you! Also, where did you get that MAN info? I tried to look for it before “man xattr” but all I get is "No manual entry for xattr" – Mcchesney

I would click on the tick, to accept this solution, but it keeps coming up with an error, so I guess you will have to wait 3 more days before getting the bounty :) – Mcchesney

That's not a man page, that's just xattr --help. I don't have a manpage for it either (snow leopard). That's a bummer about the bounty, if I understand correctly I'll only get half the bounty if time expires. Is there a support email for SO? – Aleksandrovsk

Oh ok, awesome, thanks. Looks like the tick worked today. Enjoy your bounty ) – Mcchesney

Answer 2

You can do this by:

xattr -d com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment <file>
xattr -d com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms <file>

Seems to work for me.

Fashion

Answer 3

The Spotlight comments are also stored in .DS_Store files. If you try adding a comment in Finder's information window and running xattr -d com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment, the comment will still be shown in Finder, but not by mdls -n kMDItemFinderComment. This would delete both of them:

find . -name .DS_Store -delete
xattr -dr com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment .

Siclari

I think that when you miss erasing the .DS_Store comment, then eventually spotlight will pick it up again, likely when another comment is added to a file in the same folder. – Mayorga