Fix a Finder glitch when updating apps by drag and drop

Dec 23, '11 07:30:00AM

Contributed by: llee

If you ever try to update an application by locating the application package then dragging the updated version to the same window, you are prompted to confirm that you want to replace the one that already exists. When doing so, you may sometimes receive an error message about the open status of the application's info.plist file.

This may only apply in cases such as mine for which too many applications exist on the boot volume for them to all be stored in the Applications folder.

Presumably, the .plist file was opened in order to help you find the application package. The error message usually stops appearing after several tries to drag and drop the new application package, but if you don't want to wait, try the following.

Open a Terminal window, type lsof, and then press return. That apparently updates the Finder's recognition of what needs to be protected and what doesn't, and should allow you to successfully replace the application package on the next attempt to drag and drop. You can just close the Terminal after you're done updating.

[crarko adds: The command lsof gives a list of the files that are currently open by all active processes. Why it would have the side effect mentioned in the hint is a bit of a mystery.]

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Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20111222131902257