File Inspection
Unifyl provides powerful file inspection tools for examining file structure, verifying integrity, and viewing detailed metadata. These tools go beyond what Finder's "Get Info" offers, giving you deep visibility into file internals.
File X-Ray is Unifyl's deep file inspection tool. It analyzes a file's internal structure and presents it as a navigable metadata tree, revealing details that are normally hidden -- EXIF data in images, codec information in media files, TIFF tags, color profiles, and more.
- Menu: Tools > File X-Ray
-
Command Palette:
Cmd+Shift+P, type "File X-Ray" - Context menu: Right-click a file > "File X-Ray"
The X-Ray view opens as an independent floating panel with the filename in the header: "File X-Ray: example.jpg"
The default tab shows a hierarchical tree of metadata extracted from the file. Each node in the tree displays:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Icon | A system symbol icon representing the node type, with a category-specific color |
| Label | The metadata key name in monospaced font (e.g., "PixelWidth", "ColorModel") |
| Value | The metadata value in monospaced caption font, right-aligned and in secondary color |
The tree supports expand/collapse for nested metadata groups. Common top-level groups include:
- Image Info: Pixel dimensions, DPI, color space, bit depth, alpha channel
- EXIF: Camera model, exposure time, aperture, ISO, focal length, date taken, GPS
- TIFF: Orientation, compression, software, make/model
- JFIF: Version, density units, thumbnail dimensions
- ICC Profile: Color profile name, color space, rendering intent
- Video Track: Codec, frame rate, resolution, bit rate, duration
- Audio Track: Codec, sample rate, channels, bit depth, bit rate
- Container: Format name, duration, creation date
- Document Info: Title, author, creator, producer, creation/modification dates
- Page Info: Page count, page dimensions, media box
- Archive: Entry count, compression method, total uncompressed size
Switch to the "Hex Dump" tab to see a raw hex dump of the file's first bytes. This provides a quick look at the file header without opening the full Hex Editor. The hex dump uses the same three-column format (offset, hex bytes, ASCII) as the Hex Editor.
At the top-right of the X-Ray header, a capsule badge displays the file's magic description -- a human-readable identification of the file type based on its content (not just its extension). For example:
- "JPEG image data, JFIF standard"
- "PDF document, version 1.7"
- "Mach-O 64-bit executable arm64"
- "Zip archive data"
The metadata tree is populated by analyzing the file using Apple's framework APIs:
-
Images:
CGImageSourcewithCGImageSourceCopyPropertiesAtIndexextracts all EXIF, TIFF, IPTC, GPS, and ICC profile data -
PDFs:
PDFDocumentAPI extracts document attributes and page information -
Media files:
AVAssetprovides track information, codec details, and container metadata -
Archives: Unifyl's
ArchiveEnginereads archive headers for entry counts and compression info -
All files: Basic
URLResourceValuesprovides file system metadata (size, dates, permissions, type identifier)
Each metadata dictionary is recursively converted into XRayNode objects, which form the tree structure. Nodes have:
- A label (the key name)
- An optional value (the formatted metadata value)
- Optional children (for nested dictionaries)
- An icon and icon color based on the metadata category
The Checksum Verification tool computes cryptographic hash values for one or more files and optionally verifies them against a known hash.
- Select one or more files in the file list
- Menu: Tools > Checksum
- Context menu: Right-click selected files > "Checksum"
-
Command Palette:
Cmd+Shift+P, type "Checksum"
The checksum view opens as a floating panel (minimum 600x360 pixels).
Unifyl supports 7 checksum algorithms via the ChecksumEngine (in the UnifylCore package):
| Algorithm | Output Length | Speed | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRC32 | 8 hex chars | Fastest | Quick error detection, not cryptographic |
| MD5 | 32 hex chars | Fast | Legacy compatibility (not recommended for security) |
| SHA-1 | 40 hex chars | Fast | Legacy compatibility (deprecated for security) |
| SHA-256 | 64 hex chars | Medium | General-purpose integrity verification (default) |
| SHA-512 | 128 hex chars | Medium | Higher security margin |
| SHA3-256 | 64 hex chars | Medium | Modern standard, quantum-resistant design |
| Blake3 | 64 hex chars | Fastest | Modern, parallelizable, excellent performance |
The algorithm is selected using a segmented picker. SHA-256 is the default.
- Select your desired algorithm from the segmented picker
- Click the Compute button (prominent bordered style)
- A progress bar appears during computation, showing the percentage
- Results appear below, one per file:
- Filename in medium-weight subheadline font
- Hash value in monospaced font
- A Copy button to copy the hash to the clipboard
The computation runs asynchronously and does not block the UI. The "Computing..." text and progress indicator appear in the toolbar during the operation.
When only a single file is selected, an additional "Verify" section appears below the results:
- Paste or type the expected hash value into the verification text field
- The tool compares the computed hash with the provided value (case-insensitive)
- Results:
- Match: Green checkmark indicator
- Mismatch: Red X indicator
This is useful for verifying downloaded files against published checksums from software distributors.
When multiple files are selected:
- Each file's hash is computed and displayed separately
- The files are listed by filename with their individual hash values
- The verification section is hidden (it only works with single files)
- Progress reflects overall completion across all files
Unifyl provides access to macOS's native Get Info panel:
-
Keyboard shortcut:
Cmd+I - Menu: File > Get Info
This opens the standard Finder "Get Info" window for the selected file, showing:
- General information (kind, size, location, creation/modification dates)
- More Info (for media files: dimensions, codec, etc.)
- Name & Extension
- Comments
- Open With (default application)
- Preview
- Sharing & Permissions
This is equivalent to right-clicking a file in Finder and selecting "Get Info." Unifyl delegates to the system for this functionality to maintain consistency with macOS behavior.
| Tool | Tier |
|---|---|
| File X-Ray | Pro |
| Checksum Verification | Free |
| File Info (Cmd+I) | Free |
The File X-Ray view showing a hierarchical metadata tree for a JPEG image. The tree is expanded to show Image Info (PixelWidth: 4032, PixelHeight: 3024), EXIF data (ExposureTime: 1/120, FNumber: 1.8, ISOSpeedRatings: 50), and TIFF metadata. The magic description "JPEG image data" appears in a capsule badge in the header. The segmented control at top switches between Structure and Hex Dump tabs.
The Checksum Verification view with the algorithm segmented picker set to SHA-256, showing the computed hash for a selected file in monospaced font. Below the result, the verification section shows a text field with a pasted hash and a green checkmark indicating a match.
- The file type may not be supported for structured analysis
- Try the Hex Dump tab to at least see the raw bytes
- Ensure the file is readable (check permissions)
- Large files take longer to hash. Blake3 is the fastest algorithm; try switching to it for large files
- The computation runs off the main thread, so the UI remains responsive
- SSD vs HDD: disk I/O speed is the primary bottleneck for large files
- Ensure you selected the same algorithm that was used to generate the reference hash
- Check for trailing whitespace in the pasted hash value
- Some publishers use uppercase hashes; Unifyl compares case-insensitively, but double-check the hash length matches the algorithm
- The magic description requires the file to have recognizable header bytes
- Empty files or files with unrecognized headers will show no description
- Renamed files (e.g., a JPEG renamed to .txt) will still be correctly identified by their header bytes