GoKawiilQ: What does Hyperspace do?
A: Hyperspace searches for files with identical contents within one or more folders. If it finds any, it can then reclaim the disk space taken by all but one of the identical files—without removing any of the files! You can learn more about how this is done, if you’re interested, but the short version is that Hyperspace uses a standard feature of the macOS file system: space-saving clones. The Finder does the same thing when you duplicate a file.
Q: What are terms that I should know before reading this documentation?
A: The following words and phrases will be used in this document and throughout the Hyperspace user interface: Scanning : The process of examining files to determine if they are candidates for reclamation.
: The process of examining files to determine if they are candidates for reclamation. Reclamation : The process of replacing a set of files that have identical contents with space-saving clones of each other, reclaiming disk space. When a file is “reclaimed” that means it is replaced with a space-saving clone.
: The process of replacing a set of files that have identical contents with space-saving clones of each other, disk space. When a file is “reclaimed” that means it is replaced with a space-saving clone. Space-saving clones : Files that all share a single instance of data on disk. See a longer explanation of how this works, if you’re interested.
: Files that all share a single instance of data on disk. See a longer explanation of how this works, if you’re interested. Disk : The physical device where data is stored. In years past, this might have been a spinning hard disk. These days, it’s more likely to be an SSD. The term “disk space” is mostly a holdover from years past when hard disks were more common. Today we might say “storage space” instead. In this document and in the Hyperspace app itself, the term “disk space” appears often, mostly because it’s still in common use (but also because the app’s creator was born in the 1970s).
: The physical device where data is stored. In years past, this might have been a spinning hard disk. These days, it’s more likely to be an SSD. The term “disk space” is mostly a holdover from years past when hard disks were more common. Today we might say “storage space” instead. In this document and in the Hyperspace app itself, the term “disk space” appears often, mostly because it’s still in common use (but also because the app’s creator was born in the 1970s). Identical file group : When Hyperspace finds files with identical contents, it puts them together in a group. The goal is to reclaim disk space by converting all but one of the files in the group into space-saving clones of a single designated source file.
: When Hyperspace finds files with identical contents, it puts them together in a group. The goal is to reclaim disk space by converting all but one of the files in the group into space-saving clones of a single designated source file. Source file : In each group of identical files, one file in the group is designated as the “source” file. This is the file from which all the space-saving clones are created. It is the “original” file for all the clones. The source file is only read. It is never modified.
: In each group of identical files, one file in the group is designated as the “source” file. This is the file from which all the space-saving clones are created. It is the “original” file for all the clones. The source file is only read. It is never modified. Target file : In each group of identical files, one file in the group is designated as the source file and the rest are “target” files. The target files will be replaced with space-saving clones during reclamation.
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