How-To Videos for diglloydTools IntegrityChecker 📹
Related: all videos, data integrity, diglloydTools, How-To, IntegrityChecker, Java, software, videos by Lloyd
re: IntegrityChecker Java and data integrity
First, see Opening and Configuring Terminal.app then (optionally) Basics of Command Line in Terminal .
All professionals and anyone valuing their data/stuff should be using data integrity validation software. As of 2023, the only general purpose and cross-platform solution for this is diglloydTools IntegrityChecker Java.
Getting IntegrityChecker
Download page for existing customers.
Command line is easy to use
Using the “command line” in Terminal.app can be intimidating for a first-timer.
This series of how-to videos shows how easy it is using drag and drop.
Note: play the videos in 4K for best readability.
How to update and verify files — drag and drop
The process shown here applies to all IntegrityChecker operations, not just update and verify.
icj update finds all new and changed files that need hashing and updates the hashes for all.
icj verify reports new files, deleted files, changed files, corrupted files (if any).
Shortcut aliases
Why type it out fully when you can type something much shorter.
The icj installer sets up the following shortcuts for both the bash and zsh 'shells' used in Terminal. In other words, you can type "up" instead of "icj update".
up = icj update ver = icj verify st = icj status sn = icj sync dupes = icj dupes mat = icj matches inf = icj info cl = icj clean
Getting help
Built-in help is available. Detailed help pages can be found in the diglloydTools online manual.
To see built-in help, type "icj" followed by the <RETURN> key.
Understanding the status summary
After most operations, a status summary is shown.
Running multiple simultaneous jobs
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How moved and missing and changed files are reported
IntegrityChecker is super smart about finding files and folders that have been moved, making use of extended file attributes. But sometimes, files and folders really are missing, and this might be critical to know.
Changed files can be super important to know about—consider user errors, software bugs, and malware. IntegrityChecker flags all changes, alerting you to potential issues.
How icj reports corrupted files
File corruption means that files are changed somehow, not the original. This can cause small issues or render the file completely useless.
Corrupted files due to “bit rot” is rare on modern SSDs and hard drives, but on lower-quality storage devices it can happen a lot more often (eg SDXC camera cards). And over longer periods of time, bits do flip.
Corruption during file transfers eg backups is of greatest concern because a backup must be bit-for-bit identical. Just as critical is ensuring that you are not backing-up already-corrupted files, thus wiping out all good copies.
Finding duplicate files
Finding duplicates has saved me several hundred gigabytes just this year alone eg when I inadvertantly download the same stuff more than once.
Reconciling duplicates can take some effort, but icj emits output that when run in Terminal can remove or clone the files.
Finding empty files and getting info
You might wish to eliminate useless empty files or similar.