All files on external drives have their paths prepended with "/System/Volumes/Data/Volumes/External/"

[Gary King]

I have several file filters that search for items on an external drive. The external drive previously consisted of a single HFS+ partition called "External". Today, non-destructively converted the partition to the APFS format. I also moved around the drive's root folders a bit, to better organize them.

 

Since then, when I use a file filter in Alfred 4.7 to find files on this drive, the filter works fine, and finds and opens items fine, but all the paths are prepended in a peculiar way. For instance, if the item is located at "/Volumes/External/Media/funny-video.mp4", then its path would appear in Alfred as "/System/Volumes/Data/Volumes/External/Media/funny-video.mp4". This only started happening after the changes I made above. I suspect the issue is more related to the APFS conversion, rather than the re-organization.

 

What can I do to get the simplified path back, so that each path is not prepended with the additional text of "/System/Volumes/Data/"? Would re-indexing the Spotlight library help? I already tried running "reload" in Alfred, but it did not fix the problem.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Gary King

[vitor]

Alfred shows the true path of files and directories. It’s imperative that those be accurate, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to access them or perform actions. You can make a Workflow to copy those paths without /System/Volumes/Data, but be aware they won’t be the real mount paths.

[Gary King]

 

Okay, I understand that.

 

But isn't it also the case where applications are located at both "/Applications/Programming/Docker.app" and "/System/Volumes/Data/Applications/Programming/Docker.app", and Alfred chooses the suppress the second one in favor of the first one? Would it not be possible to at least show the shortened path for files on an external drive, but still use the absolute path when copying it?

 

Is this issue only applicable to APFS volumes, and not to HFS+ partitions?

[Gary King]

The reason that I ask if it's possible for Alfred to remove the excess prepended text, is primarily because it makes the path longer.

 

The problem is that when I search for a file on my external drive, and there are multiple copies, then I need to refer to the path to determine which copy I am looking for. If the path is too long, then the most relevant portion of the path, which is the right-most portion, is cut off in Alfred, so I can't tell which of the results I'm actually looking for.

[Gary King]

Also, in addition, paths on external drives are shown correctly within Alfred workflows, such as when selecting paths for a File Filter's scope. They appear as "/Volumes/External/Media/" rather than "/System/Volumes/Data/Volumes/External/Media/".

 

In addition, if I search for the "External" drive itself, then its path shows as "/Volumes/External/" rather than including any of the additional prepended text.

 

Is this issue, where the full paths are shown in File Filter results but not in File Filter scopes, only in my copy of Alfred, or is it just how Alfred operates for all users?

 

Thanks again, in advance!

Edited July 23, 2022 by Gary King

[Andrew]

I'll remove the extraneous /System/Volumes/Data/ prefix in the result subtext for the next Alfred 5 build.

[Gary King]

Thanks, that would be great. 

[vitor]

The change is in Alfred 5.0.2 b2071 pre-release.