Mac OS X and Testing Applications on Case Sensitive File Systems

Question

I have two MacBook Pros, but they shipped with a case-insensitive file systems. I would like to test a few of my utilities on a case-sensitive file system. Is there anyway to turn case-sensitivity on per application? Perhaps there is another solution that does not require a re-format of the hard drive?

I also read Technical Note TN2096: Debugging Case-Sensitivity Bugs in Applications. But it does not detail how to set up a test environment.

Answer 1

There is no way to "turn on case-sensitivity" for a single application. The filesystem structure on your volume is what's case-sensitive or not.

You can use Disk Utility to set this up, in a couple of different ways:

• If you're just testing reading and writing files: make a disk image, using the format "Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)". Mount that disk image and make your app use it.

• If you want to test on a system booted from a case-sensitive filesystem: add a partition to your drive, choose the case-sensitive format for the new partition, then install OS X on it. Or use an external disk.

I'm sure there are more tricky ways, but those should get you started.