Boxcryptor's bc extension is really unfriendly to SkyDrive/Dropbox

antony

It seems that Boxcryptor prefers to register .bc extension to its program, so that if we want to use SkyDrive or Dropbox (more SkyDrive than Dropbox) to sync encrypted files, I would have to initially hack around with the following command

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -u /Applications/BoxCryptor.app

The purpose is then to make folders like "Foo.bc" as a regular folder in Finder, not as an app specific folder. (Note, the difference between regular folder and app specific folder, is that when you double click on "Foo.bc" in Finder, it would open as a regular folder, not launch Boxcryptor)

So is it possible for Boxcryptor to "permanently" not register .bc extension?

Robert

Hi Antony,

BoxCryptor Folders with the .bc extension are still normal folders, even if they are treated differently by Finder. That means that Dropbox, SkyDrive, etc. sync the BoxCryptor Folder and their files without any problems. You can view the contents of the BoxCryptor Folder by right-clicking it and choosing "Show Package Contents" or you could check the Dropbox website.

Best regards,
Robert

antony

I know they are normal folders, but have you even tried to use SkyDrive to link a folder underneath folders with .bc extensions?

Like I said, if you tried, you would know why I had to unregister boxcryptor from .bc extension before linking it to SkyDrive. Under Dropbox, it allows me to manually type the encrypted directory path, otherwise, just from mouse and UI alone, you wouldn't be able to select the encrypted folder under .bc extension.

Hence, my statement still stands. Boxcryptor is unfriendly, but hey, I am a big fan of EncFS, and really happy that Boxcryptor builds on top of EncFS. And my first post provides the workaround, so that Boxcryptor works with SkyDrive

There is no side effect either. Once SkyDrive links to the encrypted directory, it remembers the location and does not complain anymore. And when you restart boxcryptor next time, it "registers" itself to .bc extension once again.

Robert

OK, I got your point. Indeed, if you want to link SkyDrive only to a subfolder of the BoxCryptor Folder, this is indeed not possible with the registered .bc extension.

Please keep in mind, that the main use case for BoxCryptor, however, is to have the whole BoxCryptor Folder within your SkyDrive. In this case, the extension is not a problem and the benefits of having the extension clearly outweight the relatively special setting of linking to a subfolder (because you'd then have to manually take care of the .encfs6.xml configuration file).

We're not having plans on changing this, so it's great that the workaround you described works for users with such an special setting.