Graphical view of file activity

fseventer is a disk activity tool with a good graphical representation and solid filter tool.

The Tree view is particularly interesting as it shows processes as they are created or modified and highlights related paths.

Clicking on element will reveal the amount of time since it was modified and what action was performed on it. You can zoom in or out of the view and flag files you want to follow.

The column view is more traditional yet still provides a good overlook at your current activity. Unfortunately Time Line, which appears in the interface is not actually available.

To refine your search you can add up to five filters for process, fsevents, xevents, readable and path. The more you add, the more precise the graphical representation should be.

Once you’re done, you can clean up the representation or either save it as a log file or print it out. The file inspector in fseventer is only really useful in the Tree view.

fseventer observes filesystem changes using the same underlying API as Spotlight, provides a graphical representation of the file activity. An example of use could be to determine what files are changed via software installation, preferences, etc.