Recently we’ve written on the subject of Screen capture programs for the Mac and also on MacFUSE. This article brings the two concepts together, to point out another, rather unique way to get screenshots on the Mac, using GrabFS: The Screenshot File System. GrabFS requires Leopard to run, and you must also have installed MacFUSE.
As the developer’s site explains:
GrabFS is a file system that shows you a live view of the window contents of currently running applications. In a GrabFS volume, folders represent running applications and image files represent instant screenshots (”grabs”) of the applications’ windows. You simply copy a file or just open it in place, and you have a screenshot. Open it again, and you have a new screenshot!
At the top level of the GrabFS volume, you will see several folders—each corresponds to a running application. A folder’s name incorporates the corresponding application’s name and its BSD process identifier. …..
Don’t worry if you don’t get the part about the process identifier, it’s not really necessary to understand that to use GrabFS.
In each folder you will see one TIFF file for each onscreen window of the application. The neat thing is that these TIFF files are a current snapshot of the window as of the time you open the file.
These screenshot “files” are, of course, read-only, but they can be opened or copied just like any other file. There are some interesting differences betwen these and regular screenshots on the Mac - for example, the Mac’s screenshot functionality usually adds a drop shadow to the screenshot, which looks nice in most cases but may not be desirable in others. GrabFS does not include the added shadow. Also, if the screen of a particular window is constantly changing, you could (if you know how) use Applescript, or perhaps an Automator workflow to copy the current screen at regular intervals. You could even copy these screenshots to another computer (might be useful for remote debugging).
This is one of those applications which some people will immediately see as quite useful, while others will never have a need for it. But if it sounds interesting to you, head on over to the developer’s page and read the full description, then if you think it might have a useful place in your software toolbox (and you have already installed MacFUSE), download and install it.
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