Metadata is EagleFiler-specific information such a record’s title, from, checksum, source URL, tags, and notes. It is stored inside the .eflibrary file.
EagleFiler will automatically backup a library’s metadata when it’s opened and also periodically thereafter. You can manually backup the metadata by holding down the Option key and choosing Backup Metadata from the File menu or by using the backup metadata AppleScript command.
Metadata is backed up to invisible XML .EagleFiler Metadata.plist files inside the library folder. These are standard macOS property lists that can be viewed in TextEdit and processed by many other programs.
The backups allow EagleFiler to reconstruct all of your metadata if the .eflibrary file is damaged or deleted.
To restore from a library’s metadata backup, please see the How can I rebuild a library? section.
Excluding Folders From Metadata Backups
If you don’t want EagleFiler to try to make a metadata backup for a certain folder, e.g. because you don’t have write access to it, you can assign it the ef_nometa tag.
Metadata Files Visible in the Library
The metadata .plist files should be invisible in the Finder and not appear as records in EagleFiler. However, opening a newer EagleFiler library using an older (pre-1.6.7) version of EagleFiler can cause the .plist files to be imported. This is undesirable because it crowds the records list and will cause checksum errors if you ask EagleFiler to verify the files. To fix this: