"DeepSix" utility can damage Illustrator 10 installation; new release posted

Because of a flaw in the code for the AppleScript Studio application "DeepSix," some necessary files, including the AdobeFnt.db font database can be accidentally deleted.

While a more technical explanation can be found in Adobe's discussion forums, essentially the problem occurs because DeepSix (a program intended to delete problematic AdobeFnt files that can cause application launch issues) is set to delete all files beginning with the AdobeFnt prefix, rather than those only with the AdobeFnt*.list form. This can result in the deletion of AdobeFnt.db, a critical file that stores information about fonts used by Adobe apps.

MacFixIt reader Mark Douma, who first alerted us to this problem, writes "This behavior could easily be prevented by simply using 'AdobeFnt*.lst' rather than 'AdobeFnt*' in the 'do shell script' command. Using 'AdobeFnt', then the wildcard character, and then the filename extension, ensures that only files beginning with 'AdobeFnt' and ending with '.lst' be deleted.

Until this problem is resolved, there is a utility called "Clean Library" available from Graffix software that also removes problematic "AdobeFnt0__.lst files, and does not seem to suffer from the same deletion flaw as Deep Six.

UPDATE: We checked VersionTracker's feedback section for DeepSix, and found the following new comment from the app's developer (If/Then Software):

"(...) the software should be updated later today so it won't remove the wrong files. Please use with caution until then. (At worst it sounds as if Illustrator would have to be reinstalled, but again, I have personally never heard or seen this from anyone using the software to date, including my own machines.)"

UPDATE: If Then Software's staff just sent us the following note: "We have posted version 1.2 of DeepSix that will remove AdobeFNT.lst files, but NOT the dreaded AdobeFNT.DB files. As a side note, none of the people who have downloaded via versiontracker or MacNN, MacCentral, Macsonly, etc. have complained to us that any verison of Illustrator on their system didn't work after using DeepSix. The software is now patched to not remove this file just in case. We have also added a log feature to the software to let you know what is being removed and when it was removed. Sorry for the mistake in the previous version and we certainly hope it didn't bring any harm to anyone's system."

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