Hacking Mac OS^® X Tiger^TM: Serious Hacks, Mods and Customizations

by Scott Knaster (San Jose, CA, author and software developer)

• ISBN13: 9780764583452
• ISBN10: 076458345X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

This serious, but fun, down-and-dirty book will let you make Tiger purr, ensuring that your Macs appearance, speed, usability, and security settings are what you want. Author Scott Knaster: Shows you how to speed it up, lock it down, or pull back the curtains. Dives into default system settings, unlocks hidden gems, and includes original Mac OS X programs with full source listings and explanations. Shows heavyweight hackers the tricks and modes of OS X booting, tweaks for login screens, and how to customize or even kill the Dock. Offers the inside scoop on Dashboard and Spotlight, including two sample widgets and one Spotlight importer, all with fully annotated source listings. Demonstrates how to install and use Unix and X11 applications, take advantage of command line tools, and create system services and active Dock badges. Order your copy today.

Author Biography

Scott Knaster is a legendary Mac hacker and coauthor of Mac Toys, also published by Wiley. His book How To Write Macintosh Software was required reading for Mac programmers for more than a decade. After Macs, Scott's next great love is Mad magazine.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xxi
Part I: Tips
Finder	3	(12)
List View Open Secrets	3	(1)
Attack of the Giant Icons	4	(1)
Make Perfect Sidebars Every Time	5	(1)
Master All the Columns	6	(1)
Set Your Columns Just Right	6	(1)
Fun with View Options	7	(2)
Use Background Colors and Pictures	8	(1)
Show More Information	8	(1)
Quit the Finder	9	(1)
Make the Default Finder Window Behave	10	(1)
Who's Zooming Whom?	10	(1)
Go Directly to Secret Folders	11	(1)
Show Hidden Files	11	(1)
Fix a Frozen Archive	12	(1)
Summary	13	(2)
Dashboard and Dock	15	(14)
Dashboard	15	(5)
Make Widgets Go Mainstream	15	(2)
Clone Your Widgets	17	(1)
Get Reloaded	17	(2)
Hold a Widget Tryout	19	(1)
Visual Widget Fun	19	(1)
Dock	20	(7)
Snappy Dragging for the Dock	20	(1)
Drag Stuff to Dock Icons	20	(1)
Sittin' on the Top of the Screen	21	(1)
Make the Dock Sit in the Corner	21	(2)
Yellow Means Slow Down	23	(1)
Bottle the Genie	24	(1)
Dragging Docs in the Dock	24	(1)
Hidden Switcher Features	25	(1)
The Bouncing! The Bouncing!	25	(1)
Fast Folder Access from the Dock	26	(1)
The End	27	(1)
Summary	27	(2)
Preferences and System Stuff	29	(12)
Fast Preferences for Sound and Screen	29	(1)
Dealing in Volume	30	(1)
Mac, Build, and Serial Number	31	(1)
Grow That Mouse	32	(1)
Hit the Big Time	33	(1)
Beware of the Blob	34	(1)
Pimp My Blob	35	(1)
All My Windows	36	(2)
Brighten a Cheerless Crash	38	(1)
Summary	39	(2)
User Interface	41	(10)
Silk Sheets	41	(1)
Do All Your Windows at Once	42	(1)
Look Out behind You	43	(1)
Scroll Right Here, Right Now	44	(1)
Follow Your Pathname	44	(1)
Escape from Dragging	45	(1)
Place Your Arrows	45	(1)
Opening Files: What a Drag	46	(1)
Menus via the Keyboard	47	(1)
Here Be Dragging	48	(1)
Can I Borrow That?	49	(1)
Summary	49	(2)
Startup	51	(10)
Hide the Users	51	(3)
Console Yourself	54	(1)
All Kids Love Logins	54	(1)
Root for the Home Team	55	(1)
Getting Singled Out	56	(1)
Tell Me Everything	57	(1)
Flip Your Lid	58	(1)
Keep It Safe	58	(1)
Get Smart	58	(1)
More Startup Fun	59	(1)
Summary	59	(2)
iTunes	61	(14)
Video Forever	61	(3)
More for Your Money	64	(1)
Seeing Double	65	(1)
Outsmarting a Playlist	66	(1)
Words and Music	67	(1)
Secret Messages	67	(2)
iTunes Music Processing	69	(1)
Dump Your Dupes	70	(2)
Shoot the Screen	72	(1)
Summary	73	(2)
Nifty Utilities	75	(12)
Time to Tinker	75	(7)
Finder Settings	76	(1)
Dock	76	(2)
General	78	(1)
Applications	78	(1)
Fonts	79	(1)
Permissions	79	(1)
Safari	79	(1)
Two Versions of TinkerTool	79	(1)
By Any Other Name	80	(2)
Leave Me a Clone	82	(1)
Making a Batch	83	(1)
Watching Memory	84	(1)
Staying Punctual	85	(1)
Summary	86	(1)
Running Unix Applications	87	(14)
Overview	87	(5)
Mac OS X Is Unix	87	(1)
Tower of Babel: Various Unixes and Linux	88	(1)
X Window System	89	(1)
How to Get, Install, and Run Unix Apps	90	(2)
When All Else Fails	92	(1)
X11 (X Window System)	92	(7)
Installing More X11 Applications	96	(1)
Customizing X11	96	(1)
Running Applications Remotely	97	(2)
Summary	99	(2)
Terminal	101	(10)
What Is Terminal?	101	(3)
Everyday Terminal Tips	104	(2)
Drag and Drop	104	(1)
Command History	104	(2)
Word Completion	106	(1)
Just for Fun	106	(3)
Play Tetris	106	(2)
See ``Lord of the Rings'' Events	108	(1)
Watch Star Wars in ASCII	108	(1)
Summary	109	(2)
Shell Commands	111	(14)
Practical Tips	111	(5)
Monitor Your Processes	111	(2)
Remote Login with ssh	113	(2)
Searching with man	115	(1)
More Interesting, Less Practical	116	(1)
Find Out about a Command: which	116	(1)
Open Files	116	(1)
Remove a File Securely with srm	117	(1)
Mostly Fun	117	(4)
Get File Listings in Color with Is	117	(1)
Make a Banner	118	(1)
Create a Calendar	119	(1)
Check Your Mac's Uptime	119	(1)
Determine Your CPU Model	119	(1)
Print Text in Reverse	120	(1)
Make Your Family Hear Voices	120	(1)
Summary	121	(4)
Part II: Mods
Inside Application Bundles	125	(16)
What You See Is Not Always What You Get	125	(1)
Looking at Bundles	126	(2)
A Tour of Bundle Contents	128	(1)
What's What in Application Bundles	129	(8)
MacOS Folder	129	(1)
Resources Folder	129	(2)
Info.plist	131	(5)
version.plist	136	(1)
Localized Strings	136	(1)
The Do-it-Yourself Bundle	137	(2)
Summary	139	(2)
Preferences and Property Lists	141	(16)
Property Lists for Preferences	141	(1)
Looking at Preferences Files	142	(6)
Using TextEdit	142	(3)
Using Property List Editor	145	(2)
TextEdit versus Property List Editor	147	(1)
Defaults and Domains	148	(6)
Value Types	150	(4)
When Changes Take Effect	154	(1)
Changing Preferences Three Different Ways	154	(1)
Summary	155	(2)
Automator	157	(20)
AppleScript and Automator: Something Old, Something New	157	(2)
Automator Is Not AppleScript	158	(1)
Mixed Automation	159	(1)
Automator	159	(16)
Actions	160	(4)
Workflows	164	(8)
Automator Tips and Tricks	172	(2)
Creating Your Own Actions	174	(1)
Summary	175	(2)
Xcode and Other Tools	177	(22)
Xcode Tools	177	(1)
Xcode Projects	178	(2)
Interface Builder	180	(8)
Customizing TextEdit	182	(4)
Customizing iChat	186	(2)
Quartz Composer	188	(6)
The Ultimate Hack	194	(1)
Summary	195	(4)
Part III: Hacks
Badger	199	(16)
A Review of Dock Features	199	(2)
About the Badger Hack	201	(1)
Interface Builder	202	(1)
Source Code	203	(9)
AppController.h	203	(1)
AppController.m	204	(8)
Extra Credit	212	(1)
Summary	213	(2)
Word of the Day	215	(22)
About Dashboard	215	(1)
About Word of the Day	216	(2)
Building a Widget	218	(9)
Anatomy of a Widget	218	(1)
The HTML File	219	(1)
The CSS File	220	(1)
The JavaScript File	221	(4)
Info.plist	225	(2)
The Default Image	227	(1)
The Icon File	227	(1)
Creating Word of the Day	227	(8)
The HTML File	228	(1)
The JavaScript File	229	(3)
The CSS File	232	(2)
Info.plist	234	(1)
Extra Credit	235	(1)
Summary	235	(2)
Top Tunes	237	(22)
About Top Tunes	237	(2)
Origins of Top Tunes	239	(1)
The HTML File	239	(3)
head	240	(1)
div (Main View)	240	(1)
div (Preferences View)	241	(1)
The JavaScript File	242	(11)
setupWidget	242	(1)
fetchNewMusic	242	(1)
refresh	243	(1)
urlForCurrentList	244	(1)
xml_loaded	244	(2)
getElementTextNS	246	(1)
xml_callback	246	(1)
drawNewInfo	246	(1)
currentList	247	(1)
navigate	247	(1)
showPrefs	248	(1)
hidePrefs	249	(1)
resultsChanged	249	(1)
changeList	250	(1)
Info Button Animation	250	(3)
The CSS File	253	(4)
albumArt	253	(1)
album	253	(1)
artist	254	(1)
navigate	254	(1)
header	254	(1)
back	254	(1)
numresults	255	(1)
prefsLabel	255	(1)
maintable	255	(1)
rank	255	(1)
refresh	256	(1)
Preferences Support	256	(1)
Info.plist	257	(1)
Extra Credit	258	(1)
Summary	258	(1)
Video Desktop	259	(22)
Video Desktop	259	(2)
Video Desktop Source Code	261	(17)
AppController.h	261	(1)
AppController.m	262	(1)
MyQuickDrawView.h	263	(1)
MyQuickDrawView.m	264	(14)
Extra Credit	278	(1)
Summary	279	(2)
TextFilter	281	(14)
About Services	281	(1)
Problems When Using Services	282	(1)
The TextFilter Hack	283	(1)
Interface Builder	284	(1)
Source Code	284	(6)
AppController.h	285	(1)
AppController.m	285	(1)
stripTags:userData:error:	285	(2)
stringStrippedOfTags:	287	(2)
applicationDidFinishLaunching:	289	(1)
stripper.pl	289	(1)
Editing the Information Property List	290	(1)
Adding the Perl Script	291	(2)
Extra Credit	293	(1)
Summary	293	(2)
Spotlight for XML	295	(16)
About Spotlight	295	(2)
Spotlight Importers	297	(6)
Creating an Importer	297	(2)
Info.plist and Other Files	299	(1)
Command-Line Tools	300	(3)
Creating XML Importer	303	(5)
GetMetadataForFile.c	303	(3)
Info.plist	306	(2)
main.c	308	(1)
Build and Install	308	(1)
Extra Credit	308	(1)
Summary	309	(2)
Commando	311	(28)
The Original Commando	311	(3)
Commando Reborn	314	(1)
Specifying Shell Commands	315	(1)
Commando Source Code	316	(21)
CommandoWindowController.h	317	(1)
CommandoWindowController.mm	318	(14)
ToolParser.h	332	(1)
ToolParser.mm	333	(4)
Summary	337	(2)
mach_override and mach_inject	339	(18)
Dynamic Overriding	339	(5)
How Dynamic Overriding Works	341	(1)
Branch Islands	342	(1)
Code Injection	343	(1)
Source Code	344	(8)
mach_override.c	344	(5)
mach_inject_bundle.c	349	(3)
Other Sources	352	(1)
Dynamic Overriding Example	352	(3)
DisposeWindow+Beep	352	(1)
DisposeWindow+Beep_Injector	353	(2)
Extra Credit	355	(1)
Summary	355	(1)
Goodbye	355	(2)
Index	357