Modding Mac Os X

by Sadun, Erica

• ISBN13: 9780596007096
• ISBN10: 0596007094
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-01
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

This book teaches readers a variety of ways to change the way Mac OS X applications look and feel, from hacking the preferences, enabling and disabling plug-ins, to using the Terminal and applications like the Property List Editor to tweak files and edit resources. Author Erica Sadun also describes how to use cool tools, such as Interface Builder and Apple's new User Interface scripting suites to change an application's menus and windows, or add dialogs, buttons and key equivalents. After all, applications should match the way a user wants to interact, not the way the designer wants users to interact.

Author Biography

Erica Sadun holds a PhD in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She has written, co-written, and contributed to almost two dozen books about technology, particularly in the areas of programming, digital video, and digital photography. An unrepentant geek, Sadun has never met a gadget she didn't need. Her checkered past includes run-ins with NeXT, Newton, and a vast myriad of both successful and unsuccessful technologies. When not writing, she and her geek husband parent three adorable geeks-in-training, who regard their parents with restrained bemusement.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Transforming Your Mac	p. 1
Desktops	p. 1
Screensavers	p. 10
Altering the Dock	p. 13
Changing the Look of Finder Windows	p. 18
Customizing Standard Icons	p. 20
Custom Themes	p. 22
Changing the Boot Panel	p. 24
Final Thoughts	p. 29
Inside Application Bundles	p. 31
Application Bundles	p. 31
Understanding Bundle Structure	p. 35
Building Bundles	p. 38
Exploring the Resources Folder	p. 40
Understanding Localizations	p. 44
Plug-ins	p. 47
Property Lists	p. 48
Shrinking Applications	p. 50
Final Thoughts	p. 54
Application Dumpster Diving	p. 55
The Xcode Tools	p. 55
Finding Goodies	p. 58
Changing Sounds	p. 59
Searching Through Alternate Locations	p. 63
Finding and Changing Images	p. 67
Peeking at (and Playing with) String Files	p. 68
Final Thoughts	p. 76
Changing Icons	p. 77
Mac OS X Icon Files	p. 77
Viewing Icons	p. 81
Creating Custom Icons	p. 84
Changing Icons	p. 89
Creating a Pseudo-Application	p. 93
Final Thoughts	p. 97
Preferences Files	p. 99
Preferences Files	p. 99
Managing Property Lists	p. 108
Real-World Preferences Files	p. 115
Discovering Undocumented Preferences	p. 118
Final Thoughts	p. 125
Discovering Domains and Support Files	p. 127
Folders	p. 127
Libraries and the Applications That Use Them	p. 135
Preferences Domains	p. 137
Recovering Preferences Settings by Domain	p. 139
Final Thoughts	p. 147
Changing Interface Elements	p. 149
Making Alterations	p. 149
Getting Ready to Hack	p. 150
Meeting Interface Builder	p. 152
Changing Window Styles	p. 155
Adding a Tool Tip	p. 159
Adding an Item to the Contextual Menu	p. 160
Adding a New Button	p. 164
Adding a Custom Drawer	p. 168
Adding Objects from Another NIB File	p. 172
Changing Object Classes	p. 175
Restoring the Terminal Application	p. 177
Final Thoughts	p. 178
Altering Keyboard Shortcuts	p. 179
Philosophy of Keyboard Shortcuts	p. 179
Panther's New Keyboard Shortcuts Preferences Pane	p. 181
Changing the Keyboard Shortcuts	p. 183
Adding Application Keyboard Shortcuts	p. 184
Keyboard Shortcut Equivalents	p. 193
New Ways to Define Keyboard Shortcuts	p. 194
Speakable Items	p. 203
Viewing Keyboard Shortcuts	p. 207
Final Thoughts	p. 208
Basic Application Scripting	p. 209
Discovering Scriptable Applications	p. 210
Getting Ready to Script	p. 217
Talking to Applications	p. 221
User Interface Scripting	p. 223
General Application Scripting	p. 233
Final Thoughts	p. 238
Scripting the Unscriptable	p. 239
Activating Application Scriptability	p. 239
Expanding Suite Possibilities	p. 244
Updating the Core Suite	p. 255
Reverting to the Original NSCoreSuite Files	p. 267
Final Thoughts	p. 268
Index	p. 269
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.