Mac OS X in a Nutshell

Name

pl

Synopsis

pl [-input input_binary_file | -output output_binary_file]

Translates XML property list files into the more compact and readable “key=value” NeXT format. Also translates between this and a serialized binary format, in either direction. XML is read from standard input, NeXT-format data is read from standard input and written to standard output, and serialized binary data is read from and written to files specified with arguments.

Also see the manpage for plutil, which can check a file’s property list syntax and translate directly between XML and binary (but not NeXT) formats.

Options

-input

Specifies a serialized binary file as input.

-output

Specifies a serialized binary file as output.

Examples

Translate XML property list to NeXT format:

                     cat 
                     foo.plist | pl

Translate XML property list to serialized binary format:

                     cat 
                     foo.plist | pl | pl -output 
                     foo.bin

Translate serialized binary file to NeXT format:

                     pl -input 
                     foo.bin