Mac OS X Tiger in a Nutshell

Using the Property List Editor

The Property List Editor, shown in Figure 13-1, is a GUI tool that lets you view and edit property list files.

At their base, every plist has a Root item, which contains all the dictionaries, arrays, keys, and values that define the preferences for an application. When you initially open a plist file, all its elements are hidden inside the Root item. If you click on the disclosure triangle next to Root (this is similar to the List View of the Finder), the keys of the plist are revealed in the first column.

If you select a Dictionary or Array item in the Property List column that has a disclosure triangle next to it, you can use -right (or left) arrow to respectively open or close a disclosure triangle. Likewise, Option--right (or left) Arrow respectively opens or closes all of the disclosure triangles in the Property List Editor. For example, if you select Root and hit Option--right arrow, all of the contents of that plist file are shown in the upper display; Option--left arrow closes them again.

As shown in Figure 13-1, there are three columns in the Property ...