Modding Mac OS X

Exploring the Resources Folder

An application’s Resources folder provides a rich and varied collection of materials. Here, you’ll find such diverse offerings as audio files, icons, window layouts, and more. Practically any kind of file can appear in an application’s Resources folder. It goes far beyond the traditional resource forks used by Mac OS 9 applications and earlier. Table 2-1 offers a brief (but incomplete) rundown of the kinds of resource files you might encounter.

When you run across an unfamiliar file type, pop over to http://filext.com to search for information on the meaning of the file extension.

Viewing help files

Apple recommends that all help files be bundled with applications instead of distributed separately. Third-party developers are moving away from the global or user (~)/Library/Documentation/Help path. Instead, most help is now localized and stored within the package’s Resources folder. Each application’s Info.plist file tells Mac Help (i.e., the Help Viewer) where to find the help data. Two keys, CFBundleHelpBookFolder and CFBundleHelpBookName, provide the folder and help topic names. For example, if you’re looking for English-language iTunes help, you’ll find the following entry in iTunes’ Info.plist file:

	<key>CFBundleHelpBookFolder</key>
		<string>iTunes Help</string>
		<key>CFBundleHelpBookName</key>
		<string>iTunes and Music Store Help</string>

The first key tells us that we can find iTunes’ help file in the iTunes Help folder, which is located in /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/iTunes ...