Modding Mac OS X

Final Thoughts

Throughout this chapter you’ve been inundated with more than you probably ever wanted to know about icons, extensions, and creator types. As you discovered, many of the key concepts went beyond those small little pictures and into a deeper understanding of how the Finder works with applications. Here are a few points to take with you before you continue on with customizing interfaces.

Don’t overlook the Info.plist file.

An application’s Info.plist file provides absolutely vital insights into an application’s relationship to the Finder. Look past the confusing XML structure. Info.plist files tend toward the short side and are relatively easy to follow when you know what to look for. Focus on the key names, and Google for clarification as needed.

There are a lot of really, really awful icons out there in the Mac universe.

Don’t feel that you have to add to them. Try to use taste and dignity when you customize your own icons. Simple goes a long way.

Most of the methods described in this chapter go beyond applications.

You can use the same procedures to update the look of items in your Dock and browser windows.

Creator codes trump extensions.

Sometimes you create a file in one application but want to use that file in another app. If you double-click it, it launches in its original program. Although you can use the Open File browser from the second application, it’s an awkward and klunky workaround. Try another approach: change the file’s creator. Use SetFile and you’ll instantly ...