Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition

Rewriting the Words

Mac OS X stores the text and settings of its menus, dialog boxes, and other elements in special text files called plist (for Property List) files. They sit in one of the three Library folders (in your Home folder, the System folder, or the hard drive window).

The easiest way to edit them is to use Apple's Property List Editor, a program that came on your Mac OS X Developer CD. Once you've installed your developer tools as described on Section 10.26.21, you can find Property List Editor in Developer→ Applications→Utilities.

Figure 18-5. Top: This simple file contains the name of the Trash icon on the Dock—and the name of the Eject icon that replaces it when you're dragging a disk. By doubleclicking the text in the Value column, you can edit these descriptions to change the corresponding names. Bottom: The resulting Trash has a very different name.

There are hundreds of plist files, so some experimentation and patience is required. Most of the cool changes you can make to your plists can be made much more easily using TinkerTool, described at the beginning of this chapter. Here, however, is an example of a smaller change you can make this way.

Renaming the Trash

It's called Trash, but in Mac OS X, it looks more like an office wastebasket. When inspiration on the work you're supposed to be doing runs dry, consider remedying this discrepancy by changing the name of the ...