Final Thoughts
This chapter covered a lot of ground—from folder structures to file domains to defaults. Here are some thoughts to take away with you before modifying application interfaces in the next chapter:
- Who’s afraid of the big, bad search?
Don’t be afraid to search through and enjoy your system folders. You own your computer: if it’s on your system, it’s yours.
- Be the master of your domain.
File domains are not preferences domains. The name’s the same; just remember that the usage differs.
- The command line is your friend (in other words, embrace Unix).
When used properly, the
defaultsutility is an amazing little tool. You’ll read more about it in Chapter 8, Altering Keyboard Shortcuts.- Application spelunking can be fun!
Exploring prebuilt items in an application’s local and user domains’ Application Support folder can often lead to excellent hacking possibilities. Seeing how iDVD saved its favorites files, for example, allowed me to create custom iDVD themes—although that’s a discussion for another book entirely.
Get Modding Mac OS X now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
