X: Inside Mac OS X System Overview

Developer Library1400524806

Apple Computer’s newest operating system, Mac OS X, is also the most revolutionary operating system to hit the computer scene in many years. Using Mac OS X, Apple is reasserting its leadership not only in operating systems but in the technological sophistication and design sensibility that are the hallmarks of the company. While preserving the famed ease-of-use and personality of its predecessors, Mac OS X is an industrial-strength modern operating system engineered for reliability, stability, scalability, and phenomenal performance. As such, it lays the foundation for another decade of innovation. This book introduces software developers to Mac OS X. It describes the operating system’s features and architecture. And it explains some of the concepts and conventions of Mac OS X that are of interest to those developing software for the platform. About. System Technologies. System Architecture. Booting and Logging In. Bundles. Application Packaging. Frameworks. Umbrella Frameworks. The File System. The Finder. Software Configuration. Internationalization. Installation and Integration. Issues and Options with Multiple Environments. Glossary. Index.

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Table of contents :
System Overview……Page 1
Contents……Page 3
Figures, Listings, and Tables……Page 11
Why Read This Book……Page 15
Installed Developer Documentation……Page 17
Other Information on the Web……Page 19
System Technologies……Page 21
The User Experience……Page 22
Aqua……Page 23
The Finder……Page 24
Application Support……Page 26
Multiple Users……Page 27
Application Extensibility……Page 28
Exported Application Services……Page 29
Darwin……Page 30
Mach……Page 31
Device-Driver Support……Page 32
File Systems……Page 33
Graphics and Imaging……Page 35
Quartz……Page 36
QuickDraw……Page 37
QuickTime……Page 38
Printing……Page 39
Apple Type Solution……Page 40
Media Types……Page 41
Standard Protocols……Page 42
Personal File and Web Services……Page 43
USB……Page 44
AirPort……Page 45
System Architecture……Page 47
A Layered Perspective……Page 48
Carbon……Page 53
Cocoa……Page 56
Java……Page 57
The Graphics and Windowing Environment……Page 60
Core Graphics Services……Page 62
Core Graphics Rendering……Page 63
The Printing System……Page 65
The User Interface of the Printing System……Page 66
Summary of Printing Architecture……Page 67
The Printing Process……Page 69
Process Manager……Page 70
The Clipboard……Page 71
Carbon Managers……Page 72
Core Foundation……Page 74
Open Transport……Page 76
Tracking a User Event……Page 77
The Boot Sequence……Page 81
BootX……Page 82
System Initialization……Page 83
Startup Items……Page 84
The Login Procedure……Page 87
Authenticating Users……Page 88
Launching the Finder and the Dock……Page 89
System Daemons……Page 90
Logging Out and System Shutdow……Page 92
Customization Techniques……Page 94
Customizing Booting Behavior……Page 95
Customizing the Login Procedure……Page 97
Bundles……Page 101
Benefits of Using Bundles……Page 102
Anatomy of a Bundle……Page 103
The Finder and Bundles……Page 108
Types of Bundles……Page 109
Loadable Bundles and Dynamic Linking……Page 110
Localized Resources……Page 111
Localized Character Strings……Page 112
Search Algorithm……Page 113
Bundles and the Resource Manager……Page 115
An Application Is a Bundle……Page 117
Application Frameworks, Libraries, and Helpers……Page 119
Private Frameworks……Page 120
Shared Frameworks and the Central Directory……Page 121
Other Shared Application Code……Page 122
Applications and Loadable Bundles……Page 123
Application Help……Page 124
Application Preferences……Page 125
Document Resources……Page 126
Frameworks……Page 127
The Framework as a Library Package……Page 128
The Internal Structure of Frameworks……Page 129
Standard Locations for Frameworks……Page 131
Dynamic Shared Libraries……Page 132
Framework Versioning……Page 134
Major Versions……Page 135
Minor Versions……Page 136
Versioning Summary and Guidelines……Page 137
Umbrella Frameworks……Page 141
Kinds of Frameworks……Page 142
The Purpose of Umbrella Frameworks……Page 143
Linking and Including Guideline……Page 145
The Structure of an Umbrella Framework……Page 146
Restrictions on Subframework Linking……Page 148
How the File System Is Organized……Page 151
File-System Domains……Page 153
The System and Local Domains……Page 154
Directories of the Classic Environment……Page 156
The User Domain……Page 157
The Network Domain……Page 161
The Library Directory……Page 162
The Developer Directory……Page 164
Searching Within the File-System Domains……Page 166
Differences Between HFS+ and UFS……Page 167
Aliases and Symbolic Links……Page 168
Resource Forks……Page 170
File Encodings and Fonts……Page 172
The Role of the Finder……Page 175
Information Property Lists……Page 177
Collecting Application Information……Page 178
Finder Attributes……Page 179
The Handling of Applications and Documents……Page 180
The Finder and File Operations……Page 181
Copy and Move Operations……Page 182
Management of Aliases and Symbolic Links……Page 183
Property Lists……Page 185
Information Property Lists……Page 186
Document Configuration……Page 187
An Example of an Information Property List……Page 188
Standard Keys……Page 191
Finder Keys……Page 193
Application Package Keys……Page 195
The Preferences System……Page 197
How Preferences Are Stored……Page 198
Preference Domains……Page 199
The defaults Utility……Page 200
Internationalization……Page 203
Internationalizing Your Application……Page 204
Language Preferences and Bundle Resources……Page 205
Designating Languages and Locales……Page 207
Tools for Internationalization and Localization……Page 208
Localizing User Interfaces……Page 211
Composing a Strings File……Page 212
Generating Strings Files……Page 214
Adding Multiscript Support……Page 215
Preparing Software for Mac OS X……Page 219
What metadata must I specify for an application?……Page 220
How should I store application resources?……Page 221
How does the Finder handle documents?……Page 223
Why even have extensions?……Page 224
CFM Executables……Page 225
User Interface Issues……Page 228
Custom Controls and System Appearance……Page 229
Ownership and Permissions……Page 230
Overview of BSD Permissions……Page 231
File Permissions on Mac OS X……Page 233
Permissions for Applications and Documents……Page 234
The Classic Environment and Your Application……Page 235
Compatibility With Native Mac OS 9……Page 236
Device Support……Page 237
User Interface……Page 238
The Classic Environment and File Systems……Page 239
The Finder and the Desktop……Page 240
Networking and Printing……Page 241
Where to Install……Page 242
Manual Installation……Page 243
Installers……Page 244
Creating an Installation Package……Page 246
System-Wide Resources……Page 250
Tasks and Processes……Page 251
Threading Packages……Page 252
Usage Guidelines……Page 254
Interprocess Communication……Page 255
Communicating With Apple Events……Page 256
Communicating With BSD Sockets……Page 257
Communicating With BSD Pipes……Page 258
Sharing Large Resources With Shared Memory……Page 259
Messaging With the Mach Port Object……Page 260
Comparing the Runtime Environments……Page 261
Code-Generation Models……Page 262
Vector Libraries……Page 263
Should You Use CFM or dyld?……Page 264
Glossary……Page 267
Index……Page 281