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Unfortunately, many of the command-line utilities in Mac OS X have no corresponding manpages, and documentation on the utilities can be difficult to find, even with a Google search. This appendix offers a quick reference to tools that may be helpful or interesting to Mac OS X developers, but that lack manpages.
| aexml |
aexml -soap -SOAPAction text [-in filename] [-out filename] [-name 'App Name' | -pid pid | psn highPSN.lowPSN | -sig signature] aexml -xmlrpc [-in filename] [-out filename] [-name 'App Name' | -pid pid | psn highPSN.lowPSN | -sig signature]
Translates SOAP and XML-RPC requests into Apple Events understood by Mac OS X applications. The target application can be specified by name, process ID, process serial number, or signature. If no target is specified, a sandbox application is launched to handle the request. Output, if any, is in the form of XML or a one-line error.
/usr/bin
Mac OS X
| configd |
config d [-b] [-B bundle_ID] [-d] [-t pathname] [-v] [-V bundle_ID]
This is the System Configuration Server. configd is normally started as a daemon during the boot process. It monitors changes to network-related items, such as link status, DHCP assignments, PPP connections, and IP configuration, and provides an API for applications to be notified of these changes. To monitor various items, it uses a set of plug-in configuration agents, including the Preferences Monitor, the Kernel Event Monitor, the PPP Controller Agent, the IP Configuration Agent, and the IP Monitor Agent. The agent plug-ins are located in /System/Library/SystemConfiguration.
More information on the System Configuration framework can be found at http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/macosx/Networking/SysConfigOverview926/.
/usr/sbin
Darwin
| DirectoryService |
DirectoryService [-h | -v] DirectoryService [-appledebug | -appleframework | -applenodaemon | - appleoptions | -appleperformance | -appleversion]
This is the server process for the Directory Services framework.
/usr/sbin
Darwin
| disktool |
disktool [-o | -r | -x | -y] disktool [-d | -g | -m | -va | -vd | -vs] device disktool [-e | -p | -s | -u] device integer_flag disktool -n device vol_name disktool -a device vol_name vol_flags
Controls disks, including mounting, unmounting, ejecting, enabling permissions, and volume naming. Most options require a device name argument (for example, disk0), and some options require additional parameters.
/usr/sbin
Darwin
| dynamic_pager |
dynamic_pager [-F filename] [-H hire_point] [-L layoff_point] [-P priority] [-S file_size]
Manages virtual memory swap files. This tool is started from /etc/rc during the boot process.
/sbin
Darwin
| ipconfig |
ipconfig getifaddr interface
ipconfig getoption { interface | "" } { option_name | option_code }
ipconfig getpacket interface
ipconfig ifcount
ipconfig set interface { BOOTP | DHCP }
ipconfig set interface { INFORM | MANUAL } IP_addr netmask
ipconfig waitallInteracts with the IP Configuration Agent of configd to manage network configuration changes.
/usr/sbin
Darwin
| opendiff |
opendiff file1 file2 [-ancestor ancestor_file] [-merge merge_file]
Opens the two designated files in the FileMerge application.
/usr/bin
Mac OS X
| pbcopy |
pbcopy [-help]
Copies standard input to the pasteboard buffer. The pasteboard is used to implement GUI copy, cut, and paste operations, drag-and-drop operations, and the Cocoa Services menu.
/usr/bin
Mac OS X
| pbpaste |
pbpaste[-help] [-Prefer { ascii | rtf | ps }]Prints the contents of the pasteboard to standard output. The combination of pbcopy and pbpaste may be an interesting tool to use in scripting. However, the system's global pasteboard can be modified by other processes at any time, which limits the tool's actual usefulness.
/usr/bin
Mac OS X
| pl |
pl [-input input_binary_file | -output output_binary_file]
Translates XML property list files into a more compact "key = value" format. Also translates between this and a serialized binary format, in either direction. XML is read from standard input, "key = value" data is read from standard input and written to standard output, and serialized binary data is read from and written to files specified with arguments.
/usr/bin
Mac OS X
| scselect |
scselect [[-n] location]
Changes active network location, similar to selecting a network Location from the Apple menu. If there are no arguments, a usage statement and a list of defined Locations (or "sets") as defined in the Network System Preferences panel is printed to standard output, along with an indication of which location is currently active. Locations can be referred to by name or by integer ID.
/usr/sbin
Darwin
| scutil |
scutil [-r node_or_address | -w key [-t timeout]]
Provides control of the System Configuration framework's dynamic store. scutil opens an interactive session with configd, in which various commands are available to view and modify System Configuration keys.
As a quick sample run-through, invoke scutil. You will be placed at the scutil prompt. Enter open to start the session with configd, then enter list. You will see a set of keys, some of which are provided by the System Configuration framework (such as the keys in the File: domain), some of which are obtained from the preferences file /var/db/SystemConfiguration.xml (the Setup: keys), and some of which are published by the configuration agents (the State: keys). Enter get State:/Network/Global/DNS to load the dictionary associated with that key. Then run d.show to display it. You should see a list of DNS servers and search domains configured on your system. Finally, run close, then quit.
scutil enters interactive mode when it is invoked with no arguments.
/usr/sbin
Darwin
| SplitForks |
SplitForks { -u | [-v] pathname }Splits the resource fork out of a dual-forked file into a file named ._pathname. You can also do this with cp pathname/..namedfork/rsrc ._pathname. This method results in a resource file amenable to processing by DeRez, whereas the output of SplitForks does not appear to produce a file that DeRez can understand.
/Developer/Tools
Mac OS X
| tiff2icns |
tiff2icns [-noLarge] input_filename [output_filename]
Converts TIFF image files to Apple icon (ICNS) files. If output_filename is not specified, the output file receives the same name as the input file, with the filename extension changed to .icns.
/usr/bin
Mac OS X
| tiffutil |
tiffutil { -dump | -info | -verboseinfo } input_file...
tiffutil { -extract number | -jpeg [-fN] | -lzw | -none | -packbits }
input_file [-out output_file]
tiffutil -cat input_file... [-out output_file]Manipulates TIFF image files.
/usr/bin
Mac OS X
| udf.util |
udf.util -m device mount_point
udf.util { -p | -u } deviceMounts UDF (DVD) filesystems into the directory hierarchy.
/System/Library/Filesystems/udf.fs
Darwin
| vsdbutil |
vsdbutil { -a | -c | -d } pathname
vsdbutil -iEnables or disables the use of permissions on a disk volume. This is equivalent to using the Ignore Privileges checkbox in the Finder's Info window for a mounted volume. The status of permissions usage on mounted volumes is stored in the permissions database, /var/db/volinfo.database.
Darwin
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| A. The Mac OS X Filesystem |  | Index |
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