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Re: More on Install progress messages
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Re: More on Install progress messages


  • Subject: Re: More on Install progress messages
  • From: Iceberg-Dev <email@hidden>
  • Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:00:15 +0200


On Jul 25, 2009, at 1:33 AM, Kevin Brock wrote:

We were trying to change the install progress messages to something a little more friendly.

We need a signed package, so using older versions of package maker, or a non-flat format, wasn't really an option.

It looks like there's no way to modify the messages through the GUI.
1) The progress messages, "Installing xxx" are just using the name of the package, xxx.pkg, in the flat package. 2) The name of the package is derived from the actual item being installed. e.g, "Foo Bar.app" becomes fooBar.pkg, and a file named com.mine.daemon.plist becomes comminedaemon.pkg.


So, I used pkgutil to expand the package, renamed the actual package files in the expansion directory, and then modified Distribution to reflect the new package names.

Reflatten the package, sign and we're good to go, almost.

The problem is that this only works with install items which are bundles. So Foo.app I can give a new pacakge name to, or Bar.kext, but a daemon named somedaemon, which is being installed maybe in / usr/sbin, can't be renamed. If I try to rename that package I get an error from Installer when I try to install saying that there's nothing to install in that package. This is true also if the contents are a directory tree with only non-bundle items.
You also can't rename things to names which have spaces. I tried doing this, using standard HTML space codes. #Foo Bar.pkg in Distribution expanded correctly, and there was a package named "Foo Bar.pkg", but Installer gave me the "nothing to install" error. It *did* look for the correct package name, though. Just couldn't process it.


So, I got part of what I needed. I'm astonished at the lack of robustness and *extreme* lack of configurability in this stuff though.
If these things are doable in a standard way, then I'm even *more* astonished at the lack of documentation. But then PackageMaker's always been a little lacking in that area compared to other dev tools...

I'm a bit surprised by the part related to the inability to rename a package based on its payload. There should be no relation at all between the payload and the name of the package.


Regarding the lack of support for spaces, apparently when you have a package name with spaces, they are removed by PackageMaker.

If I were you, I would not go for one package for each component of the application/solution. I don't see the point in doing this (and in having implemented this in PackageMaker). Apple does not do that for its own packages so I don't understand why they are enforcing this. If your kext is updated, your application would probably be updated to reflect at least the new minor version. If your daemon is updated, idem.

With PackageMaker, it might be worth re-creating the branches of the '/' hierarchy you need and then uses this fake '/' folder as the root of your package payload.

My $0.02

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  • Follow-Ups:
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      • From: Kevin Brock <email@hidden>
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