March 2025 - Cocoa-dev - lists.apple.com

Re: How to change settings of my screen saver on the command line
by Gabriel Zachmann via Cocoa-dev 27 Mar '25

27 Mar '25

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: cocoa-dev(a)lists.apple.com Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=simple/simple; d=uni-bremen.de; s=2019; t=1743077236; i=(a)uni-bremen.de; bh=zzokRpvARkRSAmPeviitkQof591iN9vRMea9ibi5xPw=; h=From:Subject:Date:References:To:In-Reply-To; b=YDNfGp5bRCPctI25oEBPzc6Gr74oBhoBqEXVYpgZNqwX7hmY6Z1Jo26tlX7SPLsPP 6Yw1QcGqdOjEcyy5PfZZ65EtkaQHtt/Q7dth81CEjf0C9DF2CWhNe5Dh4AF4l6W9Xo 7hJ1lr7JjHJXOhMHCZ9SlF9+Ry4HwvAsb8XykEHZmDCG0pE/Q0k9nxYjAmZ8xAL3Th 4rWB3THOU4LT4/SMJJ77xXYHyMOWllG3tUX130NA8B0CWkkDpNTveXQk1lk41DIeV5 piNIMQEznEMjbqGs3bylXT+swApugKee6PFmf2qv2xI5JKfIrHmj07N/NenNhsPNBY 0118DD4cGUm4g== > > If you read 'man defaults', you'll see that you should be able to manipulate > a defaults file by its path. However, when I try it on my legacy > screensaver's plists, it fails, saying the file doesn't exist. Right. I seem to remember that Apple changed the defaults system with macOS 15 (or 14?). The old ways don't work anymore, IIRC. Especially the plist files seem to play a somewhat different role than they used to. Best regards, Gabriel _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/site_archiver%40lists.app… This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com smime.p7s

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Re: How to change settings of my screen saver on the command line
by Steve Mills via Cocoa-dev 26 Mar '25

26 Mar '25

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: cocoa-dev(a)lists.apple.com Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=mac.com; s=1a1hai; bh=WUqwVKkcfCbD6tuxb0Z4836dBzEiEV2q/FfpgRcbEE4=; h=From:Content-Type:Mime-Version:Subject:Date:To:Message-Id:x-icloud-hme; b=syZG3yYrzsRm9ndC0jLwsuBplsrKPW5FwcQ5VPSgbhPY0wy9BBCaf7JJ1va54wLza hKiXpsO/S8Zp5MCI7J+9jqqH9L5TCYeFlWU88ZD9LOv1igd/luS8xpWsCVAOgIBv28 ZNwUaatR2ONTYcN85LCZgPshjVnOiPhMyZQ+k9PZWDUayWm5pv1+GusTMl+TScZcDn yUzvaIbiQ4Dq+rQPV8gvjLto9jQqKF6MV4i4WOHipDXYo2gnc4h4FsPgCaN27TJ07+ KpnukDoY8wFsMUyoaGBQso9m29n5YeSN2ShJTYDsTiYe6486TBKDLljD3yWNNxGqQm DT5lYOlyzl4vQ== On Mar 26, 2025, at 08:08, Gabriel Zachmann via Cocoa-dev <cocoa-dev(a)lists.apple.com> wrote: > > I have a screensaver that uses a number of settings the user can change > through the Options in System Settings. > > It uses several dictionaries, one per display type (built-in, external > monitor, ...). > > In an app, I would use this command line to change one of the settings (while > the app is not running): > > defaults write de.zach.ArtSaverApp "Built-in Retina Display_0" -dict-add > FontName -string "Museo Slab" > > Does anybody know, if/how I could achieve the same thing with my screen saver? If you read 'man defaults', you'll see that you should be able to manipulate a defaults file by its path. However, when I try it on my legacy screensaver's plists, it fails, saying the file doesn't exist. Even when using sudo, it can't find it. If I list the known domains, my screensaver is not listed. This is all likely because legacyscreensaver hides everything under its own Container. ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.ScreenSaver.Engine.legacyScreenSaver/Data/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.your.domain.screenID-hex-number.plist -- Steve Mills Drummer, Mac geek Why do you need to write to your screensavers prefs outside of the System Prefs window? Debugging? If so, just add temporary lines of code that manipulate the prefs when your screensaver loads: #if DEBUG ScreenSaverDefaults* prefs = [ScreenSaverDefaults defaultsForModuleWithName:MyModuleName]; [prefs setBlah:x forKey:kKey]; #endif -- Steve Mills Drummer, Mac geek _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/site_archiver%40lists.app… This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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How to change settings of my screen saver on the command line
by Gabriel Zachmann via Cocoa-dev 26 Mar '25

26 Mar '25

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: cocoa-dev(a)lists.apple.com Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=simple/simple; d=uni-bremen.de; s=2019; t=1742994540; i=(a)uni-bremen.de; bh=r94MiJY7Sf1CEOAWt4dFsx6x22RVvxSSGKCbjYb1XQc=; h=From:Subject:Date:To; b=l5VRXH9m1v9HOhzXg3jWkwIMcl++P32bfR+ibgHkVAPhBoTo8hKAFxCD2741KiLKP YmQcgAzZRLa0YadK6Y8gujHrJZNnLXCEZiKzTwUIlndUYusYTD20lqeVY7ruvUtaem 2IAeTZRUwGcq9sRcqfIv1PogQv7/lUoTgH4PSNlC0+xZrJFh9KnMyCGfQRZeqInX/r 0V4JtL2jzhGn8GBMy5MWKLJQA04HLn6YfV5ChWaYqpIAVyGESiMTpNPHJ/k3l9QHmS 39+LVtcP58o//Gn9BpyQWfeOtfi+sd8Wbd4LFDHyCSy8NUKWeUlyv3M4qFUXrwQXDn ZtM3nUBTUg8eQ== I have a screensaver that uses a number of settings the user can change through the Options in System Settings. It uses several dictionaries, one per display type (built-in, external monitor, ...). In an app, I would use this command line to change one of the settings (while the app is not running): defaults write de.zach.ArtSaverApp "Built-in Retina Display_0" -dict-add FontName -string "Museo Slab" Does anybody know, if/how I could achieve the same thing with my screen saver? It is mandatory to use the command line to change one of its settings. Any hint or pointers will be highly appreciated. Best regards, Gabriel _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/site_archiver%40lists.app… This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com smime.p7s

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