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Introduction to Runtime Configuration Guidelines

Contents:

Organization of This Document

Dynamic configuration is a convenient way to adjust the properties of your executable without recompiling your code. Rather than relying on hardcoded information, your application implements slightly different behaviors based on external settings. There are several ways to record these settings, ranging from user preferences to property lists stored with your bundle.

Bundles use property lists extensively to store information about the bundle and its contents. The information in these property lists is used by system entities, such as the Finder and Launch Services, to determine what to do with the bundle. For example, Launch Services uses data in an application’s information property list to bind one or more document types to the application.

Organization of This Document

This document contains the following articles:

• “Information Property List Files” discusses information property list files and how you use them to configure your bundled application.

• “Property List Key Reference” provides a reference for the keys that can go into an information property list file.

• “The Preferences System” discusses the role and scope of user preferences and describes the use of the defaults tool for accessing preferences.

• “Environment Variables” discusses the role of environment variables in configuring applications. This section also covers some of the ways you can establish environment variables for a given user session or process.

• “Guidelines for Configuring Applications” lists the required and recommended configuration options for applications. This article also describes additional ways to configure both bundled and non-bundled applications.

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