Glossary

• choice requirement  

  A test that compares the value of a system property (such as the amount of random-access memory available) with a value. Choice requirements determine the value of a choice’s user-interface properties: selected, actionable, and visible.



• choice requirement editor  

  Area of a PackageMaker project window that allows packagers to specify a choice requirement (and how it affects the value of the choice’s user-interface properties). See also choice requirement.



• component package  

  Installer package that contains a single software component as its payload. See also, product package.



• component package editor  

  Area of a PackageMaker project window that specifies packaging and installation information about a product component. This editor is displayed when a component is selected in the Contents pane in the project window.



• downgradable component  

  A product component, such as an application binary or a plug-in, that can be replaced with an earlier version in an install process.



• finalization action  

  An action required after a completed installation process. The possible finalization actions are log-out, restart, and shutdown.



• install choice  

  An option users can select or deselect during the installation process to specify whether a product component is to be installed



• install customization pane  

  A pane users see while interacting with the Installer application if the package being installed allows the user to customize the install by choosing the product components to be installed. See also, product package, product component.



• install operation  

  An install-time operation performed by an executable file that is invoked at the beginning or at the end of the install. The two install operations supported in OS X v10.5 are preinstall and postinstall.



• installation action  

  A task to be performed before or after an install. PackageMaker defines several installation actions, including Quit Application and Show File in Finder.



• installation package  

  A file package with the pkg or mpkg extension. Installation packages contain a payload and installation information used by the Installer or Remote Desktop applications to identify the payload’s parts and generate an install experience for the user.



• Installer package database  

  System-level database of all the installation packages installed by the Installer application.



• managed install  

  An Installer application–driven installation process. Users open an installer package in Installer, which then guides them through the installation process.



• manual install  

  An user-driven installation process. In this software-installation method, users drag a product’s files to a location of their choosing in their computer’s file system. See also managed install.



• package identifier  

  Identifies the package within the Installer package database. See also Installer package database.



• package list  

  A pane in a PackageMaker project window that lists the packages the project defines. This list is divided in two parts: the installation-package file (which contains all the product’s files) and the subpackages or package references that contain components of the product.



• package requirement  

  A test that determines whether a package can be installed on the computer. A package requirement can be optional; such requirements display a warning to the user but allows the install to proceed. Non-optional requirements prevent an install from taking place.



• package version number  

  Positive integer that identifies an iteration of a single-component product package, or an iteration of a component package within a product package. This version number should be incremented when the contents or installation details of the package are changed. See also product package component package.



• payload  

  The product or product components contained in an installation package. See also installation package.



• product component  

  Self-contained part of a product. A product can have one or more components. The OS X file system contains special locations for several types of components. For example, application binaries are placed in Application directories, plug-ins are housed in Plugin directories, fonts live in Fonts directories, and so on.



• product package  

  Installation package that contains all the components of a product. Product packages with multicomponent products contain or reference component packages. See also installation package.



• product package editor  

  A pane in a PackageMaker project window that specifies packaging and installation information about a product. This pane is displayed when the product package is selected in the package list.



• provider identifier  

  Identifier for the entity responsible for the contents of an installation package; for example, com.apple. PackageMaker uses this identifier to generate default package identifiers for a product package’s components. See also package identifier.



• relocatable component  

  A product component, such as an application binary or a plug-in, that the user may move after it has been installed.



• target OS version  

  The earliest release of OS X in which the installation package is to be installed. The package is installable on the specified release and later. For example, a package whose target OS is OS X v10.4 can be installed on computers running OS X v10.4 and later releases.



• volume requirement  

  A test that compares the value of a volume property (such as free space) with a value. Volume requirements determine whether the user can choose a particular volume as the destination volume of a product package.