Where do you save preferences?

[Richard Gaskin]

Igor de Oliveira Couto wrote:

 > A few weeks ago, someone else in this list pointed me to the
 > following document:
 >
 > 
http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/FileManagement/Conceptual/FileSystemProgrammingGUide/FileSystemOverview/FileSystemOverview.html
 >
 > If you have a look at "Table 1-3" on that page, it spells out
 > how the "Preferences" and "Application Support" folders should
 > be used in MacOS X. In regards to the Preferences folder, it
 > states:
 >
 > "This directory contains app-specific preference files. You
 > should not create files in this directory yourself. Instead,
 > use theNSUserDefaults class or CFPreferences API to get and
 > set preference values for your app."

Thanks for that detail.

So it seems the HIG is still in place, but they want all devs to use 
APPLE'S API and APPLE'S file format to comply with it.

If you don't do this they will relegate your app to a MacGhetto 
previously known as "the entire Web" where will they scare your 
potential customers with warnings about the risks of downloading apps 
from the Internet.

Hmmm...this seems kinda familiar....Apple controlling file formats in 
ways that hamper cross platforms development...gosh, where I have I seen 
that before?


In 2010 RunRev was among the many companies that suffered significant 
financial damage by Apple's sudden and unprecedented change of direction 
with the license terms in the iOS SDK v4.0, an attempt to control the 
very provenance of code by requiring that its source be written in only 
four of the hundreds of possible languages you might prefer (C, C++, 
Objective-C, and JavaScript):
<http://whydoeseverythingsuck.com/2010/04/jobs-bans-non-c-libraries-insane.html>

What does that have to do with this Prefs issues?

Writing data to a file is among the most trivial things nearly every 
programming language can do, not exactly the sort of exotic, complex 
operation that might plausibly require OS-level support.

Obviously there's something more going on here.

Has Apple explained *why* they no longer allow devs to write their own 
files for their apps in formats of their own choosing?

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
  Follow me on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/FourthWorldSys