3.5. The Library I've made lots of references to the Library directory and have indicated that it is for the storage of resources. Any kind of resource that an application needs can be located in the Library. Here's a list of some of the most common directories you'll find in the Library and the kinds of resources they contain (and remember, you can create one of these directories in a domain in which it doesn't exist):
Application Support Contains third-party plug-ins, helper applications, templates, and even data for the applications on your system. You'll usually find the resources for an application in a subdirectory named after the application.
Audio Contains drivers, plug-ins, and sounds for Mac OS X's audio subsystems.
Caches Contains temporary data used by the applications on your system. For example, Safari will keep web page data here so when you revisit a page, you don't have to download all the content on it again.
Calendars Contains the ICS files used to store the calendar data for a user. This directory is used by iCal and appears only in the User domain.
ColorSync Contains profiles and scripts used by Mac OS X's ColorSync color management subsystem.
Documentation Contains documentation for various parts of the system. Also, the Help application uses this folder to hold files that it displays.
Favorites Contains aliases to frequently accessed folders, files, or web sites. This directory appears only in the User domain.
Fonts Contains fonts for applications to use. The fonts in this directory are easily managed using Font Book (/Applications).
Frameworks Contains the frameworks and shared libraries that applications need to operate.
Internet Plug-Ins Contains the various helper applications, such as the Flash Player, that extend the functionality of your web browsers.
Mail Appearing only in the User domain, this directory contains the mail for a user.
Preference Panes Contains applets that will appear in the System Preferences application.
Preferences Contains the preferences for an application.
Printers Contains printer drivers and printer definition (PPD) files. The drivers are organized by vendor name.
Scripting Additions Contains scripts and scripting resources to extend AppleScript's capabilities.
StartupItems Contains scripts and programs that are run at boot time. This appears only at the Local and System levels.
WebServer Appearing in the Local domain, this directory contains the content and CGI scripts for the system's web server. When you turn on web sharing on your machine, you can access the documents from your local machine using the URL http://localhost/.
Many other directories may appear in your Library, but as you can see, the files that you find here affect, control, and configure your experience on Mac OS X. |
