Part V: Mac OS X Online

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18.4. Rewriting the Words

Mac OS X stores the text and settings of its menus , dialog boxes, and other elements in special text files called plist (for Property List) files. They sit in one of the three Library folders (in your Home folder, the System folder, or the hard drive window).

The easiest way to edit them is to use Apple's Property List Editor, a program that came on your Mac OS X Developer CD. Once you've installed your developer tools as described on Section 10.26.21, you can find Property List Editor in Developer Applications Utilities.

Figure 18-5. Top: This simple file contains the name of the Trash icon on the Dock ”and the name of the Eject icon that replaces it when you're dragging a disk. By doubleclicking the text in the Value column, you can edit these descriptions to change the corresponding names .
Bottom: The resulting Trash has a very different name.


There are hundreds of plist files, so some experimentation and patience is required. Most of the cool changes you can make to your plists can be made much more easily using TinkerTool, described at the beginning of this chapter. Here, however, is an example of a smaller change you can make this way.

18.4.1. Renaming the Trash

It's called Trash, but in Mac OS X, it looks more like an office wastebasket. When inspiration on the work you're supposed to be doing runs dry, consider remedying this discrepancy by changing the name of the Trash icon to something more appropriate.

In PropertyList Editor, choose File Open. Navigate to System Library Core Services Dock Contents Resources English.lproj InfoPlist.strings.

Click the Root triangle to view and edit the settings, as directed in Figure 18-5.

Once you're finished making the change, choose File Save As, and save your edited plist document to the desktop. Now replace the original document (after making a safety copy, if you like) with your edited version, using any of the three techniques described on Section 18.2.1.

In any case, the next time you log in, you see your new name on the Trash.

18.4.2. Rewording the Dock

Using the same routine described in the previous paragraphs, you can edit all of the commands that pertain to the Dock ”both its commands in the a menu (Dock Preferences, Turn Magnification On, and so on) and the shortcut menus that pop out of the Dock icons themselves . These wordings are in System Library Core Services Dock.app Contents Resources English.lproj DockMenus.plist. Click the flippy triangles to see the various commands you can rewrite.

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Mac OS X. The Missing Manual
Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual (Missing Manuals)
ISBN: 0596153287
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 506
Authors: David Pogue

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