29

Does any one know how to modify a Plist file from command line using defaults? Currently there are two Dictionaries under the URL types array; I need to add another.

enter image description here

Every command i've tried have either replaced the entire dictionary, or created a new array called URL types instead of editing it. Any ideas of how this can be done in defaults (the console Mac app) and not PlistBuddy?

Just a coder
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    `$ defaults write domain key 'value'`, where `domain` relates to the app. https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/defaults.1.html – trojanfoe Dec 06 '12 at 12:01
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    FYI (not really an answer to your question): [Mac OS X Prefs Editor - A GUI for the 'defaults' command](http://www.tempel.org/PrefsEditor) – Graham Perrin Feb 22 '14 at 09:26

4 Answers4

30

XML property lists can be viewed in a text editor directly as Lauri's answer above suggests.

Binary property lists (found in many of Apple's own shipping applications) need to be converted to an XML property list format first.

plutil may be used to do this, in either direction. Take care though as the property list is modified in place, so you make wish to make a copy of the property list first.

plutil -convert xml1 binary-property-list-to-convert.plist

And to convert it back to binary:

plutil -convert binary1 XML-property-list-to-convert.plist
ctpenrose
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19

Open the Info.plist in a text editor to see the actual identifiers.

defaults write Absolute/Path/to/Info.plist CFBundleURLTypes -array-add '<dict>
<key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
<string>Viewer</string>
<key>CFBundleURLName</key>
<string>Mac App Store URL</string>
<key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
<array>
<string>macappstore</string>
</array>
</dict>'

pbpaste | pl converts the XML to the old-style format.

defaults write Info.plist CFBundleURLTypes -array-add '{CFBundleTypeRole=Viewer; FBundleURLName="Mac App Store URL";CFBundleURLSchemes=(macappstore);}'

Senseful
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Lri
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  • man! this had me so confused. XCode changes the names of the keys to the values you see displayed in the image above (in my question). So thats why it was adding new entries. thanks dude. – Just a coder Dec 06 '12 at 19:44
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    You can also display the text representation of the plist in XCode by right clicking the plist in the Project Navigator and selecting "Open As > Source Code" (much quicker than opening the file externally...) – Bouncing Bit Aug 18 '15 at 14:19
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    It is extremely important that the path provided to the plist file has to be an *absolute* one. If it is relative like in this example, you'll end up creating or modifying `~/Library/Preferences/Info.plist` – derFunk Mar 04 '16 at 09:23
  • [Absolute paths](https://stackoverflow.com/a/31605674/35690) are critical as derFunk mentioned. – Senseful Aug 12 '19 at 22:53
9

OSX has PlistBuddy, which makes this a lot simpler.

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/PlistBuddy.8.html

See also: https://github.com/kevinSuttle/OSXDefaults/blob/master/REFERENCE.md

Kevin Suttle
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    I used this command: /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "set CFBundleURLTypes:CFBundleURLSchemes fb$FacebookAppID" But it is not work. what should i do – biolinh Dec 22 '14 at 07:33
6

Use the -array-add value type:

defaults write /path/to/plist/file "URL Types" -array-add '{"URL Identifier" = "com.myapp.2"; "URL Schemes" = { "two"; }; }'
Gordon Davisson
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    I'm on macOS Catalina (10.15) and it seems `defaults` no longer works with file paths. In the man it says: "WARNING: The defaults command will be changed in an upcoming major release to only operate on preferences domains. General plist manipulation utilities will be folded into a different command-line program." – ThomasW Jul 08 '21 at 06:56