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Mac Preferences Read and Write

(macOS only)

macOS File Storage Overview

CFPreferences

For those who want to read and write preferences for a macOS application, this can be done using the following methods:

CODE FOR READING PREFERENCES
pascal
  uses MacOSAll, CFPreferences;

  var
    IsValid: Boolean;  // On return indicates if key exists and has valid data
    Pref: Integer;

  procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
  begin
    try
       Pref := CFPreferencesGetAppIntegerValue(CFStr('Check1'),kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication,IsValid);
       if (Pref = 1) then
          CheckBox1.Checked := true
       else
          CheckBox1.Checked := false;

       Pref := CFPreferencesGetAppIntegerValue(CFStr('Check2'),kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication,IsValid);
       if (Pref = 1) then
          CheckBox2.Checked := true
       else
          CheckBox2.Checked := false;

       Pref := CFPreferencesGetAppIntegerValue(CFStr('Check3'),kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication,IsValid);
       if (Pref = 1) then
          CheckBox3.Checked := true
       else
          CheckBox3.Checked := false;

       Pref := CFPreferencesGetAppIntegerValue(CFStr('Check4'),kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication,IsValid);
       if (Pref = 1) then
          CheckBox4.Checked := true
       else
          CheckBox4.Checked := false;

    except
      on E : Exception do
        ShowMessage(E.ClassName+' error raised, with message : '+E.Message);
    end;
  end;
CODE FOR WRITING PREFERENCES
pascal
  uses MacOSAll, CFPreferences;

  var
    ItemName: CFStringRef;
    ItemVal: CFPropertyListRef;

  procedure TForm1.FormClose(Sender: TObject);
  begin
    try
       if (CheckBox1.Checked) then
         begin
           ItemName := CFStr('Check1');
           ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'1',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
           CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
         end
       else
         begin
           ItemName := CFStr('Check1');
           ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'0',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
           CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
         end;

       if (CheckBox2.Checked) then
         begin
           ItemName := CFStr('Check2');
           ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'1',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
           CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
         end
       else 
         begin
           ItemName := CFStr('Check2');
           ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'0',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
           CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
         end;
       
       if (CheckBox3.Checked) then
         begin
           ItemName := CFStr('Check3');
           ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'1',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
           CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
         end
       else
         begin
           ItemName := CFStr('Check3');
           ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'0',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
           CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
         end;

       if (CheckBox4.Checked) then
         begin
           ItemName := CFStr('Check4');
           ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'1',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
           CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
         end
       else
         begin
           ItemName := CFStr('Check4');
           ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'0',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
           CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
         end;

       // write out the preference data
       CFPreferencesAppSynchronize(kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);

     except
       on E : Exception do
         ShowMessage(E.ClassName+' error raised, with message : '+E.Message);
     end;

NSUserDefaults

The NSUserDefaults class, available since Mac OS X 10.0 (Cheetah), provides a programmatic interface for interacting with the defaults system which allows an application to customise its behaviour to match a user’s preferences.

Unfortunately there were serious problems with NSUserdefaults in iOS 9 and macOS 10.12 (Sierra) and 10.13 (High Sierra) which mitigate against its use. Some of the issues are mentioned in this Apple Developer Forum thread.

See also

External links

From the Free Pascal wiki, page "Mac Preferences Read and Write", as it stood on 2021-12-28 after a change by Trev, out of the wiki's dump of 2024-05-26. Copyright stays with the author who wrote it, according to the old wiki's Licensing page. If you have concerns about this material, message the admin.

Revision 2, last changed by WikiArchive .

Edited on wiki.freepascal.org by 4 people, 2012–2021

From the official wiki's backup of 26 May 2024: who edited this page there, and when. Edits made there after that date were not recorded, and the earlier versions are not shown here; the main page says why.

WhenWhoWhat changed
Cringer000New Page about "Mac Preferences Read and Write".
Cringer000Changed intro sentence wording from "this can be done by the following methods:" to "this can be done using the following methods:"
Cringer000Moving example photo to the bottom part which is where it belonged the start with. (minor)
Jwdietrich
Jwdietrich
Jwdietrich
TrevmacOS only classification; added syntax highlighting wiki markup (minor)
TrevSee also: added alsos (minor)
TrevIValid -> IsValid and explained significance; reformatted code (minor)
TrevRationalised macOS categories (minor)
FTurtleAdded template, categories moved to template
TrevFixed page link (minor)
TrevAdded content from template
TrevAdded External links section for Apple docs
TrevPreferences: Add code comment (minor)
TrevExternal links: Updated link description; fix typo (minor)
TrevCFPreferences: re-titile to add NSUserDefaults
TrevNSUserDefaults: New section
TrevExternal links: Add NSUserDefaults link
TrevExternal links: Fix typos (minor)
TrevSee also: Fix broken page link (minor)
TrevSee also: Add link

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