Mac Preferences Read and Write: what changed

Revision 1 to 2. Removed lines have a minus sign; added lines have a plus sign.

Old	New		Line
1	1		(macOS only)
2	2
3	3		## macOS File Storage Overview
4	4
5	5		## CFPreferences
6	6
7	7		For those who want to read and write preferences for a macOS application, this can be done using the following methods:
8	8
9	9		\| CODE FOR READING PREFERENCES \|
10	10		\|------------------------------\|
11	11		\| \|
12	12
13	13		``` pascal
14	14		uses MacOSAll, CFPreferences;
15	15
16	16		var
17	17		IsValid: Boolean; // On return indicates if key exists and has valid data
18	18		Pref: Integer;
19	19
20	20		procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
21	21		begin
22	22		try
23	23		Pref := CFPreferencesGetAppIntegerValue(CFStr('Check1'),kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication,IsValid);
24	24		if (Pref = 1) then
25	25		CheckBox1.Checked := true
26	26		else
27	27		CheckBox1.Checked := false;
28	28
29	29		Pref := CFPreferencesGetAppIntegerValue(CFStr('Check2'),kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication,IsValid);
30	30		if (Pref = 1) then
31	31		CheckBox2.Checked := true
32	32		else
33	33		CheckBox2.Checked := false;
34	34
35	35		Pref := CFPreferencesGetAppIntegerValue(CFStr('Check3'),kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication,IsValid);
36	36		if (Pref = 1) then
37	37		CheckBox3.Checked := true
38	38		else
39	39		CheckBox3.Checked := false;
40	40
41	41		Pref := CFPreferencesGetAppIntegerValue(CFStr('Check4'),kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication,IsValid);
42	42		if (Pref = 1) then
43	43		CheckBox4.Checked := true
44	44		else
45	45		CheckBox4.Checked := false;
46	46
47	47		except
48	48		on E : Exception do
49	49		ShowMessage(E.ClassName+' error raised, with message : '+E.Message);
50	50		end;
51	51		end;
52	52		```
53	53
54	54		\| CODE FOR WRITING PREFERENCES \|
55	55		\|------------------------------\|
56	56		\| \|
57	57
58	58		``` pascal
59	59		uses MacOSAll, CFPreferences;
60	60
61	61		var
62	62		ItemName: CFStringRef;
63	63		ItemVal: CFPropertyListRef;
64	64
65	65		procedure TForm1.FormClose(Sender: TObject);
66	66		begin
67	67		try
68	68		if (CheckBox1.Checked) then
69	69		begin
70	70		ItemName := CFStr('Check1');
71	71		ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'1',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
72	72		CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
73	73		end
74	74		else
75	75		begin
76	76		ItemName := CFStr('Check1');
77	77		ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'0',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
78	78		CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
79	79		end;
80	80
81	81		if (CheckBox2.Checked) then
82	82		begin
83	83		ItemName := CFStr('Check2');
84	84		ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'1',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
85	85		CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
86	86		end
87	87		else
88	88		begin
89	89		ItemName := CFStr('Check2');
90	90		ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'0',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
91	91		CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
92	92		end;
93	93
94	94		if (CheckBox3.Checked) then
95	95		begin
96	96		ItemName := CFStr('Check3');
97	97		ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'1',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
98	98		CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
99	99		end
100	100		else
101	101		begin
102	102		ItemName := CFStr('Check3');
103	103		ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'0',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
104	104		CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
105	105		end;
106	106
107	107		if (CheckBox4.Checked) then
108	108		begin
109	109		ItemName := CFStr('Check4');
110	110		ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'1',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
111	111		CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
112	112		end
113	113		else
114	114		begin
115	115		ItemName := CFStr('Check4');
116	116		ItemVal := CFStringCreateWithPascalString(kCFAllocatorDefault,'0',kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
117	117		CFPreferencesSetAppValue(ItemName,ItemVal,kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
118	118		end;
119	119
120	120		// write out the preference data
121	121		CFPreferencesAppSynchronize(kCFPreferencesCurrentApplication);
122	122
123	123		except
124	124		on E : Exception do
125	125		ShowMessage(E.ClassName+' error raised, with message : '+E.Message);
126	126		end;
127	127		```
128	128
129		-	~~<figure>~~
130		-	~~<img src="Prefs1.png" title="Prefs1.png" />~~
131		-	~~<figcaption>Prefs1.png</figcaption>~~
132		-	~~</figure>~~
	129	+	![](/wiki-images/6/61/Prefs1.png)
133	130
134	131		## NSUserDefaults
135	132
136	133		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.
137	134
138	135		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](https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/88811).
139	136
140	137		## See also
141	138
142	139		- [[macOS Form Position Save and Restore]] - Automatic save and restore using just one line of code!
143	140		- [[Introduction to platform-sensitive development]]
144	141		- [[Multiplatform Programming Guide\|Proper macOS file locations]]
145	142		- [[macOS Programming Tips]]
146	143
147	144		## External links
148	145
149	146		- [Apple: Managing Preferences Using Core Foundation](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/UserDefaults/AccessingPreferenceValues/AccessingPreferenceValues.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/10000059i-CH3-108766)
150	147		- [Apple: NSUserDefaults](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nsuserdefaults)
151	148		- [Apple: Preferences](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/preferences)
152	149		- [Apple: Preference Utilities](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corefoundation/preferences_utilities)
153	150		- [Apple: Preferences and Settings Programming Guide](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/UserDefaults/Introduction/Introduction.html)
154	151		- [Apple: Human Interface Guidelines - Preferences](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/app-architecture/preferences/)
155	152
156	153		---
157	154		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](/wiki-contact).

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