.\""Copyright (c) 2001 Apple Computer, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
.Dd March 24, 2001
.Dt DEFAULTS 1
.Os Mac 10
.Sh NAME
.Nm defaults
.Nd access the Mac OS X user defaults system
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Ar currentHost | Fl host Ar hostname
read
.Oo
.Ar domain
.Op Ar key
.Oc
.Pp
.Nm
.Op Ar currentHost | Fl host Ar hostname
read-type
.Ar domain key
.Pp
.Nm
.Op Ar currentHost | Fl host Ar hostname
write
.Ar domain Li { Ar 'plist' | domain key 'value'
}
.Pp
.Nm
.Op Ar currentHost | Fl host Ar hostname
rename
.Ar domain old_key new_key
.Pp
.Nm
.Op Ar currentHost | Fl host Ar hostname
delete
.Oo
.Ar domain
.Op Ar key
.Oc
.Pp
.Nm
.Op Ar currentHost | Fl host Ar hostname
.Li { Ar domains
| find
.Ar word | help
}
.Pp
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm Defaults
allows users to read, write, and delete Mac OS X user defaults from a command-line shell. Mac OS X applications and other programs use the defaults system to record user preferences and other information that must be maintained when the applications aren't running (such as default font for new documents, or the position of an Info panel). Much of this information is accessible through an application's Preferences panel, but some of it isn't, such as the position of the Info panel. You can access this information with
.Nm
.Pp
.Sy Note:
Since applications do access the defaults system while they're running, you shouldn't modify the defaults of a running application. If you change a default in a domain that belongs to a running application, the application won't see the change and might even overwrite the default.
.Pp
User defaults belong to
.Ar domains ,
which typically correspond to individual applications. Each domain has a dictionary of keys and values representing its defaults; for example, "Default\ Font" = "Helvetica". Keys are always strings, but values can be complex data structures comprising arrays, dictionaries, strings, and binary data. These data structures are stored as XML Property Lists.
.Pp
Though all applications, system services, and other programs have their own domains, they also share a domain named
.Sy NSGlobalDomain .
If a default isn't specified in the application's domain, but is specified in
.Sy NSGlobalDomain ,
then the application uses the value in that domain.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -indent -width domains
.It Sy read
Prints all of the user's defaults, for every domain, to standard output.
.It Sy read Ar domain
Prints all of the user's defaults for
.Ar domain
to standard output.
.It Sy read Ar domain key
Prints the value for the default of
.Ar domain
identified by
.Ar key .
.It Sy write Ar domain key 'value'
Writes
.Ar value
as the value for
.Ar key
in
.Ar domain .
.Ar value
must be a property list, and must be enclosed in single quotes.
For example:
.Bd -literal -indent
defaults write com.companyname.appname "Default Color" '(255, 0, 0)'
.Ed
.Pp
sets the value for Default Color to an array containing the strings 255, 0, 0 (the red, green, and blue components). Note that the key is enclosed in quotation marks because it contains a space.
.It Sy write Ar domain 'plist'
Overwrites the defaults information in
.Ar domain
with that given as
.Ar plist .
.Ar plist
must be a property list representation of a dictionary, and must be enclosed in single quotes.
For example:
.Bd -literal -indent
defaults write com.companyname.appname '{ "Default Color" = (255, 0, 0);
"Default Font" = Helvetica; }';
.Ed
.Pp
erases any previous defaults for com.companyname.appname and writes the values for the two names into the defaults system.
.It Sy delete Ar domain
Removes all default information for
.Ar domain .
.It Sy delete Ar domain key
Removes the default named
.Ar key
from
.Ar domain .
.It Sy domains
Prints the names of all domains in the user's defaults system.
.TP
.It Sy find Ar word
Searches for
.Ar word
in the domain names, keys, and values of the user's defaults, and prints out a list of matches.
.It Sy help
Prints a list of possible command formats.
.Sh BUGS
Defaults can be structured in very complex ways, making it difficult for the user to enter them with this command.
.Sh HISTORY
First appeared in NeXTStep.