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libplist
A small portable C library to handle Apple Property List files in binary, XML, JSON, or OpenStep format.
Table of Contents
Features
The project provides an interface to read and write plist files in binary,
XML, JSON, or OpenStep format alongside a command-line utility named plistutil
.
Some key features are:
- Formats: Supports binary, XML, JSON, and OpenStep format
- Utility: Provides a
plistutil
utility for the command-line - Python: Provides Cython based bindings for Python
- Tested: Uses fuzzing (OSS-Fuzz) and data compliance tests
- Efficient: Lean library with performance and resources in mind
Building
Prerequisites
You need to have a working compiler (gcc/clang) and development environent available. This project uses autotools for the build process, allowing to have common build steps across different platforms. Only the prerequisites differ and they are described in this section.
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu based)
-
Install all required dependencies and build tools:
sudo apt-get install \ build-essential \ checkinstall \ git \ autoconf \ automake \ libtool-bin
If you want to optionally build the documentation or Python bindings use:
sudo apt-get install \ doxygen \ cython3
macOS
-
Make sure the Xcode command line tools are installed. Then, use either MacPorts or Homebrew to install
automake
,autoconf
, andlibtool
.Using MacPorts:
sudo port install libtool autoconf automake
Using Homebrew:
brew install libtool autoconf automake
In case you want to build the documentation, install
doxygen
using the corresponding install command from above.If you want to build Python bindings, you need to install cython:
pip3 install cython
You might need to set a few environment variables if building of the Python bindings fail. For example, the automated build via GitHub actions is setting the following environment variables:
PYTHON3_BIN=`xcrun -f python3` export PYTHON=$PYTHON3_BIN PYTHON_VER=`$PYTHON3_BIN -c "import distutils.sysconfig; print(distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var('VERSION'))"` PYTHON_EXEC_PREFIX=`$PYTHON3_BIN -c "import distutils.sysconfig; print(distutils.sysconfig.get_config_var('exec_prefix'))"` PYTHON_LIBS_PATH=$PYTHON_EXEC_PREFIX/lib PYTHON_FRAMEWORK_PATH=$PYTHON_EXEC_PREFIX/Python3 export PYTHON_LIBS="-L$PYTHON_LIBS_PATH -lpython$PYTHON_VER" export PYTHON_EXTRA_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-stack_size,1000000 -framework CoreFoundation $PYTHON_FRAMEWORK_PATH"
Windows
-
Using MSYS2 is the official way of compiling this project on Windows. Download the MSYS2 installer and follow the installation steps.
It is recommended to use the MSYS2 MinGW 64-bit shell. Run it and make sure the required dependencies are installed:
pacman -S base-devel \ git \ mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc \ make \ libtool \ autoconf \ automake-wrapper
NOTE: You can use a different shell and different compiler according to your needs. Adapt the above command accordingly.
If you want to optionally build Python bindings, you need to also install
cython
and make sure you have a working python environment.pacman -S cython
Configuring the source tree
You can build the source code from a git checkout, or from a .tar.bz2
release tarball from Releases.
Before we can build it, the source tree has to be configured for building. The steps depend on where you got the source from.
-
From git
If you haven't done already, clone the actual project repository and change into the directory.
git clone https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libplist.git cd libplist
Configure the source tree for building:
./autogen.sh
-
From release tarball (.tar.bz2)
When using an official release tarball (
libplist-x.y.z.tar.bz2
) the procedure is slightly different.Extract the tarball:
tar xjf libplist-x.y.z.tar.bz2 cd libplist-x.y.z
Configure the source tree for building:
./configure
Both ./configure
and ./autogen.sh
(which generates and calls configure
) accept a few options, for example --enable-debug
to allow
printing debug messages in the final product, or --without-cython
to skip building the Python bindings.
You can simply pass them like this:
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr/local --enable-debug --without-cython
or
./configure --prefix=/usr/local --enable-debug
Once the command is successful, the last few lines of output will look like this:
[...]
config.status: creating config.h
config.status: executing depfiles commands
config.status: executing libtool commands
Configuration for libplist 2.3.1:
-------------------------------------------
Install prefix ..........: /usr/local
Debug code ..............: yes
Python bindings .........: yes
Now type 'make' to build libplist 2.3.1,
and then 'make install' for installation.
Building and installation
If you followed all the steps successfully, and autogen.sh
or configure
did not print any errors,
you are ready to build the project. This is simply done with
make
If no errors are emitted you are ready for installation. Depending on whether the current user has permissions to write to the destination directory or not, you would either run
make install
OR
sudo make install
If you are on Linux, you want to run sudo ldconfig
after installation to
make sure the installed libraries are made available.
Usage
Usage is simple; libplist
has a straight-forward API. It is used in libimobiledevice
and corresponding projects.
Furthermore, it comes with a command line utility plistutil
that is really easy to use:
plistutil -i foobar.plist -o output.plist
This converts the foobar.plist
file to the opposite format, e.g. binary to
XML or vice versa, and outputs it to the output.plist
file.
To convert to a specific format - and also to convert from JSON or OpenStep
format - use the -f
command line switch:
plistutil -i input.plist -f json
This will convert input.plist
, regardless of the input format, to JSON. The
code auto-detects the input format and parses it accordingly.
Please consult the usage information or manual page for a full documentation of available command line options:
plistutil --help
or
man plistutil
Contributing
We welcome contributions from anyone and are grateful for every pull request!
If you'd like to contribute, please fork the master
branch, change, commit and
send a pull request for review. Once approved it can be merged into the main
code base.
If you plan to contribute larger changes or a major refactoring, please create a ticket first to discuss the idea upfront to ensure less effort for everyone.
Please make sure your contribution adheres to:
- Try to follow the code style of the project
- Commit messages should describe the change well without being too short
- Try to split larger changes into individual commits of a common domain
- Use your real name and a valid email address for your commits
Links
- Homepage: https://libimobiledevice.org/
- Repository: https://git.libimobiledevice.org/libplist.git
- Repository (Mirror): https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libplist.git
- Issue Tracker: https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libplist/issues
- Mailing List: https://lists.libimobiledevice.org/mailman/listinfo/libimobiledevice-devel
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/libimobiledev
License
This project is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1,
also included in the repository in the COPYING
file.
Credits
Apple, iPhone, iPad, iPod, iPod Touch, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Mac, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc.
This project is an independent software library and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc.
README Updated on: 2024-02-21