What would I use to create a plist (for launched) from the command line?

In article <4de8aacc-d276-4aed-ba86->,
wrote:

> So you would recommend just sticking with cron? I've written probably at
> least a hundred cron jobs over the last 25 years so I'd prefer that. I guess
> I reacted only because I saw cron being labeled by Apple as 'obsolete'.

launchd has some capabilities that cron doesn't -- it can trigger on
events other than just time, or run jobs conditionally. But if what you
want to do fits cron's abilities, there's no reason to avoid it. Not
only has Apple incorporated cron's function into launchd, they've even
extended it -- you can use @AppleNotOnBattery to skip a cron job when a
laptop is running on battery power. The "obsolete" label just means
that launchd can do everything cron does and more.

--
Barry Margolin,
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***

In article <barmar->,
Barry Margolin <> wrote:

> In article <aat399->,
> Paul Sture <> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:56 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
> >
> > > tried that when plists first came along. The only way I could find to
> > > do it was put a whole load of entries in for 8:00, 8:15. 8:30 etc.
> > >
> > > The cron equivalent that gets you that for 24 hours a day is of the
> > > form:
> > >
> > > */15 * * * * /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> >
> > And to be pedantic, that entry is something I copied off the internets.
> > The real working thing looks like this:
> >
> > */15 * * * * news /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
>
> You only put the username in the file if it's the system-wide
> /etc/crontab. But normally, cron jobs are installed using the "crontab"
> command, which puts them in per-user files in /usr/lib/cron/jobs. These
> files don't contain the username after the time fields, since it would
> be redundant.

On MacOS 10.6, the file is in /var/at/tabs/<user>. Just another
weirdness of MacOS vs. Solaris vs. Linux.

--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...
[I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically ignored]

David Empson <> writes:

> Property List Editor is installed with the developer tools up to Xcode
> 3.x (not sure whether it was also there for early versions of Xcode 4).
>
> With Xcode 4.3 (in Lion), Property List Editor it is no longer available
> as a standalone utility, and its functionality is built into the Xcode
> application.

As just a general note, PlistEdit Pro is a very good tool -

http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/plisteditpro/

And is available for OS X from 10.2.8 and up -

http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/plisteditpro_downloads

It costs US$30, but you can try it for free first. I've used
it for years, and am quite happy with it.

Billy Y..
--
sub #'9+1 ,r0 ; convert ascii byte
add #9.+1 ,r0 ; to an integer
bcc 20$ ; not a number

In article <vilain->,
Michael Vilain <> wrote:

> In article <barmar->,
> Barry Margolin <> wrote:
>
> > In article <aat399->,
> > Paul Sture <> wrote:
> >
> > > On Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:56 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
> > >
> > > > tried that when plists first came along. The only way I could find to
> > > > do it was put a whole load of entries in for 8:00, 8:15. 8:30 etc.
> > > >
> > > > The cron equivalent that gets you that for 24 hours a day is of the
> > > > form:
> > > >
> > > > */15 * * * * /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> > >
> > > And to be pedantic, that entry is something I copied off the internets.
> > > The real working thing looks like this:
> > >
> > > */15 * * * * news /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> >
> > You only put the username in the file if it's the system-wide
> > /etc/crontab. But normally, cron jobs are installed using the "crontab"
> > command, which puts them in per-user files in /usr/lib/cron/jobs. These
> > files don't contain the username after the time fields, since it would
> > be redundant.
>
> On MacOS 10.6, the file is in /var/at/tabs/<user>. Just another
> weirdness of MacOS vs. Solaris vs. Linux.

No. Cron and at are different: cron is for repeated executions, at is
for one-time executions.

I'm still on 10.6, which it has both, and I believe this is how it's
been for years.

--
Barry Margolin,
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***

In article <barmar->,
Barry Margolin <> wrote:

> In article <vilain->,
> Michael Vilain <> wrote:
>
> > In article <barmar->,
> > Barry Margolin <> wrote:
> >
> > > In article <aat399->,
> > > Paul Sture <> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:56 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > tried that when plists first came along. The only way I could find
> > > > > to
> > > > > do it was put a whole load of entries in for 8:00, 8:15. 8:30 etc.
> > > > >
> > > > > The cron equivalent that gets you that for 24 hours a day is of the
> > > > > form:
> > > > >
> > > > > */15 * * * * /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> > > >
> > > > And to be pedantic, that entry is something I copied off the internets.
> > > > The real working thing looks like this:
> > > >
> > > > */15 * * * * news /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> > >
> > > You only put the username in the file if it's the system-wide
> > > /etc/crontab. But normally, cron jobs are installed using the "crontab"
> > > command, which puts them in per-user files in /usr/lib/cron/jobs. These
> > > files don't contain the username after the time fields, since it would
> > > be redundant.
> >
> > On MacOS 10.6, the file is in /var/at/tabs/<user>. Just another
> > weirdness of MacOS vs. Solaris vs. Linux.
>
> No. Cron and at are different: cron is for repeated executions, at is
> for one-time executions.

True, but that's still where the users' crontab is stored; at least
that's where mine is.

>
> I'm still on 10.6, which it has both, and I believe this is how it's
> been for years.

--
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf
of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy. -- Ambrose Bierce

In article <tom_stiller->,
Tom Stiller <> wrote:

> In article <barmar->,
> Barry Margolin <> wrote:
>
> > In article <vilain->,
> > Michael Vilain <> wrote:
> >
> > > In article <barmar->,
> > > Barry Margolin <> wrote:
> > >
> > > > In article <aat399->,
> > > > Paul Sture <> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > On Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:56 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > tried that when plists first came along. The only way I could
> > > > > > find
> > > > > > to
> > > > > > do it was put a whole load of entries in for 8:00, 8:15. 8:30 etc.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The cron equivalent that gets you that for 24 hours a day is of the
> > > > > > form:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > */15 * * * * /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> > > > >
> > > > > And to be pedantic, that entry is something I copied off the
> > > > > internets.
> > > > > The real working thing looks like this:
> > > > >
> > > > > */15 * * * * news /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> > > >
> > > > You only put the username in the file if it's the system-wide
> > > > /etc/crontab. But normally, cron jobs are installed using the
> > > > "crontab"
> > > > command, which puts them in per-user files in /usr/lib/cron/jobs.
> > > > These
> > > > files don't contain the username after the time fields, since it would
> > > > be redundant.
> > >
> > > On MacOS 10.6, the file is in /var/at/tabs/<user>. Just another
> > > weirdness of MacOS vs. Solaris vs. Linux.
> >
> > No. Cron and at are different: cron is for repeated executions, at is
> > for one-time executions.
>
> True, but that's still where the users' crontab is stored; at least
> that's where mine is.

Turns out we're both right. /usr/lib/cron is a symlink pointing to
/var/at.

--
Barry Margolin,
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***

In article <barmar->,
Barry Margolin <> wrote:

> In article <vilain->,
> Michael Vilain <> wrote:
>
> > In article <barmar->,
> > Barry Margolin <> wrote:
> >
> > > In article <aat399->,
> > > Paul Sture <> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:56 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > tried that when plists first came along. The only way I could find
> > > > > to
> > > > > do it was put a whole load of entries in for 8:00, 8:15. 8:30 etc.
> > > > >
> > > > > The cron equivalent that gets you that for 24 hours a day is of the
> > > > > form:
> > > > >
> > > > > */15 * * * * /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> > > >
> > > > And to be pedantic, that entry is something I copied off the internets.
> > > > The real working thing looks like this:
> > > >
> > > > */15 * * * * news /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
> > >
> > > You only put the username in the file if it's the system-wide
> > > /etc/crontab. But normally, cron jobs are installed using the "crontab"
> > > command, which puts them in per-user files in /usr/lib/cron/jobs. These
> > > files don't contain the username after the time fields, since it would
> > > be redundant.
> >
> > On MacOS 10.6, the file is in /var/at/tabs/<user>. Just another
> > weirdness of MacOS vs. Solaris vs. Linux.
>
> No. Cron and at are different: cron is for repeated executions, at is
> for one-time executions.
>
> I'm still on 10.6, which it has both, and I believe this is how it's
> been for years.

On my MacOS 10.6, /usr/lib/cron is a soft link to /var/at. So the real
location of the files is /var/at/tabs/<user>.

# ls -l cron
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 12 Apr 30 02:01 cron@ -> ../../var/at

Earlier versions put it somewhere else and I think Apple, in monkeying
with OS X and switching to launchd moved things around.

--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...
[I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically ignored]

In article <vilain->,
Michael Vilain <> wrote:
>In article <barmar->,
> Barry Margolin <> wrote:
>
>> In article <vilain->,
>> Michael Vilain <> wrote:
>>
>> > In article <barmar->,
>> > Barry Margolin <> wrote:
>> >
>> > > In article <aat399->,
>> > > Paul Sture <> wrote:
>> > >
>> > > > On Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:56 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
>> > > >
>> > > > > tried that when plists first came along. The only way I could find
>> > > > > to
>> > > > > do it was put a whole load of entries in for 8:00, 8:15. 8:30 etc.
>> > > > >
>> > > > > The cron equivalent that gets you that for 24 hours a day is of the
>> > > > > form:
>> > > > >
>> > > > > */15 * * * * /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
>> > > >
>> > > > And to be pedantic, that entry is something I copied off the internets.
>> > > > The real working thing looks like this:
>> > > >
>> > > > */15 * * * * news /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
>> > >
>> > > You only put the username in the file if it's the system-wide
>> > > /etc/crontab. But normally, cron jobs are installed using the "crontab"
>> > > command, which puts them in per-user files in /usr/lib/cron/jobs. These
>> > > files don't contain the username after the time fields, since it would
>> > > be redundant.
>> >
>> > On MacOS 10.6, the file is in /var/at/tabs/<user>. Just another
>> > weirdness of MacOS vs. Solaris vs. Linux.
>>
>> No. Cron and at are different: cron is for repeated executions, at is
>> for one-time executions.
>>
>> I'm still on 10.6, which it has both, and I believe this is how it's
>> been for years.
>
>On my MacOS 10.6, /usr/lib/cron is a soft link to /var/at. So the real
>location of the files is /var/at/tabs/<user>.
>
># ls -l cron
>lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 12 Apr 30 02:01 cron@ -> ../../var/at
>
>Earlier versions put it somewhere else and I think Apple, in monkeying
>with OS X and switching to launchd moved things around.

This will help create plists that work with launchd

<http://www.peterborgapps.com/lingon/index.html>

No affiliation other than as a satisfied user...

On Fri, 25 May 2012 11:15:00 -0400, Barry Margolin wrote:

> In article <aat399->,
> Paul Sture <> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:56 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
>>
>> > tried that when plists first came along. The only way I could find
>> > to
>> > do it was put a whole load of entries in for 8:00, 8:15. 8:30 etc.
>> >
>> > The cron equivalent that gets you that for 24 hours a day is of the
>> > form:
>> >
>> > */15 * * * * /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
>>
>> And to be pedantic, that entry is something I copied off the internets.
>> The real working thing looks like this:
>>
>> */15 * * * * news /usr/sbin/fetchnews 1>/dev/null
>
> You only put the username in the file if it's the system-wide
> /etc/crontab. But normally, cron jobs are installed using the "crontab"
> command, which puts them in per-user files in /usr/lib/cron/jobs. These
> files don't contain the username after the time fields, since it would
> be redundant.

Understood. The former command was failing on my Linux box.

--
Paul Sture