XCode

May 18 2011

Running apps installed via MacPorts (or the others) from the GUI

When an app is installed via MacPorts, or one of the other programs used to bring Linux apps to the Mac, it is stored as a program requiring a terminal program to run. This is fine for some programs such as 7zip but not for others such as pan (a GUI newsreader) and gftp (a GUI based ftp program). I use these programs enough so I’d want them on the dock. After hunting around I found some discussion in a couple of help forums about how to do this.

The first method (which didn’t work on my machine) was to rename the program by appending “.app” to the name. I actually created an alias to the program.

The second method was to use the Automator application. Using the gftp application as an example I located the program in /opt/local/bin/gftp. From there I opened the Automator program and selected the appropriate icon. Along the left side I scrolled down until I found the “run shell script” item. From there I used the “exec” command instead of the “cat” command which was already there and followed it with the location of the program. After this I located the “File” menu item and saved the new program as gftp.app.

I can now double click on the icon or move it to the dock. The terminal window no longer opens. As far as the system is concerned it is another GUI program. It still opens X11 but that only makes sense since the program came from the Linux world.

At one time there was a warning about using the “exec” command in *NIX. In this case the location is fairly obscure so it should be a minimal risk.

There may be a better way of getting the job done. Let us know. It may take a while for us to try it out but if it works the method will be made available.

By BlankMike • Apps, Macintosh, OS X, Programming, Reference, Software, XCode • 0 • Tags: ,

Apr 5 2011

Macports: Running Linux/BSD software directly on a Mac

I can hear “Mac purists” complaining about “polluting their computer with foreign software”. Sorry to dissapoint, but no computer, Mac or otherwise, is the be-all and end-all of computers. There are some things which work better on other platforms and conversely there are some things which work better on a Mac. The objective here is to add to the basic functionality of an excellent machine and make it better.

As the title suggest Macports is a way to add the functionality of other *NIX platforms to OS X. It is one of a series of packages which do pretty much the same thing. They go out to the Internet, download source code (and dependencies) of specified programs, compile them, then installed the compiled packages on the computer. For the geeks out there this will no doubt produce a “THIS IS FANTASTIC” reaction. For the non-geek, the translation is “this is a very good thing”. Compiling software for an individual machine means, depending on the quality of the compiler and source code, it would be very difficult to get faster and more stable software. Much of the software in the list has been reviewed, tested, and found to be good quality.

Macports is easy to use. It is run from the terminal and requires some typing. For example I found the ftp program installed in the shell to lack some features found in other programs. To install the ncftp program I typed the command “sudo port install ncftp”. After a few minutes the program was installed and running. It had to install the curses (cursor manipulation) package as a dependency first. The “sudo” is necessary unless the command is run from an administrator account. A special note… It is possible to install GUI programs (eg. gftp). However in order to run them it will be necessary to install a *NIX window manager. This means it will take up some space on the hard drive.

Other useful commands to know are “port help” for directions and “port list all” to get a complete list of programs which can be installed.

There are a few more games for Linux than there are for the Mac. This may help the Mac overcome its “game deficiency” (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mac+vs+pc+south+park&aq=8). ;-)

Installing Macports is simple. First make sure there is a lot of hard drive space. It is only necessary for the installation process. After that the actual amount of space used is quite small. Install the XCode either from the DVD which came with the computer or directly from Apple itself. Apply any updates if necessary. Get Macports (http://www.macports.org/). Open the DMG file. Double-click on the only file in the folder which opens on the desktop. Once authenticated, that’s all.

One last thing… I was very impressed to find newer versions of software available in the Linux repositories.

By BlankMike • Apps, Cross Platform, Freeware, Macintosh, OS X, Programming, Software, XCode • 0 • Tags: ,

Mar 9 2011

Apple Releases XCode 4

Apple has released the latest version of their developers tool, XCode 4 on their developers website (http://www.developer.apple.com).  Apple is no longer requiring that developers using the program have a developers membership to use XCode.  It is even available from download from the Mac App Store for $4.99.

The new version has a number of new features in it including:

  • Single Window
  • Apple LLVM Compiler 2.0
  • New Debugger
  • Interface Builder is Built-in
  • Fix-it and Live Issues
  • Instruments for Xcode 4
  • Assistant
  • Version Editor

According to Apple’s website, it is designed to be up to three times faster, 2.5 times more efficient and more helpful, however, you will have to have at least Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6.x) on your machine to use the program.

You can download XCode 4 for free from the Apple Developers site at:

http://developer.apple.com/xcode/index.php

By billm • Apple Inc., XCode • 0