Fix disappearing apps in Simple Finder

Jan 06, '06 06:12:00AM

Contributed by: tferraro

Those who have users running Simple Finder may have come across a problem with adding applications to the "My Applications" folder those users see in their docks, or even having applications in that folder disappear completely. Questions about these problems pop up in Apple Discussions once in a while. The problem appears to be related to apps being unbundled or having improper creator codes or bundle IDs. I have come up with a workaround that has the added advantage that you can place not just apps, but files or anything else in the My Applications folder.

You are changing the folder that appears in the Simple Finder user's dock. Settings for managed accounts are found in the user's mcx_settings accessible via NetInfo Manager. You can edit right in NetInfo Manager, but it's hard, as you can only see one line of a relatively large XML file at a time.

Instead of editing in NetInfo Manager, try this method instead:

  1. Make sure the user you are making changes to is not logged in.
  2. Create a folder that will contain the items that should appear to the Simple Finder user (for example, /Users/Shared/SimpleFinderApps/).
  3. Drag aliases for all applications, files, etc. that you want available for the Simple Finder user into the folder you just created.
  4. Open NetInfo Manager (in /Applications/Utilities), then from the Security menu, choose Authenticate and enter your administrator account name and password.
  5. Using the columns in NetInfo Manager, navigate to the user who you want to edit. For example, for UserX, you would go to /users -> userx in the columns.
  6. Locate the mcx_settings property, and select its value by double-clicking the field to its right (it should begin something like <?xml version. All of the text should be highlighted.
  7. Press Command-C to copy the contents of the mcx_settings property to the clipboard.
  8. Go to any text editing program (TextEdit for example) and paste the clipborad into a new file.
  9. Save the file and make a copy of it so you can edit and still have a backup if something gets screwed up.
  10. In the copy, find the line <key>com.apple.dock</key>. This is where the settings for items in the Dock are kept.
  11. Below the target line, there is a line that reads:
    <string>/Users/userx/Library/Managed Items/My Applications/</string>
    This is the link to where the system keeps the applications you have said to make available to the user. Change it so it reflects the folder you created in step two (for example <string>/Users/Shared/SimpleFinderApps/</string>).
  12. Save the file with name like mcx_settings edited, so you can go back and do more changes later if necessary.
  13. Copy all text in the file and paste it back into the mcx_settings property in NetInfo Manager.
  14. Save changes in NetInfo Manager.
  15. Log in as the affected user to see if it works.
By poking around in the mcx_settings variable, you can change other things, such as which System Preference panes a user can access, whether they can burn discs, etc. I found it useful to add <string>com.apple.preference.displays</string> to the array following the <key>EnabledPreferencePanes</key> line, because some older games set the display bit depth to 256 and don't set it back when quitting.

WARNING ONE: This works for me with all applications I tried. I would guess that Apple has a reason for preventing some applications from appearing in Simple Finder, so this may cause problems for some applications.

WARNING TWO: More of a reminder. Simple Finder does not restrict which applications a user can run, despite a misleading statement to that effect when setting it up. It only presents a simpler-than-normal interface to users. There are a number of ways for Simple Finder users to run applications that are not in the My Applications folder, whether you use this tip or not. To completely restrict which applications a user can run, choose "Some Limits" instead of "Simple Finder" when setting up the user.

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