Jan 26, '10 07:30:00AM • Contributed by: renaultssoftware
To make a slideshow screen saver, you do not need a separate application to compile. All you need will be right here. (You might want Property List Editor from the XCode developer tools to build the .plist files, but you can use TextEdit to do that.)
First, create a folder in any convenient place. Title it the name of the screen saver (Car Pictures, for example) and press Return.
To understand the package contents, you must have three files in that folder: an Info.plist file to identify it, a version.plist file to identify the version, and a folder called Resources to hold the pictures. Start by opening the screen saver's folder, and create the Resources folder.
Now, it's time to create (in TextEdit or Property List Editor) the Info.plist file to identify your screen saver. Edit capitalized entries except for BNDL under CFBundlePackageType. If you do not have Plist Editor, you can put the following in a blank TextEdit file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key> <string>English</string> <key>CFBundleGetInfoString</key> <string>SOME CARS IN A CAR SHOW</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>com.BIGAPPLEMACGEEK.screensaver.CARPICTURES <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key> <string>6.0</string> <key>CFBundleName</key> <string>CARPICTURES</string> <key>CFBundlePackageType</key> <string>BNDL</string> <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key> <string>1.1</string> <key>CFBundleSignature</key> <string>????</string> <key>CFBundleVersion</key> <string>1.1</string> </dict> </plist>
Next, create a version.plist file in the screen saver folder. This one has the following contents:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>BuildVersion</key> <string>400</string> <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key> <string>1.1</string> <key>CFBundleVersion</key> <string>1.1</string> <key>ProjectName</key> <string>SlideShows</string> <key>SourceVersion</key> <string>90000</string> </dict> </plist>
- Drag the pictures you want to use into the Resources folder; it seems to work best with JPG files.
- Rename each file with the CFBundleName name and a number (01, 02, 03, etc.) suffixed to determine order. In the example above, that would be CARPICTURES01.jpg, CARPICTURES02.jpg, etc. It is recommended that you use 001 when over a hundred pictures are to be used.
- Create a folder named English.lproj in Resources. Inside that folder, create an InfoPlist.strings file (it can be blank, if you like; info keys can be added and localized to French.lproj, Spanish.lproj, etc.)
It's better to test it first for bugs before distributing. Make sure that clicking Options in System Preferences (below the preview) displays a sheet with standard options.
[robg adds: I haven't tested this one.]
