, starting with 1.
6. Create an HFS file system with the name you want Finder to display, using the standard 4K blocksize, -b 4096. If you used -layout NONE above:
newfs_hfs -v APPNAME -w -b 4096 /dev/disk1
If you used -layout SPUD above, you need to initialize the second partition which contains the actual Apple_HFS disk, since the first one has the partition map on it:
newfs_hfs -v APPNAME -w -b 4096 /dev/disk1s2
7. Eject the image, again replacing disk1 with whatever was returned in step 5. above.
hdiutil eject disk1
8. Now, do a complete mount of the disk so that it appears in Finder:
hdid APPNAME-scratch.dmg
->/dev/disk1
At this point, the disk image appears as the icon of a removable drive entitled the name you gave to the -v option in step 6. Now, copy your application and readme files to the new disk. Set the permissions as needed — later in this article, you'll learn how to change the folder's background image and set custom folder icons.
9. Eject the disk
hdiutil eject disk1
NOTE: If disk won't eject because "its busy", you may have to logout and login or even reboot.
10. Make the compressed, net distributable, disk image:
hdiutil convert ‘APPNAME-scratch.dmg' -format UDCO -o ‘APPNAME-2001-04-06'
The -format option is UDCO (UDIF compressed image) for net distributions, and UDTO (DVD/CD-R master image) for your CD master image. The correct file extension will be added by hdiutil. I think it is wise to include a date in the name of your distribution, so that users can quickly and correctly tell whether they need to download a newer version or not.
Automating The Process
Ken Case, cofounder of OmniGroup, www.OmniGroup.com, created PackageApplication. This handy script not only creates the diskimage, but preprocesses your application to remove extraneous files and symbols, makes a copy of the release, installs frameworks inside of the application, copies the app to the image, compresses the image, and creates an equivalent tarball for a more traditional (and somewhat smaller) UNIX distribution. This is a zsh script, so save it to PackageApplication and make the appropriate changes to PUBLIC path, and then make the file executable:
chmod 755 PackageApplication
Now, you can package an application with, e.g.:
sudo -u root PackageApplication APPNAME
Sudo allows you to execute commands as another user — you are prompted for a password — provide your own. See man sudo for more information on this handy utility.
Here's the script:
#!/bin/zsh -f
#
# Copyright 2000-2001 Omni Development, Inc. All rights reserved.
#
# $Header: /Network/Source/CVS/OmniGroup/Scripts/PackageApplication,v 1.27 2001/03/14 20:19:28 kc Exp $
PUBLIC=/Users/Shared
APPNAME=$1
if [ "$APPNAME" = "" ]; then
echo "Usage: $0 app-name"
exit 1
fi
if [ "$SUDO_USER" = "" ]; then
SUDO_USER = "$USER"
fi
INSTALLEDPRODUCTS=$PUBLIC/$SUDO_USER/InstalledProducts
PACKAGEDIR=$PUBLIC/$SUDO_USER/Release/$APPNAME
cd /tmp
echo "Copying files from $INSTALLEDPRODUCTS to $PACKAGEDIR
"
echo " (Note: this assumes that all of $INSTALLEDPRODUCTS
is needed for $APPNAME. If not, remove and rebuild.)
"
(cd $INSTALLEDPRODUCTS; chmod -R u+w .; tar cf — .) | (rm -rf $PACKAGEDIR; mkdir -p $PACKAGEDIR ; cd
$PACKAGEDIR; tar xpf — |& egrep -v ‘tar: Unable to set file uid/gid of .* (No such file or directory)')
cd $PACKAGEDIR
echo "Cleaning up release"
chmod -R u+w,go-w,a+rX .
chown -R root.admin . 2>/dev/null
# Get rid of those CVS leftovers...
find . -name CVS -type d -exec rm -rf {} \; -prune
find . -name ‘.#*' -type f -exec rm {} \; -prune
# Users don't need framework documentation and headers, and developers can get those by downloading
them separately
find . -name ‘*.minx' -exec rm {} \; -prune
find . -name ‘Documentation' -exec rm -rf {} \; -prune
find . -name ‘Headers' -exec rm -rf {} \; -prune
find . -name ‘PrivateHeaders' -exec rm -rf {} \; -prune
echo "Stripping debugger symbol table entries from Mach-O files"
find . -type f -print | xargs file | grep Mach-O | awk -F: ‘{print $1}' | while read file
do
echo " $file"
strip -S $file
chmod a+x $file
done
if [ "$APPNAME" = "OmniWeb" ]; then
echo "Moving plugins into $APPNAME plugins"
mv *.plugin $APPNAME.app/Contents/PlugIns
fi
echo "Moving frameworks into $APPNAME frameworks"
mkdir $APPNAME.app/Contents/Frameworks
mv *.framework $APPNAME.app/Contents/Frameworks
if [ -d OmniGroupCrashCatcher.app ]; then
echo "Moving OmniGroupCrashCatcher into $APPNAME resources"
mv OmniGroupCrashCatcher.app $APPNAME.app/Contents/Resources
fi
echo "Setting up launcher"
mv $APPNAME.app/Contents/MacOS/{,.}$APPNAME
mv Launcher $APPNAME.app/Contents/MacOS/$APPNAME
echo "Total size of $PWD"
du -s *
echo "Building tar file"
PACKAGEDATE=`date "+%Y-%m-%d"`
TARBALL_NAME="$APPNAME-$PACKAGEDATE.tar.gz"
TARBALL="$PUBLIC/$TARBALL_NAME"
tar czf $TARBALL $APPNAME.app
echo "Building Disk Copy image"
LABELNAME="$APPNAME-$PACKAGEDATE"
SCRATCHIMAGE="$PUBLIC/${LABELNAME} Temp-$$.dmg"
DISKCOPYIMAGE="$TARBALL:r:r.dmg"
# Create the image
echo " Creating scratch image..."
rm -f $SCRATCHIMAGE
hdiutil create $SCRATCHIMAGE -megabytes 10 -layout NONE -zeroImage
# Create a /dev/disk device from the image
drive=`hdid -nomount $SCRATCHIMAGE`
# Create a new filesystem on the disk device
newfs_hfs -v "${APPNAME}" -b 4096 /dev/r${drive:t}
# Remount the disk
echo " Image formatted, ejecting ${drive}..."
hdiutil eject ${drive}
echo " Mounting $SCRATCHIMAGE..."
drive=`hdid $SCRATCHIMAGE`
echo " Searching for ${drive}..."
while [ "$MOUNTPOINT" = "" ]
do
MOUNTPOINT=`df -l | grep $drive | awk ‘{print $6}'`
done
echo " Found $drive at $MOUNTPOINT"
# Unpack the tarball into the mounted filesystem
echo " Copying application..."
(cd $MOUNTPOINT && gnutar xzpf $TARBALL)
# Eject the disk
echo " Ejecting..."
hdiutil eject ${drive}
# Convert the image to a UDIF compressed image
echo " Compressing..."
hdiutil convert -format UDCO $SCRATCHIMAGE -o ${DISKCOPYIMAGE:r}
gzip -9 < $DISKCOPYIMAGE > $DISKCOPYIMAGE.gz
# Remove the temporary image
echo " Removing scratch image"
rm -f $SCRATCHIMAGE
#
# All done! List the resulting packages to the user.
#
ls -lg $TARBALL $DISKCOPYIMAGE $DISKCOPYIMAGE.gz
Getting Fancy
The automated process is great if you are happy with a standard folder with your application in it. You can use the utility ditto to copy files that have resource forks with them — or you can just drag and drop them onto the disk image. Since Finder lets you associate images with folders, let's take advantage! I have not yet figured out how to automate the process of adding a background folder image — because the image MUST point to within the new file hierarchy on your disk image — and this has to be done with Finder. If you preset it on a folder which you then copy to your disk, the copied folder will point back to the original image, which will not be on the end user's disk!
The Finder stores information about a folder in a file named .DS_Store — normally you cannot see files that begin with a ‘.'. Use the -a option to ls to see this file:
ls -la
-rw-rw-rw- 1 andrew admin 22604 Mar 26 17:28 .DS_Store
To set the background image of a folder:
1. In Finder, select the folder, and set the view to Icon mode
2. Choose View -> Show View Options... to bring up the View Options window.
3. Select the "Window" pane. You must have the Finder window in "Icon" mode to access this feature.
4. Uncheck the "Use Global View Preferences" switch
5. Select the "Picture" option, and click "Select..."
6. Navigate to an image included within your new disk image's file hierarchy and click "Choose"
Figure 1. For a professional touch, include an instructive image in the top level folder.
You can also set a custom icon for any folder — these do copy fine via Finder or ditto, since they are stored in the folder. Our artist created them in Mac OS 9 with IconFactory, a plugin for PhotoShop http://www.iconfactory.com. In Mac OS X, you can copy/paste folder icons like this:
1. In Finder, select the folder which has the icon you like
2. Choose File -> Show Info
3. Click on the icon in the upper left hand corner, a box will show that it is selected
4. Choose Edit -> Copy
5. Navigate to the destination folder on which you want the icon to appear.
6. Click on the Info window's icon
7. Choose Edit -> Paste
Figure 2. Folders can have their own special icon.
You're Toast
Making a CD master image is very similar to making a net distribution, with a few changes in the creation of the disk partition, in the initializing of the new file system, and in the compression phase (steps 4., 6. and 10. from The Tools above). When we create the disk image, we'll use the SPUD layout and make it large enough to hold all those quicktime movies and demo files!
hdiutil create ‘APPNAME-scratch.dmg' -megabytes 160 -layout SPUD -zeroImage
The process continues the same until we initialize the new disk — we want to intialize the second partition:
newfs_hfs -v APPNAME -w -b 4096 /dev/disk1s2
The process continues the same until we get to the very end when we make a raw disk image for use by Toast or other cd recording software:
hdiutil convert ‘APPNAME-scratch.dmg' -format UDTO -o ‘APPNAME_CD_2000-04-06'
You are ready to burn your golden master and you'll be shipping CDs within days.
Conclusion
The disk image format is a simple and surefire way to distribute your software electronically, and the same tools let you create CD master images.
Thanks to Jim Kateley and Eric Peyton of Apple Computer, Inc., who assisted me in understanding these tools, Byron Han, principle engineer on the DiskImages project, and Ken Case for PackageApplication.
Andrew Stone, CEO of Stone Design, www.stone.com, has been coding in Cocoa as an independent software developer for over 13 years.
