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A PList file, like Mankoff said, is just a specially formatted XML file, so you can actually edit and create them in a program like TextEdit. Because of the specific nature of PLists to Development, however, using a special program like Xcode or Property List Editor becomes a much more fruitful endeavor. Double click the plist file to open it. The file will open automatically if file associations have been correctly installed and there is a proper program on your computer; if not, file associations may be corrupted and your OS either cannot find the proper program, or you might not have one for opening the file. View PList File ( Property List File) on Windows 10 A PLIST file is a settings file used on Apple operating systems, also known as 'Property List' file. PLIST file is widely used by iOS apps and macOS applications. MacOS provides several ways to open and view PLIST file, for.
Active11 months ago
What's the best application to open and edit a plist file ?
Pierre WateletPierre Watelet2,9041010 gold badges4141 silver badges7474 bronze badges
6 Answers
A PList file, like Mankoff said, is just a specially formatted XML file, so you can actually edit and create them in a program like TextEdit.
Asus x555l drivers. Because of the specific nature of PLists to Development, however, using a special program like
Xcode
or Property List Editor
becomes a much more fruitful endeavor. This is because it not only automatically formats the XML code for you, but it will actually translate the key identifiers and layers into readable words, and also for some values it will provide a drop-down menu to fill in the correct responses. Especially when dealing with iPhone plists, when multiple runtime variables can be set using the Plist, easily creating new fields and knowing what to put in them makes it so much easier.You can get bot Xcode and PList Editor from the Apple Developer website http://developer.apple.com for free by downloading the latest Xcode release.
SeniorShizzleSeniorShizzle
If the plist file is in the XML format, you can edit it in any text editor like TextEdit. If the plist file is in the binary format, you can convert it to XML first by running:
If you want to go back to binary format after editing:
If you have Xcode 4.3 or later, you can use it to edit property lists in a graphical editor like this:
Xcode 4.2 and earlier came with a separate application for editing property lists (
/Developer/Applications/Utilities/Property List Editor.app/
). user588
A fine program like TextWrangler can edit binary
Daniel♦Daniel.plist
files without first converting them using Terminal. Simply open the file like you would any other (i.e. drag-and-drop on the program icon, or the File open dialog, or Open With in the Finder or..)27.4k2424 gold badges130130 silver badges179179 bronze badges
Since Apple got rid of the GUI Property List Editor, Xcode is the best free option if you want to be sure of the result.
There are some gotcha's using a generic code editor to edit plist files. Since dictionaries use entries like
You can create a valid XML file that is not a valid plist file, for example:
Optiplex 210l drivers. If you're willing to go commercial, Plistinator will edit both binary and XML plist files.
Full-disclosure: I'm the author of Plistinator and the $12.99 it costs pays for my ramen and rent.
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sezsez
On a Terminal window, you can use
PlistBuddy
, available at /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy
.PlistBuddy
can read and modify values inside of a plist, either interactively or directly on the command line.However,
lhflhfPlistBuddy
is not a GUI editor.4,15044 gold badges2525 silver badges3030 bronze badges
I have used PlistEdit Pro for macOS and found it to be useful and comprehensively feature rich.
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Active1 year, 11 months ago
In Mac OSX, there are property list files (.plist). You can modify them with Xcode.
Given a .plist file, is there a reasonable way to modify them like Xcode does in Windows 7?
I have found http://www.icopybot.com/plist-editor.htm, but it doesn't seem to parse the file correctly (for starters, each entry in an array doesn't appear with the index number - it is blank, when it should be 0, 1, 2, ..). Plus it is difficult to edit entries anyway.
Of course I can just use Notepad++ and modify the code, but I'd rather have a visual editor like Xcode.
OmegaOmega20422 gold badges77 silver badges1717 bronze badges
3 Answers
I use plist editor pro when messing around with iOS apps. It has a nice visual key editor as well as a pure XML view and is free, unlike many others. It's very simple and I think that's why it's so underrated, even though it completely fulfills its purpose as what is basically a jazzed up text editor.
JonahJonah
Other way is using the PUTIL.EXE from your itunes directory installation. The file is here: C:Program FilesCommon FilesAppleApple Application Support
![Plist Plist](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126455394/480460000.png)
plutil -convert xml1 com.apple.springboard.plist
NaykilyxNaykilyx
If you are going to be doing a bit of plist editing on Windows you can buy Plistinator, which handles both binary and XML versions of plist files. There's a video and screenshots on the site explaining its features and how it compares to 'Plist Editor Pro'. The array elements are numbered and the order is preserved as per the original file.
Disclaimer: I'm the developer of Plistinator.
Update: (ref @Journeyman-Geek comment) Plistinator as far as I know should parse the file correctly. The file back end is a clean-room implementation based on Apple's Open Source C code, and its extensively unit tested.
I've found from users that sometimes third party non-apple programs (like Unity, Qt Creator, dozens of others) generate plist files which are non-standard. Also plist files can become corrupted by crashing or misbehaving programs. So 'given a plist file' doesn't mean that its standards compliant.
Certainly if the file is OK, and has an array in it Plistinator will number the rows and preserve the order. I have some things to say about iCopyBot's product in the How-To video on the plistinator site, which I won't repeat here. As far as I can tell Plistinator is the only Plist editor for Windows that provides a complete working solution.
How To Open Plist File Windows
Plistinator is designed to work like Xcode, but has some improvements over it. For example string fields can be edited in a large text box - so in that regard at least its easy to edit entries.
Open Plist File Windows Mac
sezsez