This document summarizes changes in the OS Services framework for Mac OS X v10.5 (Leopard) that are of particular interest to software developers. Note that you may be able to find more information on these changes in Apple's developer documentation.
OS Services is a sub-framework of the Core Services umbrella framework. Clients of API in OS Services may link with the Core Services framework or a higher-level umbrella framework (Application Services, Cocoa, or Carbon).
64-Bit Application Support
Identity Services
Mac OS X Leopard contains 64-bit versions of many system frameworks, including many APIs in OS Services. Some OS Services APIs have been deprecated and are not available to 64-bit applications. The following deprecated OS Services API sets are not available to 64-bit applications:
NSLCore
OpenTransport
Power
SCSI
In addition, the File Manager FSSpec data type is deprecated in Mac OS X Leopard. Consequently all functions with an FSSpec argument or result are not available in the 64-bit API. In OS Services, this includes just one additional function: KCMakeKCRefFromFSSpec.
All other OS Services APIs are available for use by 64-bit applications.
Identity Services is a new API set in Leopard. It provides access to the system's user and group database used for managing access controls on Mac OS X. This C API is based on the Core Foundation object runtime and naming conventions. It also uses the new Core Foundation CFError facility to report detailed error information to callers (See the CoreFoundation Framework Release Notes for more information about CFError). The Identity Services API is modeled around three object classes:
Class | Function |
|---|---|
| Provides access to attributer of a specific user or group |
| Represents an authoritative repository of user and group information (e.g. the local system database or a network directory server). |
| Coordinates searching for identities using client-specified criteria |
© 2007 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2007-10-31)
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