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Leopard Reference Library: Cocoa
Interapplication communication in Mac OS X enables high-level communication and data sharing among applications. Using the Cocoa programmatic interfaces for interapplication communication, developers can have their applications transfer data via the pasteboard, access the services of applications, interact with the workspace, notify other applications of events, and communicate directly with other applications.

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Simplifying Data Handling with Uniform Type Identifiers (HTML)
Learn to use UTIs to take advantage of key Mac OS X technologies in your application.
Articles 2005-07-12
Using the .Mac SDK (HTML)
Learn how the .Mac SDK can enhance your application with powerful web-integration features.
Articles 2005-01-25
Uniform Type Identifiers Overview (HTML) (PDF)
Describes uniform type identifiers and how to use them.
Guides 2008-04-08
Pasteboard Programming Topics for Cocoa (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to transfer data using pasteboard operations in Cocoa.
Guides 2007-07-13
Distributed Objects Programming Topics (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how Objective-C objects in different threads or different processes communicate.
Guides 2007-06-06
Workspace Services Programming Topics (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use the services the workspace class provides to Cocoa applications.
Guides 2007-03-06
Drag and Drop Programming Topics for Cocoa (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to implement drag and drop in Cocoa.
Guides 2006-06-28
Interacting with the Operating System (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how Cocoa applications manage tasks and get information about hosts and processes.
Guides 2006-04-04
XML-RPC and SOAP Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to make remote procedure calls from applications or from AppleScript scripts.
Guides 2005-03-03
System Services (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how Cocoa applications can extend their capabilities seamlessly to other applications.
Guides 2002-11-12
NSNetService Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a network service that an application publishes or uses as a client.
Reference 2009-04-08
NSNetServiceBrowser Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a query for published network services.
Reference 2009-04-08
NSInvocation Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an Objective-C message for use in store-and-forward operations.
Reference 2008-10-15
NSPasteboard Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a pasteboard.
Reference 2008-10-15
NSSocketPort Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a BSD socket for distributed object connections or raw messaging.
Reference 2008-10-15
NSConnection Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that manages communication between objects in different threads.
Reference 2008-02-08
NSPort Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for implementing communication ports.
Reference 2007-07-19
SBApplication Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an Objective-C representation of a scriptable application.
Reference 2007-05-29
SBApplicationDelegate Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for receiving and handling Apple event errors from applications.
Reference 2007-05-29
SBElementArray Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a mutable array for storing related Scripting Bridge objects.
Reference 2007-05-29
SBObject Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object in a scriptable application.
Reference 2007-05-29
Scripting Bridge Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface that allows Cocoa applications to communicate with scriptable applications.
Reference 2007-05-29
NSMachPort Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a port object that wraps a Mac OS X local communication port.
Reference 2007-04-30
NSWorkspace Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that provides Finder services to an application.
Reference 2007-04-27
NSInvocationOperation Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a nonconcurrent operation for executing a single encapsulated task.
Reference 2007-04-12
NSProxy Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for object surrogates used in distributed messages and lazy instantiation.
Reference 2007-04-06
NSNotification Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes information to be broadcast to other objects through a notification center.
Reference 2007-04-02
NSDistributedNotificationCenter Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that synchronously broadcasts notifications to other tasks.
Reference 2007-04-01
NSProcessInfo Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the current process.
Reference 2007-03-26
NSDraggingDestination Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for objects receiving dragged images.
Reference 2007-03-01
NSDraggingInfo Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for supplying useful information to a dragging destination.
Reference 2007-03-01
NSDraggingSource Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for receiving messages when providing a dragged image.
Reference 2007-03-01
NSSocketPortNameServer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a registrar of named TCP/IP sockets.
Reference 2007-02-26
NSMessagePortNameServer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a facility that accepts and returns message ports.
Reference 2007-02-23
NSServicesRequests Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for transferring data to the pasteboard during service requests.
Reference 2007-01-30
NSPortCoder Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a coder that transmits objects, or their proxies, between distributed objects.
Reference 2007-01-29
NSPortMessage Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the message data sent using distributed objects.
Reference 2007-01-29
NSPortNameServer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the port registration object used by distributed objects.
Reference 2007-01-29
NSPipe Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a communications channel between processes.
Reference 2007-01-26
NSDistantObjectRequest Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that handles communication requests from other processes.
Reference 2007-01-22
NSMachBootstrapServer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a local port name server that takes and returns instances of NSMachPort.
Reference 2007-01-22
NSDistantObject Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the proxy for an object in another application or thread.
Reference 2007-01-19
NSMessagePort Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an endpoint for distributed object connections or interprocess messaging.
Reference 2006-05-23
Launch Services Release Notes (HTML)
Release Notes 2007-10-31
SBSystemPrefs (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to use Scripting Bridge to display a preference pane in System Preferences.
Sample Code 2008-10-13
SBSendEmail (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Using the Scripting Bridge to tell Mail.app to send an email message with an optional attachment.
Sample Code 2008-02-28
ScriptingBridgeiCal (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Adding/updating events in iCal using Scripting Bridge.
Sample Code 2007-12-13
AESendThreadSafe (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates how to send Apple events from threads other than the main thread.
Sample Code 2007-03-09
ABPresence (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Displays a list of all the people in your Address Book and their iChat status.
Sample Code 2006-08-04
AttachAScript (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Illustrates how you can extend any Cocoa application by adding some AppleScripts to it.
Sample Code 2006-07-27
PasteboardPeeker (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Using pasteboards for Copy and Paste, Drag and Drop, service support and filter services.
Sample Code 2005-08-10
AddressBookCocoa (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates some basic manipulations of the Mac OS X 10.2.x (and beyond) Address Book API.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
CocoaDragAndDrop (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Implement Drag-and-Drop functionality in Cocoa (uses images; can be extended to support other data types).
Sample Code 2003-01-14
Moriarity (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Implementing a Cocoa GUI that wraps command-line functionality, calling a UNIX task and presenting the results in a GUI.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
MP3 Player (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
How to wrap a command-line UNIX/Linux application in a Cocoa GUI, calling a the command-line app through NSTask.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
SimpleThreads (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Uses the Cocoa threading APIs to coordinate multiple preemptively scheduled secondary threads with the non-reentrant Cocoa framework.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
TrivialThreads (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Uses the Cocoa threading APIs to coordinate a preemptively scheduled secondary thread with the non-reentrant Cocoa framework.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
Re-enabling dragging from NSTableView to other applications (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1220: Explains how to re-enable drag-and-drop from NSTableViews to other applications
Technical Q&As 2008-02-08
Public UTIs supported by Mac OS X v10.3 (HTML)
QA1406: Lists the public UTIs (Uniform Type Identifiers) used by the Pasteboard in Mac OS X v10.3.
Technical Q&As 2005-02-08
Sending an Email (HTML)
QA1084: Shows how to create an email in the user's prefered email application.
Technical Q&As 2004-11-05
How to add other pasteboard types to an HFS Promise drag in Cocoa (HTML)
QA1300: Explains how to add other pasteboard types to an HFS Promise drag in Cocoa.
Technical Q&As 2003-09-15
How to set a custom drag image when doing an HFS Promise drag in Cocoa (HTML)
QA1200: Explains how to set a custom drag image when doing an HFS Promise drag in Cocoa.
Technical Q&As 2003-09-15
BOM characters in 'utxt' clipboard flavor (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1221: Explains the use of the BOM character in 'utxt' scrap data
Technical Q&As 2003-01-20