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Leopard Reference Library
Darwin is the UNIX technology-based foundation of Mac OS X. Darwin integrates several technologies. Among the most important are 4.4BSD-based operating-system services (built on the Mach 3.0 microkernel), the I/O Kit, networking facilities, and support for multiple integrated file systems. Developers can use Darwin to port UNIX/Linux applications and create kernel extensions.

A guided introduction and learning path for developers new to Darwin.   Essential information for developers working in the Darwin environment.   C and Objective-C API references organized by framework.
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The "/.vol" directory and "volfs" (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1113: Describes how the Carbon File Manager interacts with BSD via "volfs" and the "/.vol" directory.
File Management Technical Q&As 2002-02-14
64-Bit Transition Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the 64-bit features available in Mac OS X.
Interprocess Communication, Performance, Porting Guides 2008-04-08
Accessing Hardware From Applications (HTML) (PDF)
Tips and guidelines for developing applications that communicate with or control devices.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2007-02-08
Affinity API Release Notes for Mac OS X v10.5 (HTML)
Explains how to influence which CPU core runs a group of threads (for performance optimization).
Performance, Process Management Release Notes 2007-10-31
Allocating and sharing memory with user space from an I/O Kit driver (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1197: Describes the preferred technique for allocating and sharing buffers in an I/O Kit kernel driver.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Q&As 2008-10-13
AltiVec/SSE Migration Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to convert PowerPC AltiVec code to Intel SSE code.
Intel-Based Macs Guides 2005-09-08
Apple Filing Protocol Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Describes high-level concepts for Apple Filing Protocol commands.
Networking Guides 2006-04-04
Apple Filing Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Apple Filing Protocol commands.
Networking Reference 2006-05-23
Are the Name Registry device tree nodes unique? (HTML)
Deprecated - HW64: Discusses whether Name Registry nodes copied from the Open Firmware device tree are unique.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 1999-10-11
Audio Device Driver Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to develop kernel-resident drivers for audio devices.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2009-03-04
Authorization Services Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to add fine-grained control of privileged operations in an application.
Security Guides 2009-01-06
Avoiding Kernel Event Conflicts (HTML)
QA1063: Documents the namespace for the vendor_code field of the kern_event_msg structure.
Kernel Technical Q&As 2001-09-14
Bluetooth Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the C and Objective-C APIs that support user-space access to Bluetooth devices.
Hardware & Drivers Reference 2008-10-15
Bluetooth User Interface Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the C and Objective-C APIs that provide a consistent user interface to Bluetooth services.
Hardware & Drivers Reference 2008-04-08
Bonjour enforces the TXT record format in Panther (HTML)
QA1306: Explains how mDNSResponder enforces the proper TXT record format in Panther.
Networking Technical Q&As 2004-07-14
Bonjour Printer Subtype for HTTP (HTML)
QA1555: Describes how printer vendors can register their bonjour service such that Safari can see them.
Networking, Printing Technical Q&As 2008-03-25
BootstrapDump (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Print Mach bootstrap namespace information.
Interprocess Communication, Process Management Sample Code 2008-06-18
Building an Open Source Universal Binary (HTML)
Learn to build a universal binary through this sample build that uses OpenSSL.
Intel-Based Macs Articles 2006-04-24
Building Darwin (HTML)
Explains how to work with the Darwin build system using the build tools provided.
General Guides 2001-10-08
Building Universal Binaries from "configure"-based Open Source Projects (HTML)
TN2137: Describes some methods for building some existing "configure"-based Open Source packages as universal binaries.
Porting, Tools Technical Notes 2006-10-05
Building Universal I/O Kit Drivers (HTML)
TN2163: How to build a universal I/O Kit kernel driver while avoiding common pitfalls.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Notes 2008-08-18
Byte-Order Utilities Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes Core Foundation byte-order functions.
Intel-Based Macs Reference 2006-05-23
Can't attach during two-machine debugging with GDB (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
Deprecated - QA1019: Describes a workaround for a problem attaching during two-machine debugging on Mac OS X 10.0.x.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Q&As 2003-06-02
CCL Modem Scripting Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Hardware & Drivers, Networking Guides 2007-06-28
CCL Modem Scripting Release Notes (HTML)
Explains changes to modem CCLs for Mac OS X v10.5 and what to do to change existing and supersede older scripts.
Hardware & Drivers, Networking Release Notes 2007-10-31
CD-ROM Driver Calls (HTML)
Deprecated - DV22: Discusses public interface to Apple CD-ROM driver and supersedes information in AppleCD SC Developer's Guide.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Notes 2000-08-14
CFLocalServer (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Uses UNIX domain sockets to communicate between client and server programs on the same machine.
Networking, Process Management Sample Code 2005-07-26
CFProxySupportTool (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to use the CFProxySupport APIs to decide whether a network connection should pass through a proxy.
Networking Sample Code 2007-10-29
CheckExecutableArchitecture (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Determine whether a particular Mach-O executable contains a version suitable for executing on a given processor architecture.
Runtime Architecture Sample Code 2006-02-07
The "chosen" node in the device tree (HTML)
HW88: Describes how to find the "chosen" node in the Open firmware device tree.
Networking Technical Q&As 2000-09-05
Code Signing Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how you can sign your code and why you should.
Security Guides 2008-11-19
Code Signing Release Notes (HTML)
Security Release Notes 2007-10-31
Coding in the Kernel (HTML)
Considerations and caveats about programming in the kernel.
Kernel Guides 2005-11-09
Core Endian Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the C API for creating and installing callbacks to byte swap custom data.
Intel-Based Macs Reference 2007-05-29
Cross-Development Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to build software for versions of Mac OS X other than the one the development tools are running on.
Tools Guides 2006-11-07
CryptNoMore (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to authenticate a user using Open Directory (Directory Services).
Security Sample Code 2008-03-17
CryptoSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Contains sample code showing symmetric encryption and message digest calculation.
Security Sample Code 2003-02-06
Customizing Process Stack Size (HTML)
QA1419: Describes methods for setting the stack size of a process and/or thread.
Process Management, Resource Management Technical Q&As 2008-02-20
Daemons and Agents (HTML)
TN2083: Describes the most common problems encountered with daemons and agents, and suggests detailed solutions.
Process Management Technical Notes 2007-11-05
Darwin Notification API Reference (HTML)
Describes the Darwin API for interprocess notification.
General, Interprocess Communication Reference 2008-04-08
Descriptor Passing Problems (HTML)
QA1541: Describes how to work around common problems with descriptor passing.
Kernel, Networking Technical Q&As 2007-10-29
Determining console user login status (HTML)
QA1133: How to determine whether a user is logged in on the console, and be notified of changes.
Process Management Technical Q&As 2008-04-14
Developing Cross-Platform UNIX Applications with Mac OS X (HTML)
Learn tips for developing code on Mac OS X for deployment on other UNIX platforms.
Porting, Tools Articles 2004-08-30
Developing for VFS (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1242: Describes Apple's position on developing external file systems (VFS plug-ins) for Mac OS X.
File Management, Kernel Technical Q&As 2006-12-22
Device File Access Guide for Serial Devices (HTML) (PDF)
Guidelines for using I/O Kit and POSIX functions to develop applications that communicate with serial devices.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2005-12-06
Device File Access Guide for Storage Devices (HTML) (PDF)
Guidelines for using I/O Kit and POSIX functions to develop applications that communicate with storage devices.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2007-03-06
Directories Appear as Volume Aliases (HTML)
QA1351: Discusses how VFS plug-ins should handle device numbers to ensure compatibility with Carbon applications.
File Management, Kernel Technical Q&As 2004-05-25
Disabling Processor Cores on a Multi-Core System (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1141: Describes how to disable processor cores on a multi-core system for testing purposes.
Performance Technical Q&As 2008-09-16
Discovering all advertised Bonjour service types (HTML)
QA1337: Explains how to discover all Bonjour service types being advertised on the local network.
Networking Technical Q&As 2004-06-01
Disk Arbitration Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes Disc Arbitration API, which includes information on mount/unmount notification and dissent.
General Reference 2008-04-08
dist_fft (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Gigaelement FFTs on Apple G5 clusters
Performance Sample Code 2004-08-23
DNS Service Discovery C Reference (HTML)
Describes the DNS Service Discovery API for implementing Bonjour in an application.
Networking Reference 2008-04-23
DNSServiceMetaQuery (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to discover Bonjour service types being advertised on the local network.
Networking Sample Code 2005-06-01
The dreaded "incompatible flag -framework" error (HTML)
QA1096: Explains how to eliminate the incompatible flag -framework error in Project Builder.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2001-12-05
Driver Tuning on Panther or G5 (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
TN2090: Describes potential issues when using drivers in Panther or later, or on a Power Macintosh G5.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Notes 2003-06-24
Dynamic Library Programming Topics (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to design, implement, and use dynamic libraries.
Runtime Architecture Guides 2009-02-26
EmptyFS (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
A very simple VFS plug-in that mounts a volume that is completely empty.
File Management, Kernel Sample Code 2006-11-09
Energy Star PCI Device (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1108: Provides useful information for developers of Energy Star-compliant PCI devices.
Kernel Technical Q&As 2002-01-15
ExpressCard Prevents System Sleep (HTML)
QA1517: Describes how some ExpressCard cards can prevent system sleep and how to fix the problem.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2007-02-28
File Manager Text Encoding Hints (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1223: How to use Text Encoding Hints.
File Management Technical Q&As 2003-01-20
File System Events Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how applications can detect changes in the file system.
File Management, Interprocess Communication, Kernel, Performance Guides 2008-03-11
File System Overview (HTML) (PDF)
Conceptual information and guidelines describing the structure and usage of the Mac OS X file system.
File Management Guides 2008-07-11
FileNotification (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
kqueue file notification introduced in 10.3. Notification API to detect file system modifications.
File Management Sample Code 2005-10-27
filesystem_examples (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Collection of command line tools illustrating filesystem features.
File Management Sample Code 2006-01-10
FireWire Device Interface Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to develop applications to communicate with or control FireWire devices and units.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2007-02-08
Force Feedback Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the public interfaces to the Force Feedback implementation in Mac OS X, including support for plug-ins.
Hardware & Drivers Reference 2008-04-08
Frequently Asked Questions about the X Window System (X11) for Mac OS X (HTML)
TN2165: Answers several FAQs about the Mac OS X implementation of X11
Open Source Technical Notes 2007-01-22
FSEvents Reference (HTML)
Describes the API used to provide lightweight notification of directory changes in a file-system subtree.
File Management Reference 2008-04-08
FSMegaInfo (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Prints information about various file system objects; helpful when debugging VFS plug-ins.
File Management Sample Code 2008-02-25
GCC Porting Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Provides guidance on how to migrate projects to new GCC releases.
Intel-Based Macs Guides 2006-10-03
GDB for MacsBug Veterans (HTML)
TN2030: Translate your experience with MacsBug into a working knowledge of the GNU source-level debugger (GDB).
Performance Technical Notes 2001-10-18
Generating a Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI) (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1264: Explains how to generate a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) on modern Macintosh systems.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Q&As 2008-10-13
GetMACAddressSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates how to retrieve the MAC address for each Ethernet interface from the Mac OS X I/O Registry.
Networking, Security Sample Code 2003-01-14
GetPrimaryMACAddress (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates retrieving the MAC address of the built-in Ethernet controller. Useful for uniquely identifying a Macintosh system.
Networking, Security Sample Code 2005-10-27
Getting a Packet Trace (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1176: Lists tools available for looking at the network packets on the wire.
Networking Technical Q&As 2008-06-03
Getting List of All Processes on Mac OS X (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1123: Describes how, using Carbon and BSD respectively, to list all applications and processes.
Kernel, Porting Technical Q&As 2002-03-05
Getting Started with launchd (HTML)
Learn about launchd and see how to migrate your configuration files.
Performance, Process Management Articles 2005-08-22
GNU C 4.0 Preprocessor User Guide (HTML)
Describes the Apple version of the GNU C 4.0 Preprocessor.
Tools Reference 2007-10-31
GNU C 4.2 Preprocessor User Guide (HTML)
Describes the Apple version of the GNU C 4.2 Preprocessor.
Tools Reference 2008-01-23
GNU C/C++/Objective-C 3.3 Compiler (HTML)
Explains how to use the GNU compilers from the command line.
Tools Reference
GNU C/C++/Objective-C 4.0.1 Compiler User Guide (HTML)
Describes the Apple version of the GNU 4.0.1 compiler.
Intel-Based Macs, Tools Reference 2007-10-31
GNU C/C++/Objective-C 4.2.1 Compiler User Guide (HTML)
Describes the Apple version of the GNU 4.2.1 compiler.
Tools Reference 2008-01-23
HBA Device Driver Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how to develop a high-performance, kernel-resident driver for an HBA device.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2006-05-23
HeaderDoc User Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to extract API reference documentation from commented header files.
Tools Guides 2008-04-08
HID Class Device Interface Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to develop applications to communicate with or control HID class devices.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2009-05-06
I/O Kit Device Driver Design Guidelines (HTML) (PDF)
Design guidelines and tips for developing, debugging, and deploying kernel-resident device drivers, including user clients.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2007-03-06
I/O Kit Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the I/O Kit classes that support non-kernel access to I/O Kit objects through the device-interface mechanism.
General, Hardware & Drivers Reference 2009-03-04
I/O Kit Fundamentals (HTML) (PDF)
The basics of developing device drivers. Includes descriptions of I/O Kit families.
Hardware & Drivers, Resource Management Guides 2007-05-17
I/O Kit Power Management Release Notes (HTML)
Describes the latest changes to power management for Mac OS X v10.5.
Hardware & Drivers Release Notes 2007-10-31
Installing an I/O Kit KEXT Without Rebooting (HTML)
QA1319: Describes the state of the art of installing I/O Kit kernel extensions (KEXTs) without requiring a restart.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Q&As 2003-10-28
Integrating With The Connect to Server Dialog (HTML)
QA1387: Describes problems integrating a third-party network file system with Finder's Connect to Server dialog.
File Management, Kernel Technical Q&As 2006-11-16
IODeviceTree and the I/O Registry (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1120: Describes the IODeviceTree plane in the Mac OS X I/O Registry.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2008-09-18
IOKit Framework Headers (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1107: Describes the differences between the headers in IOKit.framework and the I/O Kit headers in Kernel.framework.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel, Networking, Tools Technical Q&As 2002-01-15
IOKitWithLibrary (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how an I/O Kit driver can link with a C library from a separate kernel extension.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Sample Code 2003-08-27
IOLog and Interrupt Context (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1100: Describes when IOKit runs at primary (hardware) interrupt context.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Q&As 2002-02-13
IOPrintSuperClasses (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Given the name of a class, this tool will print all of the super-classes of that class.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Sample Code 2005-08-17
Is dlopen available on all versions of Mac OS X? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1180: Describes how to dynamically link to libraries and plug-ins, typically done with dlopen.
Porting, Runtime Architecture, Tools Technical Q&As 2008-08-19
Issues with boot time KEXT loading (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1087: Explains how to solve problems with loading KEXTs at boot time.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Q&As 2004-01-15
KauthORama (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Prints each Kauth request, illustrating how Kauth interacts with high-level operations, like copying files.
Kernel, Security Sample Code 2007-04-30
Kerberos: Highly Secure Single Sign On Authentication in Mac OS X (HTML)
Learn how you can take advantage of Kerberos in your application.
Security Articles 2007-02-05
Kernel Authorization (HTML)
TN2127: Describes the kernel authorization (kauth) subsystem and its associated KPI.
Kernel, Security Technical Notes 2007-01-16
Kernel Core Dumps (HTML)
TN2118: Explains how to gather and use remote kernel core dumps.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Notes 2008-11-12
Kernel Extension Programming Topics (HTML) (PDF)
Combines the HOWTOs that were previously documented in Hello Debugger, Hello IOKit, Hello KEXT, Packaging KEXT, and KEXT Dependencies.
General, Kernel Guides 2007-10-31
Kernel Extensions Release Notes (HTML)
Kernel Release Notes 2007-10-31
Kernel Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the APIs and classes (including I/O Kit families) that support kernel-resident device drivers.
General, Hardware & Drivers Reference 2009-01-06
Kernel Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Essential information for programming in the Mac OS X kernel. Includes a high-level overview.
Interprocess Communication, Kernel Guides 2006-11-07
Kernel's MAC framework (HTML)
QA1574: Cautions that the kernel's MAC framework is currently not support.
Kernel Technical Q&As 2008-01-04
KPI Reference (HTML)
Provides information on the NKE Sustainable API in Headerdoc format.
General, Kernel, Networking Reference 2006-07-17
Leopard Technology Series for Developers: OS Foundations (HTML)
Leopard Overview article on system-level updates.
File Management Articles 2007-09-04
Mac OS X ABI Dynamic Loader Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the functions used to access Mach-O files.
Runtime Architecture Reference 2005-11-09
Mac OS X ABI Function Call Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the function-calling conventions used in the architectures supported by Mac OS X.
Intel-Based Macs Guides 2009-02-04
Mac OS X ABI Mach-O File Format Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the data structures that make up the Mach-O file format.
Runtime Architecture, Tools Reference 2009-02-04
Mac OS X and root access (HTML)
QA1013: Describes how to enable root access in Mac OS X.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel, Security Technical Q&As 2008-09-16
Mac OS X Code Signing In Depth (HTML)
TN2206: Intermediate to expert level overview of code signing that details specific options and gotchas
Security Technical Notes 2008-08-06
Mac OS X Man Pages (HTML)
HTML versions of the Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, Xcode Tools, and CHUD man pages.
General, Networking, Tools Reference 2008-04-29
Mac OS X Notification Overview (HTML) (PDF)
Interprocess Communication, Runtime Architecture Guides 2007-05-15
Mach Absolute Time Units (HTML)
QA1398: Describes how to convert Mach absolute time units to real time, and vice versa.
Process Management, Resource Management Technical Q&As 2005-01-06
MachPortDump (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Dumps out the Mach port name space of a process; useful when debugging port right leaks.
Resource Management Sample Code 2005-08-10
Making sense of IOKit error codes (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1075: Explains how to interpret I/O Kit error codes.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Q&As 2002-02-07
MapLargeFile (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows a technique for mapping files greater than 4GB into memory for faster access.
Resource Management Sample Code 2003-11-19
Mass Storage Device Driver Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Background and task information about developing kernel-resident drivers for mass storage devices.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2007-04-03
MemoryBasedBundle (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to execute Mach-O code from memory, much like GetMemFragment in CFM.
Runtime Architecture Sample Code 2005-08-10
MFSLives (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Sample VFS plug-in for the Macintosh File System (MFS) volume format, as used on 400KB floppies.
File Management, Kernel Sample Code 2006-11-09
Miscellaneous User Space API Reference (HTML)
Describes APIs located in various headers in /usr/include.
General Reference 2006-09-05
Mixing link-local IP addresses and routable IP addresses (HTML)
QA1357: Explains how to enable communication between devices with link-local addresses and devices with routable addresses.
Networking Technical Q&As 2005-07-06
MoreIsBetter (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Library providing indispensable wrapers and workarounds for many areas of Mac OS programming.
File Management, Networking, Porting, Process Management, Resource Management, Runtime Architecture, Security Sample Code 2003-10-27
MoreSCF (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
High-level wrapper around System Configuration framework, making common operations easy.
Networking Sample Code 2007-06-07
Moriarity (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Implementing a Cocoa GUI that wraps command-line functionality, calling a UNIX task and presenting the results in a GUI.
Porting Sample Code 2003-01-14
Multipathing with FibreChannel on Mac OS X (HTML)
TN2173: An explanation on how FibreChannel multipathing works on Mac OS X and how to design storage hardware to take advantage of it
Hardware & Drivers Technical Notes 2007-03-23
Netwide Assembler Guide (HTML)
Describes the Netwide Assembler for Intel-based Macs.
Tools Reference 2008-06-19
Network Device Driver Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Background and task information about developing network drivers for Mac OS X.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2008-03-11
Network Kernel Extensions (legacy) (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how to write a kernel extension for adding or modifying functionality of a networking stack (Mac OS X 10.3 and earlier).
Kernel, Networking Guides 2006-10-03
Network Kernel Extensions Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how to write a kernel extension for adding or modifying functionality of a networking stack (Mac OS X 10.4 and later).
Kernel, Networking Guides 2009-03-02
NetworkAuthentication (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates authentication with Open Directory APIs and GSSAPI
Networking Sample Code 2005-06-01
NotifyTool (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to use the BSD notify API.
Interprocess Communication Sample Code 2007-09-25
Observing Process Lifetimes Without Polling (HTML)
TN2050: Shows a variety of methods to observe process lifetimes without polling.
Process Management Technical Notes 2008-09-10
Open Directory Plug-in Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to implement dynamically loaded libraries that respond to Open Directory client requests in Carbon.
Networking Guides 2006-05-23
Open Directory Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to implement centralized storage and retrieval of information in Carbon.
Networking Guides 2007-01-08
Open Directory Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Carbon API for using Open Directory.
Networking Reference 2006-05-23
Open Firmware Memory bus speed (HTML)
HW97: Describes a method to display memory bus speed for G3 or G4 Macintosh in Open Firmware.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2000-09-22
Packaging UNIX Software (HTML)
Explains how to post UNIX and other command-line tools to Apple's Macintosh Product Guide.
Porting, Tools Guides 2001-04-20
Pascal to C: PROCEDURE Parameters (HTML)
Deprecated - PT31: Nested procedures and PROCEDURE parameters in Pascal when converting them into C or C++.
Porting Technical Notes 1990-02-01
PCI/PCI-X slots on the Power Mac G5 (HTML)
QA1307: Discusses installing PCI/PCI-X cards of different speeds in the Power Mac G5.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2003-09-30
Performance Overview (HTML) (PDF)
Introduces the factors that determine performance.
Performance Guides 2006-10-03
Perl, Python, and Ruby Extensions Release Notes (HTML)
Describes how to create universal binary extensions for Perl, Python, and Ruby.
Porting, Tools Release Notes 2007-10-31
PIDFromBSDProcessName (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Provides a simple API to do process PID lookup based on BSD process name.
Porting, Process Management, Tools Sample Code 2003-02-13
Porting Command Line Unix Tools to Mac OS X (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
TN2071: A general guide for Unix developers porting software to Mac OS X.
Porting Technical Notes 2003-09-03
Porting Drivers to Mac OS X (HTML) (PDF)
Tips and code samples to help UNIX/Linux device driver developers bring their drivers to Mac OS X.
General, Porting Guides 2009-05-06
Porting UNIX/Linux Applications to Mac OS X (HTML) (PDF)
Conceptual information and tips about porting UNIX and Linux applications to Mac OS X.
Porting, Tools Guides 2008-04-08
Power Management; Policy Maker vs. Power Controller (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1121: Describes the differences between a Power Management Policy Maker and a Power Management Power Controller.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2002-02-13
Preventing sleep (HTML)
QA1160: Explains how your application can prevent the system from sleeping.
Resource Management Technical Q&As 2004-10-22
Programmatically causing restart, shutdown and/or logout (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1134: Describes how to programmatically cause restart, shutdown, sleep or logout.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2008-09-24
QISA (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates the basics of writing an Internet setup assistant for traditional Mac OS and Mac OS X.
Networking, Security Sample Code 2003-05-15
Registering and unregistering for sleep and wake notifications (HTML)
QA1340: Explains how applications can register and unregister for sleep and wake notifications on Mac OS X.
Hardware & Drivers, Resource Management Technical Q&As 2008-08-08
Retain Counts of io_object_t Objects in IOKit.framework (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1195: Distinguishes between the retain counts of an I/O Kit kernel object and its io_object_t user space proxy.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2008-09-24
Running At Login (HTML)
TN2228: Describes how to write code that's coordinated with the login process.
Process Management Technical Notes 2008-09-16
SampleD (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates use of launchd and Apple System Logger.
Process Management Sample Code 2005-10-27
SampleFilterScheme (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates a simple filter scheme which passes all operations through to its provider unchanged.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Sample Code 2006-01-03
SampleUSBAudioPlugin (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
USB audio plugin that performs a lowpass filtering operation on audio streamed through an audio USB Device.
Hardware & Drivers Sample Code 2005-03-07
SCSI Architecture Model Device Interface Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to develop applications that communicate with or control SCSI Architecture Model devices.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2007-02-08
SCSIHBAEmulator (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstration of how to implement a virtual parallel tasking SCSI host bus adapter (HBA)
Hardware & Drivers Sample Code 2007-02-20
Secrets of the GPT (HTML)
TN2166: Describes the new partition map format used by Intel-based Macintosh computers.
File Management, Hardware & Drivers Technical Notes 2006-11-06
Secure Coding Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Describes techniques to use and factors to consider to make your code more secure from attack.
Security Guides 2008-05-23
Security Framework Error Codes (HTML)
QA1499: Explains how to interpret errors returned by the Security Framework with an overview of Security error handling.
Security Technical Q&As 2006-11-16
Security Overview (HTML) (PDF)
An introduction to computer security concepts and the security APIs in Mac OS X and iPhone OS.
Security Guides 2008-10-15
Setting environment variables for user processes (HTML)
QA1067: Tells how to set environment variables for user processes.
Porting, Tools Technical Q&As 2001-10-25
Signals and Threads (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1184: Describes how threads and signals interact.
Performance, Tools Technical Q&As 2002-08-27
SimpleDataQueue (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Implements an IODataQueue inside an I/O Kit KEXT which passes events and data to user space.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Sample Code 2003-01-14
SimpleDial (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates management of dialup connections, such as PPP, using System Configuration framework network connection API.
Networking Sample Code 2005-07-26
SimplePing (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Sample provides simple API to programatically ping a remote host without admin privileges
Networking Sample Code 2003-10-27
SimpleReach (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates network host reachability testing using the System Configuration framework asynchronous network reachability API.
Networking Sample Code 2005-07-26
SimpleUserClient (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to create a user client for an I/O Kit kernel driver.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Sample Code 2008-08-27
Sleep vs. Doze on Mac OS X (HTML)
QA1309: Discusses and demonstrates sleep versus doze detection on Machintosh Mac OS X
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2003-10-09
SocketCancel (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to safely cancel threads that are blocked within BSD sockets calls.
Networking Sample Code 2005-08-10
SSLSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Contains examples showing how to use SecureTransport.
Security Sample Code 2003-01-14
The state of mDNSResponder (HTML)
QA1339: Explains how to obtain information regarding the internal state of mDNSResponder.
Networking Technical Q&As 2006-10-03
Static linking of user binaries on Mac OS X (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1118: Explains why static linking of user binaries is not supported on Mac OS X, and possible workarounds.
Porting, Runtime Architecture Technical Q&As 2002-02-07
Supported KPIs (HTML)
QA1575: Describes how to check whether a kernel function is part of a supported KPI.
Kernel Technical Q&As 2008-03-25
Suppressing the "unexpectedly quit" alert (HTML)
QA1288: Describes how to suppress the "unexpectedly quit" alert.
Security Technical Q&As 2008-03-11
Symbol Variants Release Notes (HTML)
Describes symbol variants, a way of providing multiple versions of symbols for backwards compatibility.
Porting, Tools Release Notes 2007-10-16
System Configuration Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the API for configuration of network resources, the reachability of target hosts, and connection to network services.
Networking Reference 2008-04-08
System Configuration Programming Guidelines (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use system configuration services for network configuration and management, including determining reachability and getting connected.
Networking Guides 2006-02-07
System Configuration Reference Update (HTML) (PDF)
Summarizes the symbols added to the System Configuration framework.
General, Networking Release Notes 2007-07-18
System Startup Programming Topics (HTML) (PDF)
Explains the boot process used to initialize the Mac OS X operating system.
Runtime Architecture Guides 2008-11-19
Text Encodings in VFS (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1173: How to handle text encodings correctly when writing a file system (VFS) plug-in for Mac OS X.
File Management Technical Q&As 2003-02-10
Tiger Developer Overview Series: Developing 64-bit Applications (HTML)
Learn how Mac OS X Tiger breaks the limitations of 32-bit computing.
Performance, Porting Articles 2004-12-20
TimerEventSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to set up and use an IOTimerEventSource in a kext.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Sample Code 2003-01-14
Understanding and Debugging Kernel Panics (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
TN2063: Addresses kernel panics: what they are and how to debug the code that caused the panic.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Technical Notes 2008-08-14
Uniquely Identifying a Macintosh Computer (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
TN1103: How to identify a specific Macintosh computer.
Security Technical Notes 2006-04-25
Universal Binary Programming Guidelines, Second Edition (HTML) (PDF)
Conceptual information and tips for writing code that runs on PowerPC-based and Intel-based Macintosh computers.
Intel-Based Macs Guides 2009-02-04
Unix 03 Conformance Release Notes (HTML)
Describes features, issues, and workarounds related to Mac OS X v10.5 and its support of SUSv3 (Version 3 of the SUS).
General Release Notes 2006-10-06
Updating the TXT record of a Bonjour service (HTML)
QA1302: Explains how to update a Bonjour TXT record while running on either Jaguar or Panther.
Networking Technical Q&As 2004-07-14
USB Device Interface Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Provides background information and sample code for developing applications to communicate with or control USB devices and interfaces.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2007-09-04
User-Mode USB Device Arbitration (HTML)
Information about using USB device arbitration, available in Mac OS X version 10.1 and later.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2002-02-06
Using Doxygen to Create Xcode Documentation Sets (HTML)
Learn how to integrate your documentation into Xcode.
Open Source Articles 2008-06-09
UTXplorer (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Uses the <utmpx.h> API to display current login sessions and login history.
Process Management Sample Code 2008-03-19
VendorSpecificType00 (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates how to access vendor-specific storage device functionality using a simple interface from user space code.
Hardware & Drivers, Kernel Sample Code 2006-10-02
Volumes Not Showing Up On The Desktop (HTML)
QA1491: Describes how to make a volume from a third party VFS plug-in show up on the desktop.
File Management, Kernel Technical Q&As 2006-12-20
VolumeToBSDNode (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to iterate across all mounted volumes and retrieve their BSD node names.
File Management, Hardware & Drivers Sample Code 2006-10-16
Watcher (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Uses FSEvents to monitor a directory hierarchy to keep track of its total size
File Management Sample Code 2006-08-04
Working with Configuration Variables (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1119: Explains how to delete a specific Open Firmware configuration variable without using Command-Option-P-R.
Hardware & Drivers Technical Q&As 2002-02-13
Writing Open Directory Plug-ins (HTML)
Learn how to write Open Directory plug-ins to help your application locate and manage network information.
Networking Articles 2004-09-13
Writing PCI Drivers (HTML) (PDF)
Conceptual information about writing I/O Kit drivers for PCI, AGP, and CardBus (PC Card) devices.
Hardware & Drivers Guides 2006-04-04
X11 FAQ (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1232: Frequently Asked Questions about using Apple's X Window System (X11) implementation.
Tools Technical Q&As 2003-11-17