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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/reference/modules/dmg-module.qdoc')
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diff --git a/doc/reference/modules/dmg-module.qdoc b/doc/reference/modules/dmg-module.qdoc index 6a11e6c4b..531cbec3d 100644 --- a/doc/reference/modules/dmg-module.qdoc +++ b/doc/reference/modules/dmg-module.qdoc @@ -39,6 +39,28 @@ This module is only available on Apple platforms. + \QBS enables you to build macOS disk images with custom backgrounds and icon + layouts. Most applications on macOS are installed via a \c .dmg file, which + is usually customized by using a custom image background and icon layout. + Unfortunately, it is challenging to construct such DMG files correctly, + because the layout relies on several undocumented proprietary file formats, + some of which date back to the Mac OS Classic days, and which are even + nested within one another. + + Most of the existing tools to create DMG files do so by using AppleScript to + manipulate the Finder graphically to generate the appropriate icon layout, + which is both unstable and incompatible with headless build servers, because + the necessary OS services to launch graphical applications may not be + running at all. Many projects create the primary \c .DS_Store + file manually, and commit the result to their source repository. This binary + blob is difficult to inspect and edit, and might not be backwards compatible + with older versions of the OS, depending on how it was generated. + + \QBS takes a different approach. It generates the necessary files + programmatically, in an entirely reproducible manner. There are no external + dependencies that need to be separately installed nor do any binary blobs + need to be committed to your source repository. + \section1 General Properties \table |