*.plist files broke chezmostatus and diff

[owpac]

Describe the bug

When saving *.plist files with chezmoi add and then checking the status with chezmoi status, chezmoi will say the files aren't the same (without any differences).

To reproduce

Step 1)

$ chezmoi add Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.iterm2.plist

Step 2)

$ chezmoi status
MM Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.iterm2.plist

Expected behavior

In the step 2 we should have no differences returned by chezmoi status nor chezmoi diff

Output of command with the --verbose flag

$ chezmoi --verbose status
MM Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.iterm2.plist

Output of chezmoi doctor

```console $ chezmoi doctor RESULT CHECK MESSAGE ok version v2.47.1, commit 1ce6b2eeb0caf75bd91883e5a968e713a26e7be2, built at 2024-03-03T00:47:52Z, built by Homebrew ok latest-version v2.47.1 ok os-arch darwin/arm64 ok uname Darwin MACM-DWKDW2L4WM 23.3.0 Darwin Kernel Version 23.3.0: Wed Dec 20 21:30:44 PST 2023; root:xnu-10002.81.5~7/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000 arm64 ok go-version go1.22.0 (gc) ok executable /opt/homebrew/bin/chezmoi ok upgrade-method brew-upgrade ok config-file ~/.config/chezmoi/chezmoi.yaml, last modified 2024-03-14T16:23:31+01:00 warning source-dir ~/.local/share/chezmoi is a git working tree (dirty) ok suspicious-entries no suspicious entries warning working-tree ~/.local/share/chezmoi is a git working tree (dirty) ok dest-dir ~ is a directory ok umask 022 ok cd-command found /bin/zsh ok cd-args /bin/zsh ok diff-command found /opt/homebrew/bin/code ok edit-command found /opt/homebrew/bin/code ok edit-args code --wait ok git-command found /opt/homebrew/bin/git, version 2.44.0 ok merge-command found /opt/homebrew/bin/code ok shell-command found /bin/zsh ok shell-args /bin/zsh info age-command age not found in $PATH ok gpg-command found /opt/homebrew/bin/gpg, version 2.4.5 info pinentry-command not set ok 1password-command found /opt/homebrew/bin/op, version 2.25.0 info bitwarden-command bw not found in $PATH info bitwarden-secrets-command bws not found in $PATH info dashlane-command dcli not found in $PATH info doppler-command doppler not found in $PATH info gopass-command gopass not found in $PATH info keepassxc-command keepassxc-cli not found in $PATH info keepassxc-db not set info keeper-command keeper not found in $PATH info lastpass-command lpass not found in $PATH info pass-command pass not found in $PATH info passhole-command ph not found in $PATH info rbw-command rbw not found in $PATH info vault-command vault not found in $PATH info vlt-command vlt not found in $PATH info secret-command not set ```

Additional context

Note that I tried to chezmoi re-add, chezmoi apply and then overwrite, but chezmoi status keep saying that there are differences between the files.

Thanks a lot for all your work on chezmoi.

[twpayne]

$ chezmoi status
MM Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.iterm2.plist

The M in the first column indicates that another program (probably iTerm2 itself) has modified Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.iterm2.plist since chezmoi last wrote it. Therefore, if chezmoi were to overwrite it, then you would lose some local changes.

Unfortunately iTerm2 is one of those naughty programs that modifies its own configuration files. You have a few options:

• Use a modify_ script to just modify the parts of com.googlecode.iterm2.plist that you care about.
• Or, use this symlink technique.
• Or, use a script that uses macOS's defaults command.

[owpac]

Thanks a lot for your reply!

You're right, the issue is on ITerm2 side.

I tried your options:

• modify_ script is not a suitable solution because the *.plist files are binary files, so I can't really know which part to modify with chezmoi.
• this symlink technique is not possible anymore on MacOS 14 (symlinks can't be used in Library/Preferences anymore). That's why I wanted to use the copy mechanism in the first place.
• macOS's defaults command can't help me save my ITerm2 configuration, unfortunately.

I can't think of another alternative to bypass this new MacOS 14 limitation & my need to save some app's configuration. Maybe I will just chezmoi apply --force and if I need to persist some new settings, I will need to chezmoi re-add 🤔

Anyway, thanks for everything @twpayne 🙏

[twpayne]

• modify_ script is not a suitable solution because the *.plist files are binary files, so I can't really know which part to modify with chezmoi.

I think something like the following should work in ~/.local/share/chezmoi/Library/Preferences/modify_com.googlecode.iterm2.plist (warning: untested):

#!/bin/bash

# create a temporary file
tmpfile=$(mktemp)

# ensure that the temporary file is removed on exit
trap "rm -f $(tmpfile)" EXIT

# write the .plist to the temporary file
cat > "$(tmpfile)"

# replace .plist values in the temporary file
plutil -replace MyBoolValue -bool false "$(tmpfile)"

# write the temporary file to stdout
cat "$(tmpfile)"

• macOS's defaults command can't help me save my ITerm2 configuration, unfortunately.

I think you can use a script that uses plutil to replace values in Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.iterm2.plist (warning: untested).

[owpac]

Interesting! It's gonna need a bit of digging, but I'm going to try that out! Thanks a lot for your ideas!