macOS removing app install for testing

[printf]

so i'm in the process of testing all the install/update scenarios with Package Maker to make sure my versioning is working, and things like that.

the problem is, after i've gone through a few test update iterations, i want to start the whole process over, but i can't figure out how. dragging the .app to the trash can doesn't suffice. i remember reading about receipts, but i don't want to just go in and start deleting stuff like that, unless i know what effect it'll have.

can anyone tell me what i need to do here?

again, this is for my personal testing - i'm not trying to build an uninstaller.

 

[gnasher729]

so i'm in the process of testing all the install/update scenarios with Package Maker to make sure my versioning is working, and things like that.

the problem is, after i've gone through a few test update iterations, i want to start the whole process over, but i can't figure out how. dragging the .app to the trash can doesn't suffice. i remember reading about receipts, but i don't want to just go in and start deleting stuff like that, unless i know what effect it'll have.

You also don't want to test your software on your development machine (I have seen stupid mistakes being made that caused the software to run on the development machine but nowhere else). I would buy an external drive, and create a few smallish (20 GB or so) partitions. Do a fresh install of the OS on the last one, which will be your master, use Disk Utility to copy it to all the other partitions. Boot from one partition, do your installing, and when you're done just copy the fresh install over again.

You might want to check that everything works if a partition has a very long name with spaces in it (often makes things go wrong), and whether everything works with a File Vault user directory.

 

[SydneyDev]

Please consider making your app a drag and drop install instead of using PackageMaker, it's more Mac like.

If the program needs files to be installed outside the app bundle it can check for them each time it is run and install them if they are not present. This has the advantage of making your app "self-healing."

 

[printf]

SydneyDev, i agree, but it's not an option for this install because of the complexity of the product.

also, just on a side note, it may not be like this for long:
"The installation package–based mechanism is the preferred method for delivering products in Mac OS X. This model is a change for experienced Mac OS X developers and packagers. Before Mac OS X v10.5 (Leopard), the preferred software delivery mechanism was the manual install, where users drag the product from its container, a disk image, onto their file system."
http://developer.apple.com/document...erUserGuide/Overview/chapter_2_section_1.html

gnasher729, this is a good idea, but i'm short on time today and don't have a spare drive to test using this method yet.


and by the way, i moved the receipt to the desktop and the installer installed the application rather than attempting to update it, so i guess this is what i wanted.

 

[kainjow]

That's an interesting quote. I haven't heard that discussed anywhere before.

Personally I find Mac OS X's application handling absolutely terrible. Drag and drop might be nice for the techy who knows how to handle his files but for the average user it's dumb. Every time I use someone else's Mac they have dmgs scattered everywhere. Packages are somewhat convenient but without any built-in way for uninstalling it doesn't help much.

IMO Windows manages this infinitely better.

 

[GRMrGecko]

That's an interesting quote. I haven't heard that discussed anywhere before.

Personally I find Mac OS X's application handling absolutely terrible. Drag and drop might be nice for the techy who knows how to handle his files but for the average user it's dumb. Every time I use someone else's Mac they have dmgs scattered everywhere. Packages are somewhat convenient but without any built-in way for uninstalling it doesn't help much.

IMO Windows manages this infinitely better.

When I develop I don't use dmgs because I don't want the user to suffer. I don't like dmgs for software, because it's normally a simple drag, drop and copy to system, might as well just make it not copy and just drag and drop. There is no reason people uses dmgs other than to have a custom background, but I say who needs them, most people are going to see it once and then never see it again!
That's just my idea of this.
and dmgs normal idea is a virtual disk, so like you can backup your dvds, or your software cd incase of scratches in the future.

 

[munkery]

The default trash feature in Mac OS X is somewhat lacking in respect to deleting applications. A lot of associated files are left behind when you delete an app, but in this regard it is not that much worse than windows which also leaves much behind (at least with windows' add/remove programs, younglings can't accidently delete applications as easily).

AppCleaner (somewhat simulates the remove program feature of windows) is a nice application that adds functionality to the trash. It can work as a stand-alone application or within its preferences you can activate smartdelete to add its funtionality to the default trash. You can use it to protect apps from being deleted without authorization. Also when you drag an app to the default trash, it will bring the associated files with it keeping your system cleaner.

I find it is much more reliable than other apps for this task and best of all it is totally free. Plus it eliminates much of the faults of macs default trash.

This might help, it removes the application support folder, preference file, and reciepts for that application.

 

[GRMrGecko]

The default trash feature in Mac OS X is somewhat lacking in respect to deleting applications. A lot of associated files are left behind when you delete an app, but in this regard it is not that much worse than windows which also leaves much behind (at least with windows' add/remove programs, younglings can't accidently delete applications as easily).

AppCleaner (somewhat simulates the remove program feature of windows) is a nice application that adds functionality to the trash. It can work as a stand-alone application or within its preferences you can activate smartdelete to add its funtionality to the default trash. You can use it to protect apps from being deleted without authorization. Also when you drag an app to the default trash, it will bring the associated files with it keeping your system cleaner.

I find it is much more reliable than other apps for this task and best of all it is totally free. Plus it eliminates much of the faults of macs default trash.

This might help, it removes the application support folder, preference file, and reciepts for that application.

Actually, if you let your kids run as a normal user. than they can't remove applications without your password. or your files which are more important.

 

[munkery]

Actually, if you let your kids run as a normal user. than they can't remove applications without your password. or your files which are more important.

? Normal User ? Don't you mean guest account? I don't have kids and nobody else uses my mac so this isn't a problem for me but my sisters in-laws kids get on hers and delete stuff.

After which I have to do the reinstall to fix (they are not the greatest with technology). I wouldn't have much luck trying to convince them to create a guest account and to make sure to monitor which account the kids use so AppCleaner is the solution I have found to this problem. Works good for me, I thought others might want to know about it.

 

[SydneyDev]

also, just on a side note, it may not be like this for long:

Wow, I didn't know about that change of policy. Thanks for posting.