![]() One way around this limitation is to launch your favorite text editor as root (as explained previously), but TextWrangler makes the process even easier. You can usually view the contents of these files from within your own user account, but you won't be able to edit them without authorization. Textwrangler command line mac os x#Select a file and click the Open button to open it in TextWrangler.Įditing system-level files Another troubleshooting challenge posed by Mac OS X is that many of the System-level files you might need to work with to fix a problem are owned by the system or root user. Just as with the Disk Browser, the Open dialog lets you navigate to any file in any directory for which you have at least Read privileges (which includes most system-level directories). To do this, instead of choosing Open from the File menu, choose Open Hidden in the resulting dialog, choose All Files from the Enable pop-up menu. You also have one other option for opening hidden files in TextWrangler: to display them directly in the standard Open dialog. ![]() (If you know exactly where the file resides, TextWrangler provides a feature similar to the Finder's "Go to Folder" command: Just click the pop-up menu that looks like a folder icon and choose Other type the path to the file to open it.) Double-click any file, or select it and click the Open button, to open it in TextWrangler. To instead view the root level of your hard drive - which includes OS X's hidden Unix folders - choose your hard drive from the Directory pop-up menu.Īs you select folders in the Disk Browser, the bottom of the Browser displays the contents of each folder if you select a text file, the browser displays a preview of the contents of the file. To see all files, even those TextWrangler isn't sure it can open - which is likely what you want to do - choose All Files from the Show pop-up menu. You can then browse folders and files just as you can in the Finder. You'll see a new window that shows the contents of your home directory, including folders and all "readable" files (those TextWrangler knows it can open). ![]() To browse hidden folders and files from within TextWrangler, choose New -> Disk Browser from the File menu (or press Command Option N). But what if you don't know the exact path to the file? You could use a utility such as InVisibiles to make all invisible files visible, but TextWrangler is much easier (especially if you're planning on editing the file anyway) and much less messy. For example, to open the file nf, which contains many of the settings for CUPS, Mac OS X's printing system, you would type /etc/cups and then click Go. Savvy OS X users know that you can locate such files by choosing "Go to Folder" from the Finder's Go menu and then typing the path to the folder containing the file in question when you click the Go button, the Finder will open that folder. Textwrangler command line how to#(For example, a previous MacFixIt article explained how to disable Spotlight by editing the hostconfig file, located in /private/etc.) If you suspect (based on your own knowledge of the OS or as a result of reading a site such as MacFixIt) that a setting in one of these files might be causing a problem, and you want to access that file, you first have to be able to locate it. Opening hidden files One of the challenges of troubleshooting Mac OS X is that many of the configuration files used by the operating system are located in hidden directories. This begs another question: With all the good text editors out there - and one, TextEdit, included with Mac OS X - what makes TextWrangler worth the download? Three features set it apart from most other text editors. ![]() (If you're a longtime reader of MacFixIt, you've surely seen the phrase, "One solution is to edit the file.in a text editor" many times.) So every troubleshooter needs a good text editor, and TextWrangler is my favorite for this purpose. The fact is that a good text editor comes in handy when troubleshooting by allowing you to view the contents of text files and, when necessary, to edit them. Why are you talking about a text editor?" Why, indeed. You may be thinking, "But this is supposed to be a column about troubleshooting tools. ![]() But unlike BBEdit, which retails for $199, TextWrangler is free. If not, the short description is that TextWrangler is one of the more powerful text editors on any platform, surpassed in some users' minds only by its big sibling, BBEdit, which has more tools for application development and coding and for working with HTML. If you're the type of Mac user who's hip to the latest software, you've surely heard of Bare Bones' TextWrangler. Our monthly Troubleshooting Tools column, penned by MacFixIt Contributing Editor Dan Frakes, covers products that can help you maintain and fix your Mac. ![]()
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