A Python script for creating plist files in macOS systems interactively.

create_plist.py

import os
import plistlib
import argparse


parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("--META_NAME", type=str, default="programName")
parser.add_argument("--LOG_PATH", type=str, default="/var/log/programName")


class PlistTemplate:

    META_NAME = "programName"
    LOG_PATH = "/var/log/programName"
    TEMPLATE = {
        "Name": lambda cls, data: None,
        "Label": lambda cls, data: f"{cls.META_NAME}.{data['Name']}",
        "RunAtLoad": True,
        "KeepAlive": True,
        "WorkingDirectory": os.path.expanduser("~"),
        "StandardOutPath": lambda cls, data: f"{cls.LOG_PATH}/{data['Name']}.out",
        "StandardErrorPath": lambda cls, data: f"{cls.LOG_PATH}/{data['Name']}.err",
        "EnvironmentVariables": os.environ["PATH"],
        "ProgramArguments": lambda cls, data: None,
        "SavePath": lambda cls, data: f"{data['Name']}.plist",
    }

    def __init__(self, data):

        self._data = data

    def export(self, filename):

        with open(filename, "wb") as fp:
            plistlib.dump(self._data, fp)

    @classmethod
    def from_interactive(cls):
        data = {}

        for key, val in cls.TEMPLATE.items():

            default = val(cls, data) if callable(val) else val
            while True:
                user_input = input(
                    f"{key}" + (f"({default})" if default is not None else "") + ": "
                )

                if user_input == "":
                    if default is not None:
                        user_input = default
                        break
                    else:
                        print(
                            f"There's no default value for {key}. Please type a valid value."
                        )
                elif key == "ProgramArguments":
                    user_input = user_input.strip().split(" ")

                break

            data[key] = user_input

        data.pop("Name")
        filename = data.pop("SavePath")
        cls(data).export(filename)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    args = parser.parse_args()

    while True:
        print("Easily creating plist files.")

        PlistTemplate.META_NAME = args.META_NAME
        PlistTemplate.LOG_PATH = args.LOG_PATH
        PlistTemplate.from_interactive()

        while True:
            x = input("Continue ? [Y/N]")
            x = x.lower()

            if x == "y":
                break
            elif x == "n":
                exit()
            else:
                print("Invalid choice")