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Just a tip for the computer savvy....
We have been complaining recently about the way that Apple hides away everything it doesn't want us to see or touch and tries to keep control of processes away from we moronic users. As you know, the output format of the original GM36 iPad app is .plist. This is actually remarkably similar to .xml, in fact I can't understand why it isn't just called xml, the header in each plist file even describes it as that. This started out human readable which was fine, then it progressed to becoming wrapped into a binary gobbledygook format which only the machine could read. I have found in my rambling search for enlightenment a little utility called plutil.exe which can convert between the two formats!
Unfortunately this is not just a simple executable, it relies on a number of other .dll files to work so you can't just get a copy of the executable. It should be automatically installed on all Macs from what I read but is not a part of Windows. That said, it used to be installed as a part of a number of Apple programs such as Safari and iTunes so it is entirely possible that you have it on your Windows machines already. If you are interested in this then check in "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Apple Application Support\" for "plutil.exe". If you have it then bingo, you can convert those plist files from machine readable to human readable and back again!
I would have to say once again that this is for those who are very confident with computers already because it is a command line utility, it is generally used by typing correctly formatted commands in a DOS command box. You also have to be au fait with things like DOS limitations in locations and at specifying switches when you run it. It's not entirely easy to use but it does work really well as you would expect.
Once you get into it so you see how it is controlled, you can run it from a shortcut or better, a batch file. If anyone has it and is interested I can post more details on using it. I'm looking at batch file automation of this side of things myself. (I don't even know why, I'm not an iPad user.
)
We have been complaining recently about the way that Apple hides away everything it doesn't want us to see or touch and tries to keep control of processes away from we moronic users. As you know, the output format of the original GM36 iPad app is .plist. This is actually remarkably similar to .xml, in fact I can't understand why it isn't just called xml, the header in each plist file even describes it as that. This started out human readable which was fine, then it progressed to becoming wrapped into a binary gobbledygook format which only the machine could read. I have found in my rambling search for enlightenment a little utility called plutil.exe which can convert between the two formats!
Unfortunately this is not just a simple executable, it relies on a number of other .dll files to work so you can't just get a copy of the executable. It should be automatically installed on all Macs from what I read but is not a part of Windows. That said, it used to be installed as a part of a number of Apple programs such as Safari and iTunes so it is entirely possible that you have it on your Windows machines already. If you are interested in this then check in "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Apple Application Support\" for "plutil.exe". If you have it then bingo, you can convert those plist files from machine readable to human readable and back again!
I would have to say once again that this is for those who are very confident with computers already because it is a command line utility, it is generally used by typing correctly formatted commands in a DOS command box. You also have to be au fait with things like DOS limitations in locations and at specifying switches when you run it. It's not entirely easy to use but it does work really well as you would expect.
Once you get into it so you see how it is controlled, you can run it from a shortcut or better, a batch file. If anyone has it and is interested I can post more details on using it. I'm looking at batch file automation of this side of things myself. (I don't even know why, I'm not an iPad user.
)