NAME

       defaults - read or modify GNUstep user defaults

SYNOPSIS

       defaults [ action ]

DESCRIPTION

       The 'defaults' command lets you to read and modify a user's defaults.

       This program replaces the old NeXTstep style dread, dwrite, and dremove programs.

       If  you  have  access  to  another user's defaults database, you may include '-u username'
       before any other options to use that user's database rather than your own.

       defaults read [ domain [ key] ]

              read the named default from the specified domain.  If no 'key' is given - read  all
              defaults  from  the  domain.   If no 'domain' is given - read all defaults from all
              domains.  A domain is either an application name, or "NSGlobalDomain",  for  system
              level defauts.  (Running programs can access two other domains, "NSArgumentDomain",
              for command line arguments, "NSRegistrationDomain", a second-chance domain in which
              "defaults  for  defaults"  can  be  registered,  and  possibly domains for specific
              locales.)

       defaults readkey key

              read the named default from all domains.

       defaults write domain key value

              write 'value' as default 'key' in the specified domain.  'value' must be a property
              list in single quotes.

       defaults write domain dictionary

              write 'dictionary' as a replacement for the specified domain.  'dictionary' must be
              a property list in single quotes.

       defaults write

              reads standard input for defaults in the format produced  by  'defaults  read'  and
              writes them to the database.

       defaults delete [ domain [ key] ]

              remove the specified default(s) from the domain.  If no 'key' is given - delete the
              entire domain.

       defaults delete

              read standard input for a series of lines containing pairs of domains and keys  for
              defaults to be deleted.

       defaults domains

              lists the domains in the database (one per line)

       defaults find word

              searches  domain names, default names, and default value strings for those equal to
              the specified word and lists them on standard output.

       defaults plist

              output some information about property lists

       defaults help

              list options for the defaults command.

FILES

       ~/GNUstep/Defaults/.GNUstepDefaults
              holds defaults for a user

BUGS

       None known.

DIAGNOSTICS

       Hopefully self-explanatory.

HISTORY

       The 'defaults' command appeared in OpenStep and combined the capabilities of  the  earlier
       NeXTstep commands 'dread', 'dwrite', and 'dremove'.
       The GNUstep version was written in 1998.

       This manual page first appeared in gnustep-base 1.9.2 (March 2004).

AUTHORS

       defaults was written by Richard Frith-Macdonald <rfm@gnu.org>