Catalina - prompting for access to protected dirs

Scripting Forums AppleScriptObjC and Xcode
#1

Hi folks,

How does one go about prompting for access to protected directories in Catalina within a AppleScriptObjC app?

For example:

#2

You don’t – the system does it when you try to read something in one.

#3

Thanks, Shane.

I’m not getting a prompt.

For my app, folks drag an item onto it… I then copy that item via ‘cp’

It’s this do shell ‘cp’ that’s getting operation not permitted, even moved to NSFileManager & no prompts.

My next test was to revert to an open file panel.

#4

It sounds like you don’t have the relevant purpose string entry in your app’s Info.plist file. And don’t use cp.

#5

Already added NSFileManager instead of cp… but the purpose string.

If I add sandbox to the apps capabilities then check of the options, still same error.

Got any examples here incase I’m holding it wrong?

#6

You don’t want sandboxing. Do you have an entry for NSDesktopFolderUsageDescription/Privacy - Desktop Folder Usage Description in your Info.plist?

#7

What’s the settings I should have in my entitlements or plait for
Shell accesss. (On 10.11)

I spend days trying to figure it out.
Googling etc.

When I turned sandboxing off it worked.

I had to turn sandboxing on to get access to my music folder
For ITLibrary framework use.

Can I just copy the entry from my entitlements file and place that in
My info.plist?

#8

There’s no such entitlement. Using do shell script is just launching tasks. What you can do like that is still a bit fuzzy, and depends on the tool you use. Third-party tools should be notarized (apparently not a straight-forward thing to do to them).

If you’re sandboxed, I suspect you can’t do much with the shell – you won’t be able to pass security scoped URLs, which is how you get entitlements.

No.

#9

Thanks. Yeah I’m
Not calling them from AppleScript but from a NSTask

It is a 3rd party python script.
I have found some stuff about notarizing them
I may try that.

The whole sandboxing thing is definitely pain in the but.

What are the downsides of turning it off?
I don’t plan to release my app in the store.
(Not Yet)

Thanks

#10

Hi Shane,

I’ve added:

[format] NSDesktopFolderUsageDescription
Needed for pkgcreator to copy items form you Desktop[/format]

Still no prompt, I can read files on the Desktop but not copy.

CP or NSFileManager’s copyItemAtPath are failing.

This is an app which the item is dragged into, so I think i’ll need to try prompting for the file: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/LanguagesUtilities/Conceptual/MacAutomationScriptingGuide/PromptforaFileorFolder.html

#11

Getting in the app Store is the only thing I know you need it for.

#12

Then use the URL you get, not paths. So copyItemAtURL:, not copyItemAtPath:.

#13

No difference.

I’m using the following for the drag and drop, if makes any difference: https://macscripter.net/viewtopic.php?pid=165338#p165338

#14

Ok, so in a new project this works:

on applicationWillFinishLaunching_(aNotification)
		-- Insert code here to initialize your application before any files are opened
               set theDocument to choose file with prompt "Please select a document to process:"
               log theDocument
               set posixDocument to POSIX path of theDocument
               log posixDocument
               do shell script "cp " & quoted form of posixDocument & " ~/Downloads/file2.jpg"
end applicationWillFinishLaunching_

So… maybe something with this: https://macscripter.net/viewtopic.php?pid=165338#p165338