plistutil(1)

💖 plistutil — the manual, but make it cute 💖

okay so this is plistutil(1) from the General Commands Manual section, and bestie, it's about to become your new fave little conversion tool. buckle up 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

plistutil — Convert a plist FILE between binary, XML, and JSON format 🌈

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

plistutil [OPTIONS] [-i FILE] [-o FILE]

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

plistutil lets you convert a Property List file between binary, XML, and JSON format. that's the whole vibe. it's giving ✨format-shifting icon✨

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🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

• -i, --infile FILE — the Input FILE you're converting from. if you skip this argument, or you pass - as the filename, plistutil will read from stdin instead. 🫶
• -o, --outfile FILE — the Output FILE you're converting to. if you skip this argument, or you pass - as the filename, plistutil will write to stdout. periodt.
• -f, --format [bin|xml|json|openstep] — Force output format, regardless of input type. super useful when you don't know what the input format even is, but you need the output to always be one specific thing (like xml or json). 👑

If omitted, XML plist data will be converted to binary and vice-versa. To convert to/from JSON or OpenStep the output format needs to specified. ⚠️

• -p, --print FILE — Print PList in human-readable format. it's giving readability, main character energy 🎀
• -c, --compact — JSON and OpenStep only: Print output in compact form. By default, the output will be pretty-printed. so like... -c is the lowkey version, no -c is the full glam 💅
• -s, --sort — Sort all dictionary nodes lexicographically by key before converting to the output format. organized. alphabetized. iconic. ⭐
• -h, --help — Prints usage information. your little guide bestie 🧚
• -d, --debug — Enabled extended debug output. yes, the manual literally says "Enabled", we're keeping it, no cap 💀
• -v, --version — Print version information 📌

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🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

plistutil -i test.plist -o out.plist

Convert test.plist and write to out.plist. If test.plist is in XML format, out.plist will be in binary format. If test.plist is in binary format, out.plist will be in XML format. ✨ (yes bestie, it flip-flops, that's the point)

plistutil -i test.plist -o out.plist -f bin

Same as before, but the output will always be in binary format. no surprises, just bin 🫶

plistutil -i test.plist -f xml

Print test.plist as XML plist, regardless of the input format. 🌈

plistutil -i test.plist -f xml -o -

Same as before. (- means stdout, iykyk)

plistutil -i test.plist -f json

Print test.plist as JSON plist, regardless of the input format. 🦋

cat test.plist |plistutil -f xml

Take plist data from stdin — piped via cat — and write the output as XML to stdout. pipes? we love pipes. 💖

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

the geniuses behind this:

• Zach C.
• Martin Szulecki
• Nikias Bassen

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🌐 ON THE WEB 🌐

• https://libimobiledevice.org
• https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libplist

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aaaand that's the whole page, bestie 💜 this manual is literally signed plistutil(1) at the bottom and lives in the General Commands Manual section — that's the footer, that's the vibe, we're done here. go convert something slayfully 🎀✨