designable.nib

This is the way it works.

Get It Try It

Things used to be so simple. They can be that way again. A little rebellion here, a little insurrection there... Anything's possible.

In the Age of Innocence™ developers and admins and users cleaned their classes.nib and info.nib files away. Special apps like the overhyped Xslimmer and the blazing Trimmit came along and did it with the click of a mouse.

Happy Days.

But now Apple have upped the ante again, getting farther and farther away from what was the genius of Redwood City. classes.nib and info.nib are no more. And in comparison to the whales that replace them they're but wee minnows in a big sea.

The new file is called designable.nib and like its forerunners it's inessential after development is complete. And of course should not be shipped with release software.

But whereas classes.nib and info.nib were most always single cluster files that added at most 8 KB to any bundle these designable.nib files add at least ten times that - or more.

The following is the Xfind report on a new install of Leopard. All the files in both listings have been subsequently removed from the system in question. And of course their removal affected nothing except the disk free space which was really happy about the turn of events.

The first listing is /Applications save for Mail.app; the second listing is Mail.app. Ten seconds of system cleaning and 28,957,308 bytes - nearly 30 MB in useless junk - were recovered.

[Note storage requirements for these files are actually somewhat more abusive than appears: the actual storage needed is 29,331,456 bytes.]

100 items, 17602278 bytes, 34784 blocks, 0 bytes in extended attributes.

/Applications/Address Book.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ABWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Address Book.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Automator.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AMDocument.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Automator.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AMLogView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Automator.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AMVariables.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Automator.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Font Book.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/FBMainWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Font Book.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/FBMultiPreviewView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AlarmInstance.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AlarmNotification.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AuthenticationPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/FreeBusy.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InspectorViews.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/NodeInspector.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PreferencesPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iCal.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PrintPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/PlugIns/FileTransferAtom.plugin/Contents/Resources/FileTransferAtom.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AudioChat.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AudioParticipant.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/BuddyInfo.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ChatWebView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/FileTransferRequest.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/iPhotoBrowser.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/JabberAuthRequest.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PeopleList.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PeopleListMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Prefs_Accounts.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Prefs_Camera.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/UserSetup.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/VideoChat.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MailTimeMachineHelper.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MTMWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Photo Booth.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Photo Booth.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PDFAnnotationView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PDFDocument.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PDFKeywordsView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PDFMetricsView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVActivityMonitor.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVDocumentSizing.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVImageCorrection.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVImageDocument.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVImageInspectorMetaData.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVMaskingHUDs.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVPrintPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PVQLDocument.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/RSSPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/DocumentProperties.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PrintPanelAccessory.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory Utility.app/Contents/PlugIns/LDAPv2.daplug/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MapPane.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory Utility.app/Contents/PlugIns/LDAPv3.daplug/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/LDAPv3Panel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory Utility.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AppPrefs.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory Utility.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory Utility.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/City_Street_ZIP_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Country ZIP_State City_Street.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Group.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/HyperlinkArrowButton.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Location.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MapViewer.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MyDocument.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Person.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Resource.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_City Region State_ZIP_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_City State ZIP_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_City State_ZIP_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_City ZIP_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_City_State ZIP_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_City_State_ZIP_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_State_City ZIP_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_ZIP City State_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_ZIP City_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Street_ZIP City_State_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/WPLM_AddressTemplate.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/WPLM_MapTemplate.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/WPLM_PhoneTemplate.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Directory.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ZIP_State City_Street_Country.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Grapher.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Document.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Grapher.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Grapher.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MovieDocument.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/CertificatePrefPreview.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/KeyPreview.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MasterView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/NotePreview.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PasswordPreview.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/ODBC Administrator.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ChooseDriverDialog.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/ODBC Administrator.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/DriverConfigDialog.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/ODBC Administrator.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/DSNConfigDialog.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/ODBC Administrator.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Podcast Capture.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/CameraConfig.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Podcast Capture.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/LoginPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Podcast Capture.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Podcast Capture.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Preferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Podcast Capture.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/TransferCell.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Utilities/Podcast Capture.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Transfers.nib/designable.nib

78 items, 11355030 bytes, 22504 blocks, 0 bytes in extended attributes.

/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AccountInfo.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AccountPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AccountSetupAssistant.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AccountSummary.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ActivityAggregateView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ActivityPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ActivityProgressPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ActivityViewEntry.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AddressHistory.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AddressPicker.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AlarmsEditorWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AlarmView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AssistantWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AttachmentsViewer.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/CertificateBanner.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ChildBanner.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ComposeAttachmentContextMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ComposingPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ConnectionDoctor.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/DeliveryFallbackPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/DynamicErrorWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/EmbeddedNoteEditor.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ExportAccessoryView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/FeedbackCollector.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/FindPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/FontsAndColorsPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/GeneralPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/HyperlinkPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/IMAPAccountDetails.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/IMAPAccountSpecialMailboxes.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/IMAPMailboxes.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/IMAPQuota.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ImportAssistant.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/JunkMailBanner.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/JunkPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/LibraryImport.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/LibraryUpgradeAssistant.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/LoadImagesBanner.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/LoadingOverlay.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MailAlertPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MailboxesContextMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MailMediaBrowser.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MailSorter.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MailViewer.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MessageSaver.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MessageViewer.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MessageViewerContents.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MessageViewerContextMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MessageViewerToDoContents.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MessageViewSearchFieldView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MessageWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/NewCalendarPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/NewMailboxPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/NewSmartMailbox.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/NoteEditor.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ParentBanner.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PasswordPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/POPAccountDetails.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/POPAccountSpecialMailboxes.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/POPQuota.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/PrintAccessory.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/RSSAddFeed.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/RSSPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/RuleCriterionView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/SelectMailboxPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/SignaturePreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/SmartMailboxCriterionView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/SMTPSettings.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/StationeryNameSheet.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/StationerySelector.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/TableHeaderContextMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ThreadView.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ToDoDetailsWindow.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ToDoListDatePanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ToDoMissingCalendarsPanel.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ViewAttachmentContextMenu.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ViewerPreferences.nib/designable.nib
/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/WebMessageEditor.nib/designable.nib

In One Day Out Another

designable.nib - which normally sits inside a NIB with keyedobjects.nib - is actually (as its NIBmate) already deprecated. The wave of the future is something that exists on its own without a directory. It's called a 'XIB'. You may remember XIBs from the early Carbon days.

'XIB' stands for 'OS X Interfacebuilderfile BEIGE' and it makes the wimpy designable.nib files look puny.

Progress. Buy Seagate.