question about date and time
 

In the Oct. issue of Macworld there is a article under secrets (pg. 87) about how to get the date to show up at the menu bar at the top right next to the time. It reads: "In order to modify the menu bar clock displays, you must hack the invisible .GlobalPreferences.plist file." Then it goes on to read that you need to use Developer Tools which comes with OS X. It says to launch Tinker Tool. Ok I found the developer tools but there is no Tinker Tool. Anyone ever seen it? Anyone know a way I can make the date show at the menu bar? This tip looks real easy to do but I can't get to Tinker Tool in order to make the .GlobalPreferences.plist file visible.
Teri

TinkerTool is not part of the Developer Tools. It's a separate program. You can get it at VersionTracker.

TinkerTool

thanks viki, i just downloaded it. I don't understand why they mention devleoper tools if you need tinker tool. Hmmm, maybe i'm missing something. Thanks so much!
Teri

Ok, I just tried what they said and it didn't work. Does anyone have this issue of Macworld and tried it? Or has anyone been able to get the date to show up on the menu bar another way?
Teri

skip all the hacking.

PTHClock is what the apple menubar date/time widget should be.

If this is what I am thinking of, then it should not require the Developer's tools (unless they were wanting you to use 'Property List Editor' to edit .GlobalPreferences.plist). Using Terminal is enough.
Here is a hint from this site's main page. I think you could use in instead of the MacWorld article.

I second the suggestion to use PTH clock. It happily lives in my menu bar.

Ok, you guys convinced me to give PTHClock a try. So far I like it. I might just make the conversion...

Ah, but it is one of those pieces of software with the 'Donation' thing. I usually don't keep those unless I like them enough to pay for them. I think I'd rather have them call it shareware so that there is no gray area guilt. I guess I'll check it out for a little longer.

I liked the idea in the message at the bottom of the hint macmath posted. Is there any reason to not do this?

I edited the file: /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Clock.menu/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Localizable.strings

I changed it to: %a %b %d • %time%p

This lookes like: Wed Oct 08 • 9:53:15 PM

I think it looks nice, and it's one less app to worry about. Might I run into a problem making this change?

yep. changes in /system/ won't survive updates like to panther. and could constitute a more hazardous change than it appears.

Okay, thanks. I wouldn't mind that it wouldn't carry forward when I installed panther, but I don't want any crashes. I guess it's best to leave the system files alone and just stick to the files in my user library.

If you really like clocks, you might enjoy TimeDisc. It puts a decent clock in the menubar (with date!) and/or lets you display a versatile, but abstract, analog clock on your desktop, either floating, or behind the Finder icons. Don't let the initial bright primary colors put you off: it's quite customizable (I've got some strange dark aqua, maroon, black, and gray thing going at present).

My only problem with time disc and PTH clock is that now there is this open application running which, I guess, is not so big of a problem. Everytime I open Time Disc there is a "disc" that shows up on the desktop and I have to quit the application and trash it. Does anyone know how to keep the "disc" from showing up on the desktop? I assume I can put Time Disc (or PTH clock) as a startup item so i don't have to go in and open it everytime I start up my computer?
Teri

PTH clock is a log in item for me and any workings are invisible to me; there is no disc or file on the desktop, just the clock with date in the menubar.

Not only that, it does not show up in the Dock, and it does not show up in the 'Recent Items' list of the Apple Menu.

It does have a presence on the Menubar to access preferences and options, visible only if it is the frontmost application (if you click on its time/date display).

Still evaluating...

For TimeDisc you really need to explore the Preference options (click on menubar clock and select Preferences... from the menu).

The "disc that shows up on the desktop" is a unique sort of clock that you can configure in many ways, but you you don't have to use it. In the Preferences dialog (Global tab), you can turn off the "in Window" option for "Show Clock"; you can also turn on or off "in Dock" and "in Menu Bar" depending on your needs.

jbc, i did all that. The disc shows up on the desktop everytime i open the application. I'm not talking about the clock itself. I have it set to only show up on the menu bar. It's a mounted disc icon that shows up.
Teri

Teri-

I'm not quite sure what you're doing that could cause what you describe.

What is the name of the disk that gets mounted? Is it the "TimeDisc 0.3.1" disk image that getting remounted? Did you by chance make an alias of TimeDisc (command + option drag) from the disk image rather than just copying it to your applications folder? That's the only remote possiibility I can think of that might mount a disk when launching.

The HTML files on the disk image are the help files for TimeDisc. I'd suggest making a "TimeDisc" folder in your hard drive's Application folder and dragging all the files from the disk image into it. And make sure you've got a real copy of the files and not aliaii. I've never had any problem like yours, so I assume it's something to do with the way you installed the files.

Brad

Thank, Brad. I'll take a look at it when I get home. I think I might have done what you said and created an alias by mistake.
Teri

So what file to edit for Panther?
 

I was one of those who made the appropriate edits to the .GlobalPreferences.plist file to add the date to my menubar.

For this tiny little change, I can't justify another widget and would simply like to make the same kind of change again.

Is this possible in Panther? I looked at my .GlobalPreferences.plist file and it doesn't look anything like the previous instructions (clean install). So is there another file now? Does it survive minor system updates?

Thanks for the help!