Sparkle calls -[NSString boolValue] on 10.4

[cmh]

Sparkle's documentation suggests setting Info.plist values to the string 'YES', however it then calls boolValue on them. This breaks applications on 10.4, which does not support -boolValue for strings.

One of the three following steps should be done:

1. Alter the documentation to ensure the developer right-clicks the row in Info.plist and selects Value Type -> Boolean, or

2. Alter the code to check the type of values on 10.4 to ensure they are not strings before calling boolValue, substituting case-insensitive string checks for ('yes' or '1') or ('no' or '0')

3. Somewhere suggest that the framework will not work on 10.4 as documented.

[cmh (5-launchpad-cmh-parliant-com)]

Forgot Sparkle version: 1.5b6

[Andy Matuschak (andymatuschak)]

This one's been fixed since 1.5b6.

[Alex B (alex-belonosov)]

Andy, I'm using version 1.5b6 and the problem is still there. [NSString boolValue] is called when an Updater object is created in NIB. The NIB fails to load on 10.4 printing the error about [NSString boolValue] on terminal. (I have run the app in Terminal to see debug output).

[Hofman (cmhofman)]

There shouldn't be a string in the prefs for the boolean keys Sparkle uses. Did you hand-edit your preference file, or did you use a string in your Info.plist file instead of <false/> or <true/>?

[Hofman (cmhofman)]

Only for the LSUIElement key the value is in fact a string, that's definitely a bug. Otherwise, when it's a string, you're using the wrong type of value.

[Hofman (cmhofman)]

Sorry, I was wrong on that one, it's not checking the Info.plist value directly, so LSUIElement is handled correctly.

So the only way I can see such a problem to occur with 1.5b6 is when you're using a string in Info.plist for one of the boolean Sparkle keys, which you simply should never do when you want to support 10.4.

[cmh (5-launchpad-cmh-parliant-com)]

Hofman, have you tested this pronouncement on 10.4? My testing on 10.4.11 shows that all values in Info.plist files are returned as NSString objects, even if they contain all digits.

For safety, the code should check the object returned is not a string before calling boolValue, if Sparkle wishes to support 10.4.

[cmh (5-launchpad-cmh-parliant-com)]

Oops, sorry Hofman, I got confused by the many comments. I now see you mean ensuring that the Info.plist entries are of Boolean type, not simply placing a non-string value in the entry. I agree, doing this fixes the problem on 10.4.

However, this now becomes a documentation bug, as the Sparkle install instructions suggest supplying the string 'YES' for these values. I will alter the bug accordingly.