How do I retrieve a Mac OS setting using Java?

Question

Mac OS has a setting that allows users to define when scroll bars should be visible (automatically, when scrolling, always).

Is there a way to find out the current setting using Java?

Answer 1

For me, running on macOS 10.14.6, the setting (when not set to "automatic") can be found in the current user's global preferences ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist . This file has content such as:

{
    AKDeviceUnlockState = :false;
    AKLastIDMSEnvironment = 0;
    AppleActionOnDoubleClick = "Maximize";
    AppleAntiAliasingThreshold = 4;
    AppleInterfaceStyle = "Dark";
    AppleLanguages = ( "en-US" );
    AppleLanguagesDidMigrate = "10.14.6";
    AppleLocale = "en_US";
    AppleMiniaturizeOnDoubleClick = :false;
    AppleShowScrollBars = "Always";
    ...
}

I'm not 100% sure if this covers all possible scenarios, but you could start by parsing this file, finding the AppleShowScrollBars value and using that to drive your desired functionality.

There's a handy library called dd-plist that allows you to use the following code:

try {
    final File preferences = new File("~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist");
    final NSDictionary root = (NSDictionary) PropertyListParser.parse(preferences);
    final String scrollbars = root.get("AppleShowScrollBars").toString();

    System.out.println(scrollbars);
} catch (Exception e) {
    // Handle errors
    System.out.println();
}