Fastest way to programmatically open prefpane? - objective-c

Question

AppleScript was too slow, so I tried ScriptingBridge to open System Preferences.app and set the current pane, which is also too slow. Is there a faster way to do it? properly

Answer 1

A more direct method than using the file system path is to use the appropriate resource URL for the preference pane with NSWorkspace as shown:
NSString *urlString = #"x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Accessibility";
[[NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:urlString]];
where the urlString was taken from a list of some of the possible URL strings https://macosxautomation.com/system-prefs-links.html

Answer 2

Use Launch Services or NSWorkspace to open the prefpane bundle. That's the programmatic version of the open(1) command.

Answer 3

No brainer:
system("open -a System\\ Preferences");
And to choose which Pane to open:
open /System/Library/PreferencePanes/Internet.prefPane
open /System/Library/PreferencePanes/DateAndTime.prefPane
...
Provided you found, with a little trial and error, the right file in /System/Library/PreferencePanes/ first.
I'm sure there's a more cocoa way to do this last trick, still... this one works with every language.
Also: you may want to check these paths
/Library/PreferencePanes/
~/Library/PreferencePanes/
...as that's where third party apps install their *.prefPane files

Answer 4

How exactly did you use the Scripting Bridge?
I tried with this code and I think it performs reasonably well:
SystemPreferencesApplication *SystemPreferences = [SBApplication applicationWithBundleIdentifier:#"com.apple.systempreferences"];
#try {
[SystemPreferences activate];
SystemPreferences.currentPane = [SystemPreferences.panes objectWithID:#"com.apple.preference.security"];
} #catch (NSException *exception) {
NSLog(#"%#", [exception description]);
}
Here is another option just for fun which is Cocoa, but not documented at all (and only works with system preference panes). You may use it to compare performances, but don't use it in production code.
id bezelServicesTask = [NSConnection rootProxyForConnectionWithRegisteredName:#"com.apple.BezelServices" host:nil];
[bezelServicesTask performSelector:#selector(launchSystemPreferences:) withObject:#"Security.prefPane"];