Great Hint!

But...

How do I remove an application icon from the Dock via ARD?

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It looks like the defaults command doesn't have a delete option for arrays, only for keys: defaults delete domain key. Since the key, persistent-apps, contains the information for all Dock icons, you'd have to wipe them all and replace the key with a backed up copy. If you're going to do that, you might want to skip the defaults command entirely and just replace the .plist file.

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Terrific Hint!

I've been sending out the user's com.apple.dock.plist file (while the user is logged out) for a consistant dock in my labs, but I didn't know how to add an icon if the docks weren't meant to be the same.

Much appreciated.

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please note that i accidentally put student where i should have but USERNAME.

sorry.

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What is signature?

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Fantastic Hint, except I get the following error when I test it.
"Could not parse: <dict><key>tile-data</key><dict>\
<key>file-data</key><dict><key>_CFURLString</key>\
<string>/Applications/Kahootz.app</string><key>_CFURLStringType</key>\
<integer>0</integer></dict><key>file-label</key><string>Kahootz</string>\
<key>file-type</key><integer>41</integer></dict><key>tile-type</key>\
<string>file-tile</string></dict>. Try single-quoting it."
(Exclude the Speech marks). I have used a direct copy of the code pasted with the correct adjustments. It appears that it strips out the ' whe it tries to run.

Any Sugegstions

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This isn't going to work in OS X 10.4.x. The pref file (.plist) does not look like a typical xml file.

Example:
bplist00Þ
  
O
P&&
Q
O
QQ
T
U
Q
W
X_persistent-apps]magnificationXtilesize_wvous-br-modifier_wvous-bl-modifierZtrash-fullXautohide_checked-for-dashboardWversionYmod-count_wvous-br-cornerZlaunchanim_wvous-bl-corner_persistent-others¯&+3;DMW`hpx?‰‘š£¬Â³ÂºÃ‚ÉÒÛãëòù





(
/
7
@
GÃ’Ytile-dataYtile-typeÑZfile-labelP^dashboard-tileÓ)*TGUIDÕ !"]file-mod-dateYfile-type_parent-mod-dateYfile-data¾cëþXTerminal)Àm oÓ#$%

If someone now how to do this with the terminal or ARD on a tiger box I would be very interested.

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Works for me if the single quotes are replaced with double quotes.
Some additional hints: replace persistent-apps with persistent-others to add documents or folders to the Trash side of the Dock.
If you send the command for the account that is currently in use, you can replace /Users/student/ in the path for the preference file with a tilde ~ to signify the current home folder. The icon will then appear in the user's Dock the next time they log in. This greatly facilitates adding items to a large number of computers at once.

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This script worked great along with pushing out the app folder saved me alot of time. I was also attempting to push it down to intel based MACs but this script did not work for it. Does anyone know the intel dock modifaction script. Thanks

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any help with this:
I am using apple remote desktop 3.2. I want to add icon on the dock for student account. I am getting this error when I tried this command:

defaults write /Users/student/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock \
persistent-apps -array-add '<dict><key>tile-data</key><dict>\
<key>file-data</key><dict><key>_CFURLString</key>\
<string>/Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Microsoft Word.app</string><key>_CFURLStringType</key>\
<integer>0</integer></dict><key>file-label</key><string>Microsoft Word NAME</string>\<key>file-type</key><integer>41</integer></dict><key>tile-type</key>\string>file-tile</string></dict>'




Error message:

is-lab31 (206.78.xx.xx)
2008-10-07 11:31:27.419 defaults[1025:10b] Could not parse: <dict><key>tile-data</key><dict>\
<key>file-data</key><dict><key>_CFURLString</key>\
<string>/Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Microsoft Word.app</string><key>_CFURLStringType</key>\
<integer>0</integer></dict><key>file-label</key><string>Microsoft Word NAME</string>\
<key>file-type</key><integer>41</integer></dict><key>tile-type</key>\
<string>file-tile</string></dict>. Try single-quoting it.


Also, I tried using " ", but same error message.


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