Question

I want to create a desktop icon for my application so that when user installs the application, an application icon should be created on the desktop and allow the user to run the application from the desktop icon.

I know it is not a good practice and the user can create an icon on desktop or on the dock by dragging and dropping the application to the required place, but still I want to know how to achieve this.

I’m using Xcode Version 3.2.5.

Answer 1

Option 1

Create the alias yourself like this:

NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains (NSDesktopDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *deskPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];

NSURL *appURL = [[NSURL alloc] initFileURLWithPath:[[NSBundle mainBundle] bundlePath]];
NSURL *aliasURL = [[NSURL alloc] initFileURLWithPath:[deskPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"AppName"]];

NSError *err = nil;
NSData *bookmarkData = [appURL bookmarkDataWithOptions: NSURLBookmarkCreationSuitableForBookmarkFile includingResourceValuesForKeys:nil relativeToURL:nil error:&err];

if(bookmarkData == nil) {
    // Error
} else {
    if(![NSURL writeBookmarkData:bookmarkData toURL:aliasURL options:NSURLBookmarkCreationSuitableForBookmarkFile error:&err]) {
        // Error
    }
}

Option 2

Use NDAlias to create the alias:
http://homepage.mac.com/nathan_day/pages/source.xml

Option 3

PackageMaker features default post-installations-actions, including alias creation.

Note

It’s frowned upon to create application aliases on the desktop.
Better add the application to the Dock during installation.