create_bundle

Tool for creating MacOS application bundles containing an icon and launch command copied from the source application.

• Can't you just create a link? Yes I can but I can't add commands to be run before an app is started
• Can't you just do it all using a bash one liner? Yes I can but I'm lazy and the gem exec provides some basic error handling
• To create bare bundles to edit later

$ gem install create_bundle

Usage: cb [OPTIONS] SOURCE_APP [DESTINATION_APP]
Usage: cb -i ICON -s SCRIPT -b DESTINATION_APP
    -v, --[no-]verbose               Run verbosely
    -i, --icon PATH                  Use a custom icon
    -s, --script PATH                Use a custom executable
    -b, --bare                       Create a bare bundle

$ cb -v /Applications/iTerm.app ~/Desktop/iTerm.app
$ cb -b -i Icon.icns -s start.sh New.app

The script when run for a source app bundle copies the icon file from the bundle (trying to parse the Info.plist, falling back to AppIcon.icns when failed), creates a new app bundle with this icon and a script to open the original app bundle. You may say the end result is kind of like creating a filesystem link.

You can create a "bare" bundle with a custom script and icon

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.