Changing provided services based on user preferences in OSX?

I would like to be able to change the OSX services that my application provides based on the current user's preferences (like adding more, changing the name,...). This ba开发者_开发问答sically means modifying the Info.plist (NSService key), but I don't think it is a good practice when an application modifies its own Info.plist while running, right? (At least based on few searches here). Is there any other option how to get this functionality?

I guess it should always be an external entity who does modify the Info.plist? So far I can only think about providing a system preference bundle which will do the modification in the actual app? Do you have any ideas?

Thank you

One way would be to install a service in ~/Library/Services that provides the services, and edit that application's Info.plist from your main application.

Of course, that should be an explicit action, so the user (hopefully) knows to delete the service if they delete your application. And you should document that procedure on your product's support web page, just in case they don't.

Here's a small twist to the previous recommendations, create a separate app that handles the service and bundle it within your Resources. When you want to enable the service, instead of copying the file over to ~/Library/Services, create a symbolic link within the ~/Library/Services folder that points to the app you bundled in your Resources.

This way if the user deletes your application, all that will be left behind is a symbolic link pointing to an invalid location. Does less arm than actually leaving the app behind and will have the added benefit that the service will no longer be available (since the info.plist will have been removed when the user deleted your app).