MacOS – For Mountain Lion, how does Apple define the Transparent App Lifecycle (TAL)

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Definition

Apple's talagent(8) OS X Manual Page (2010-09-01, long before Lion was released) mentions but does not define the Transparent App Lifecycle feature.

Some time before Lion was released, I understood that the TAL comprised:

  • auto save
  • versions
  • resume.

Now, I'm not so sure. (Suspect that versions are not strictly speaking within the TAL, because not all apps that support the cycle also support versions.)

Please, can anyone give a better answer than the one below?

Something shorter and more definite – maybe with reference to a single e-mail or page from Apple – will be ideal. Thanks.

Side note, an issue with 10.8

macbookpro08-centrim:~ gjp22$ sw_vers
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.8
BuildVersion:   12A269
macbookpro08-centrim:~ gjp22$ man talagent
macbookpro08-centrim:~ gjp22$ which talagent
macbookpro08-centrim:~ gjp22$ talagent
-bash: talagent: command not found
macbookpro08-centrim:~ gjp22$

– the command can not be run manually as described in the manual. I'll feed a bug report to Apple. Instead, for example: 

/System/Library/CoreServices/talagent -dump Finder

Best Answer

Lion

Carbon Framework Release Notes (2011-04-11, three months before the OS was released) placed three things under Transparent App Lifecycle in relation to a seed of the OS:

  • persistent state
  • sudden termination
  • automatic termination.

Mountain Lion

In Mac App Programming Guide: The Core App Design (2012-07-23, two days before the OS was released) the app life cycle is:

… the progress of an app from its launch through its termination. …

then automatic and sudden termination are:

… techniques that make the termination of an app transparent …

(Unsurprisingly, no mention of Carbon in that guide.)

Summary

Maybe the 2010 man page for talagent, in both Lion and Mountain Lion, uses an expression (Transparent App Lifecycle) that was outdated before Lion was released.

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