osxTweaks: A simple Python script for easily toggling a few options in OSX.

osxTweaks.py

#!/usr/bin/python
__author__ = 'Justin Swanson'
__version__ = '0.2'

import os	# For running system commands & getting directory contents.

# Configuration dictionary variable: Will store the live OS's config status
configuration = {}

### Clear screen function... clears the command prompt window.
def cls():
	os.system(['clear','cls'][os.name == 'nt'])

### String to Boolean function. Parse a string into a bool true/false
def str2bool(v):
	return v.lower() in ("yes", "true", "t", "1")

### "Get Status" function. Returns "enabled" / "disabled" based on a boolean.
def getStatus(bool):
	return "enabled" if bool is True else "disabled"

### Toggle boolean setting
def toggleBooleanSetting(domain, key, app, setting):
	# invert the setting
	newSetting = not setting
	# run the command
	os.system('defaults write '+domain+' '+key+' -bool '+str(newSetting))
	# restart the app
	os.system('killall '+app)
	# return the new setting
	return newSetting

### Get configuration value
def getConfigValue(domain, key):
	f = os.popen('defaults read '+domain+' '+key)
	return str2bool(f.read().strip())

### Read System Settings
def readSystemSettings():
	global configuration
	configuration['dashDisabled']		= getConfigValue('com.apple.dashboard', 'mcx-disabled')
	configuration['showHiddenFiles']	= getConfigValue('com.apple.Finder', 'AppleShowAllFiles')
	configuration['showAllExtensions']	= getConfigValue('NSGlobalDomain', 'AppleShowAllExtensions')
	configuration['autoCorrectEnabled']	= getConfigValue('NSGlobalDomain', 'NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled')
	configuration['pressAndHoldText']	= getConfigValue('NSGlobalDomain', 'ApplePressAndHoldEnabled')

### Main menu of the program.
def mainMenu():
	readSystemSettings()	# Do an initial reading of the current config settings.
	reprint = True
	while True:
		# This will only clear screen and print the menu if reprint is equal to true.
		if reprint == True:
			cls()
			print\
			"-------------------------------------------------\n",\
			"                 osxTweaks v" + __version__ + "\n",\
			"-------------------------------------------------\n\n",\
			" 1. Toggle the dashboard\n",\
			"     [Currently "+getStatus(not configuration['dashDisabled'])+"]\n",\
			" 2. Toggle hidden files\n",\
			"     [Currently "+getStatus(configuration['showHiddenFiles'])+"]\n",\
			" 3. Toggle file extensions\n",\
			"     [Currently "+getStatus(configuration['showAllExtensions'])+"]\n",\
			" 4. Toggle text auto-correction (RESTART REQUIRED)\n",\
			"     [Currently "+getStatus(not configuration['autoCorrectEnabled'])+"]\n",\
			" 5. Toggle press-and-hold special keybard characters (RESTART REQUIRED!)\n",\
			"     [Currently "+getStatus(not configuration['pressAndHoldText'])+"]\n",\
			"\n",\
			"\n",\
			" 9. Exit program\n\n",\
			"-------------------------------------------------\n"
		entry = raw_input("Please enter a number: ")
		reprint = True	# reset's reprint to its default value
		if entry == '1':
			configuration['dashDisabled'] = toggleBooleanSetting('com.apple.dashboard','mcx-disabled','Dock',configuration['dashDisabled'])
		elif entry == '2':
			configuration['showHiddenFiles'] = toggleBooleanSetting('com.apple.Finder','AppleShowAllFiles','Finder',configuration['showHiddenFiles'])
		elif entry == '3':
			configuration['showAllExtensions'] = toggleBooleanSetting('NSGlobalDomain','AppleShowAllExtensions','Finder',configuration['showAllExtensions'])
		elif entry == '4':
			configuration['autoCorrectEnabled'] = toggleBooleanSetting('NSGlobalDomain','NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled','SystemUIServer',configuration['autoCorrectEnabled'])
		elif entry == '5':
			configuration['pressAndHoldText'] = toggleBooleanSetting('NSGlobalDomain','ApplePressAndHoldEnabled','SystemUIServer',configuration['pressAndHoldText'])
		elif entry in ('9','q','Q'):
			return True
		else:
			reprint = False
			print "Invalid selection!"

### Program initialization code.
if __name__ == "__main__":
	mainMenu()