, 6 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
I released a fun new plugin for datasette: datasette-bplist, which adds tooling for handling values in SQLite databases that are data structures encoded using Apple’s binary plist format. github.com/simonw/dataset…
Why would you want this? Because it turns out the ~/Library/ folder on any OS X laptop is positively crammed with SQLite databases that embed binary-plist data in some of their tables.

Combine bplist_to_json() with json_extract() to pull out all kinds of interesting things...
My favourite example is the RKMaster_dataNote table tucked away in
~/Pictures/Photos\ Library.photoslibrary/database/photos.db - which contains EXIF data from every photo you've ever shared with Apple Photos. Here's a before and after shot showing what the plugin reveals
And here's a SQL query which extracts the Latitude/Longitude from the most recent 1000 photos - combine with the datasette-cluster-map plugin and you get a map of your recent photo activity!
If you want to try this out on your own photo library the README has detailed instructions github.com/simonw/dataset…
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Simon Willison
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!