Types of Bundles

Mac OS X recognizes at least three distinct types of bundles:

Bundles must have an extension appropriate to their type. For applications, that extension is .app . For the developmental variants of applications, the extensions should be .debug and .profile . The extension for frameworks is .framework . Plug-ins and other loadable bundles can have any extension, but it should be an extension claimed by an application that knows how to load the bundle; the generic extension for loadable bundles is .bundle . The Finder does not show the .app extension.

The Main Bundle

Framework Bundles

Loadable Bundles and Dynamic Linking


© 2000 Apple Computer, Inc. (Last Updated 30 June 2000)