Features

Portable App Description (PAD) Fabricator

PAD Fab is a free Mac utility that allows software authors to create and maintain PAD (Portable Application Description) files.

PAD files provide a standard way for software authors to provide product descriptions and specifications to online sources. This makes it easy for websites and program libraries to automate program listings. With a PAD file, authors can easily submit their software to many software listing sites and then maintain their listings by simply updating the PAD file. You can find out more about PAD at the ASP site.

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  Compliance

  PAD Fab generates XML compliant files that comply with the PAD 3.11 specification. PAD Fab automatically validates each field to the spec as you type. A built-in full PAD verification function is also available for you to check all your PAD entries at once.

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  Compatibly with PAD Gen

  PAD Fab is compatible with .cml and .pml (company and program xml files) generated by PAD Gen which is a Windows PAD generation utility provided free from the ASP. PAD Fab can use the .cml and .pml files generated by PAD Gen.

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  Background

  I had been using PAD Gen for a very long time but started looking for a Mac alternative since now most of my time is spend developing on a Mac now. After much searching and trying various tools (there aren't a whole lot) I didn't find any tools I really liked. I wanted something similar to PAD Gen and couldn't find a good replacement. So, I wrote my own and the result is PAD Fab. I wrote it for myself but I am making it available to any other Mac developers out there that may want it. It's released as freeware but I'd certainly accept donations if you find it useful.

  If you have used PAD Gen in the past, you will probably find PAD Fab to be very familiar as I modeled it after PAD Gen as I found it has really worked well.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is it really free?

Yes, PAD Fab has been released as freeware. There is no cost to you at all. However, I'd certainly accept donations if you find it useful.

What isn't there a Windows version?

There is no Windows version of PAD Fab because it is based on the free PAD Gen program provided by the ASP. So, if you need a Windows PAD editor, please check out PAD Gen.

What is PAD?

PAD is the Portable Application Description, and it helps authors provide product descriptions and specifications to online sources in a standard way, using a standard data format that will allow webmasters and program librarians to automate program listings. PAD saves time for both authors and webmasters. For more, see the official PAD site.

Release Notes

Version 2.2
Released: February 1, 2011

• Fixed problem when double-clicking on .pml or .cml file when PAD Fab not open. It was opening the last file opened instead of the file clicked on.
• Fixed misspelling - it used to misspell the word "Utilities" when it auto generated the "Program_Specific_Category" key for any of the "System Utilities" category classes.
• Updated to use PAD 3.11 Specification (was using 3.10).

Version 2.1
Released: December 15, 2009

• Updated to fix bug which would cause a validation error if more than one supported language is selected.

Version 2.0
Released: November 19, 2009

• Added PAD extension support. A new menu option under the application menu brings up an "Extension Configuration" window which allows downloading PAD extensions from the ASP website.
• Added the ability to get the program file size from the remote file using the Primary Download URL. The ability to select a local file to get the file size is still available. The button next to the file size now is split in two. The "File" button allows getting the file size from a local file as before and the "URL" button will pull the file size from the Primary Download URL.

Version 1.1
Released: September 15, 2009

• Updated to fix a bug that would cause only the first "supported os" to be selected when opening a program file or importing a PAD file.

Version 1.0
Released: July 9, 2009

• This is the initial release of PAD Fab.

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Screenshots

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Demonstration Videos

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