OS X Services
Many applications (such as Apple Mail, BBEdit, TextEdit, and more) support OS X Services as a means of integration. OS X Services provide another way to access features from one app (like TextSoap) within another app (like TextEdit).
There are advantages and disadvantages to using OS X Services.
Advantages
- For apps that support Services, OS X supports Service items within its system contextual menu.
- It can perform its actions without any side-effects, such as changing the user’s clipboard.
Disadvantages
- Not all apps support Services
- The level of support may vary.
- Service item definitions are static and cannot easily be customized by the user.
Our Recommendation
While we still support Services, we strongly recommend using TextSoap Menu as an alternative approach to system-wide integration. TextSoap Menu uses the user’s clipboard and supports most apps that handle copy/paste of text. See the “TextSoap Menu” topic for more details.
The Services menu can be found in the application menu, such as “TextEdit”. You can use TextSoap in other applications through Services:
- Select text in application that supports Services (text must be editable).
- Select Application > Services > Clean Selection with TextSoap.
- Select the cleaner you wish to apply from the popup window.
Services only works when text is selected and the text is editable. For example, in Apple Mail, Service items are only available when editing outgoing messages.
OS X Services are handled through the TextSoap Agent.
Debugging OS X Services Definitions
OS X Services Inspector

OS X Services inspector is a tool to help investigate issues related to TextSoap and OS X Services. There are a quick rundown of the options:
Clear : clear the window
Update : asks system to re-evaluate OS X Service definitions
Show Definitions : displays TextSoap 8 related definitions
servicesMenu.plist : gives you a full list of definitions
Action Menu

Update & Show Definitions : updates definitions and posts them to edit window.
Show All TextSoap Definitions : posts any definitions found with “textsoap” in the bundle identifier. This can be used to find various definitions from v6, v7, or v8.
Show TextSoap 8 Definitions : posts any TextSoap 8 related definitions.
Show TextSoap 8 Dynamic Definitions : posts any dynamic definitions (those created with OS X Services preference).
Show TextSoap 7 Definitions : posts any definitions found from TextSoap 7.
Start Debug TextSoap Service Session : this allows some further logging when testing a particular service menu item.
Update Service Definitions : request a full reload of OS X Service definitions.
Show All Definitions : posts all the definitions found by the system.
Clear Text : clears out text from the edit window.
Once you have some results in the edit window, you can use the standard Find (cmd-F) to find text within your definition posts.
