I'm trying to figure out a way to automatically log users out of an app if they fail to enter their username and password correctly after a 15-minute period. I want to make sure the app saves any data before logging out, instead of just locking the screen. To do this, I'm wondering if the app needs to have an API to save the data correctly. Is 'API' the right term for what I need? Also, what terms should I research to better understand how to make this work? Any guidance would be appreciated since I'm still learning!
5 Answers
Just a heads-up—there's no guarantee that the app will save data when it gets logged out. On a typical instance, applications will receive signals like SIGHUP and SIGTERM, which they might handle differently. If they don’t handle those signals properly, any unsaved work might just be lost. Instead of searching for some unique API, look into how *nix systems handle these processes via shell commands. It’s been a reliable method for ages.
Based on my experience, AppleScript might actually be capable of helping you with this. It could facilitate prompting users for their credentials periodically and handle the logout process as you need it.
Honestly, if you're a sys admin considering asking users for their password every 15 minutes, maybe reconsider that approach! It could just create more frustration than it's worth.
You might want to use a Launch Daemon together with osascript on macOS. This way, you can automate some of these tasks without too much hassle. Bash is a bit outdated now, so using zsh (Z shell) could be more effective for newer scripts.
I’m a bit lost here—why is everyone talking about bash? I thought this is more about app management. Can someone clarify?
I thought bash could help re-prompt for the username and password. Is there a better way to do this?