Technologies›Foundation, System & Concurrency

CoreServices

iOSmacOStvOSwatchOSvisionOS

CoreServices gathers low-level system services and core type definitions used across iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS, including Uniform Type Identifiers exposed through UTType. Working at this layer you describe and resolve item types, query metadata, and interact with system facilities such as Launch Services, where structures like LSItemInfoRecord, LSApplicationParameters, and LSLaunchURLSpec describe how documents and applications are identified and launched. The framework also surfaces Spotlight metadata through MDItem and the MDImporterInterfaceStruct and MDExporterInterfaceStruct importer interfaces, file-system change notifications via FSEventStreamContext, Apple event descriptors such as AEDesc and AEKeyDesc, and keyboard-layout data including UCKeyboardLayout and UCKeyStateRecord. These are foundational system primitives rather than high-level UI types, intended for code that inspects, classifies, and coordinates system resources.

Spotlight Metadata 11

Query, label, and import Spotlight metadata for files and items.

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    MDItem
    @typedef MDItemRef
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    MDLabel
    @typedef MDLabelRef
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    MDQuery
    @typedef MDQueryRef
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    MDLabelDomain
    @typedef MDLabelDomain
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    MDQueryOptionFlags
    Constants that specify options controlling how a Spotlight query runs.
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    MDQueryBatchingParams
    @typedef MDQueryBatchingParams
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    MDQuerySortOptionFlags
    @enum MDQuerySortOptionFlags
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    MDImporterInterfaceStruct
    A structure that defines the interface a Spotlight metadata importer plug-in implements.
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    MDExporterInterfaceStruct
    A structure that defines the interface a Spotlight metadata exporter plug-in implements.
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    MDImporterURLInterfaceStruct
    A structure that defines a URL-based interface for a Spotlight metadata importer.
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    MDImporterBundleWrapperURLInterfaceStruct
    A structure that defines a bundle-wrapper URL interface for a Spotlight metadata importer.

Launch Services 12

Identify, configure, and launch documents and applications, and manage shared file lists.

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    LSSharedFileList
    An object that represents a persistent, ordered list of shared file-system items.
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    LSSharedFileListItem
    An object that represents a single entry in a shared file list.
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    LSItemInfoRecord
    A structure that holds the information Launch Services reports about an item.
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    LSLaunchURLSpecmacOS 10.0+
    A structure that specifies URLs and parameters for launching an application.
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    LSLaunchFSRefSpec
    A structure that specifies file references and parameters for launching an application.
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    LSApplicationParameters
    A structure that specifies parameters for launching an application.
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    LSRolesMask
    Constants that specify the roles an application can claim for a file type.
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    LSAcceptanceFlags
    Constants that specify how strictly Launch Services matches an item.
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    LSRequestedInfo
    Constants that specify which item information Launch Services should return.
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    LSItemInfoFlags
    Constants that describe the characteristics of an item reported by Launch Services.
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    LSHandlerOptions
    Constants that specify options for an application's content or URL-scheme handler.
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    LSLaunchFlags
    Constants that specify options controlling how an application is launched.

Identity Services 5

Resolve and query users, groups, and the authorities that vouch for them.

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    CSIdentity
    An object that represents a user or group identity resolved through Identity Services.
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    CSIdentityQuery
    An object that searches an authority for matching user or group identities.
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    CSIdentityAuthority
    An object that represents an authority responsible for vouching for identities.
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    CSIdentityClientContext
    A structure that supplies client context for an Identity Services identity.
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    CSIdentityQueryClientContext
    A structure that supplies client context for an Identity Services query.

Search Kit Indexing 9

Build and query full-text indexes and summarize their contents.

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    SKIndex
    An object that represents a Search Kit index of document content for full-text search.
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    SKIndexDocumentIterator
    An object that iterates over the documents contained in a Search Kit index.
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    SKSearch
    An object that performs an asynchronous query against a Search Kit index.
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    SKSearchGroup
    An object that groups multiple Search Kit indexes for a combined query.
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    SKSearchResults
    An object that holds the ranked documents returned by a Search Kit query.
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    SKSummary
    An object that produces a summary of a body of text using Search Kit.
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    SKIndexType
    Constants that specify the type of a Search Kit index.
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    SKDocumentIndexState
    Constants that describe the indexing state of a document in a Search Kit index.
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    SKSearchType
    Constants that specify the type of search performed against a Search Kit index.

Apple Events 7

Describe and build Apple event records, arrays, and remote-process resolution.

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    AEDesc
    A structure that describes an Apple event descriptor and its associated data.
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    AEKeyDesc
    A structure that pairs a keyword with an Apple event descriptor.
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    AEArrayData
    A structure that holds the data for an array within an Apple event descriptor.
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    AEBuildError
    A structure that reports an error encountered while building an Apple event.
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    AERemoteProcessResolverContext
    A structure that supplies client context for resolving remote processes for Apple events.
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    ccntTokenRecord
    A structure that holds a scripting token used by an Apple event handler.
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    TScriptingSizeResource
    A structure that describes the scripting size resource for an application.

Keyboard Layout Data 11

Low-level structures that describe Unicode keyboard layouts and key-state mapping.

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    UCKeyboardLayout
    A structure that describes a complete Unicode keyboard layout.
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    UCKeyboardTypeHeader
    A structure that describes the header for a keyboard type within a layout.
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    UCKeyLayoutFeatureInfo
    A structure that describes feature information for a Unicode keyboard layout.
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    UCKeyModifiersToTableNum
    A structure that maps modifier-key combinations to character-table indexes.
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    UCKeyToCharTableIndex
    A structure that indexes the character tables of a keyboard layout.
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    UCKeyStateRecord
    A structure that describes a key-state record within a Unicode keyboard layout.
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    UCKeyStateRecordsIndex
    A structure that indexes the key-state records of a keyboard layout.
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    UCKeyStateEntryTerminal
    A structure that describes a terminal entry in a keyboard layout's key-state table.
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    UCKeyStateEntryRange
    A structure that describes a range entry in a keyboard layout's key-state table.
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    UCKeyStateTerminators
    A structure that holds the state terminators for a keyboard layout.
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    UCKeySequenceDataIndex
    A structure that indexes key-sequence data within a keyboard layout.

Text and Script Data 5

Structures that represent text ranges, offsets, and international writing systems.

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    TextRange
    A structure that describes a contiguous range within a body of text.
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    TextRangeArray
    A structure that holds an array of text ranges.
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    OffsetArray
    A structure that holds an array of text offsets.
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    WritingCode
    A structure that identifies a script and language for a body of text.
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    IntlText
    A structure that pairs text with its international writing-system code.

File-System Events 1

Context for receiving file-system change notifications.

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    FSEventStreamContext
    A structure that supplies client context for a file-system event stream.

Dictionary Services 1

Access to system dictionary data.

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    DCSDictionary
    @typedef DCSDictionaryRef

Type Aliases 96

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    DescType
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    AEKeyword
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    AEDataStorageType
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    AEDataStorage
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    AEDescPtr
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    AEDescList
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    AERecord
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    AEAddressDesc
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    AppleEvent
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    AppleEventPtr
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    AEReturnID
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    AETransactionID
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    AEEventClass
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    AEEventID
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    AEArrayType
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    AEArrayDataPointer
Show 80 more
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    AESendPriority
    These constants are used by AEMach and AEInteraction APIs. They are not
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    AESendMode
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    AECoerceDescProcPtr
    These calls are used to set up and modify the coercion dispatch table.
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    AECoercePtrProcPtr
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    AECoerceDescUPP
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    AECoercePtrUPP
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    AECoercionHandlerUPP
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    AEDisposeExternalProcPtr
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    AEDisposeExternalUPP
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    AEEventHandlerProcPtr
    A AEEventHandler is installed to process an AppleEvent
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    AEEventHandlerUPP
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    AEBuildErrorCode
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    AEStreamRef
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    ccntTokenRecPtr
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    ccntTokenRecHandle
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    OSLAccessorProcPtr
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    OSLCompareProcPtr
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    OSLCountProcPtr
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    OSLDisposeTokenProcPtr
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    OSLGetMarkTokenProcPtr
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    OSLGetErrDescProcPtr
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    OSLMarkProcPtr
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    OSLAdjustMarksProcPtr
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    OSLAccessorUPP
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    OSLCompareUPP
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    OSLCountUPP
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    OSLDisposeTokenUPP
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    OSLGetMarkTokenUPP
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    OSLGetErrDescUPP
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    OSLMarkUPP
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    OSLAdjustMarksUPP
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    TextRangePtr
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    TextRangeHandle
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    TextRangeArrayPtr
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    TextRangeArrayHandle
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    OffsetArrayPtr
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    OffsetArrayHandle
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    AEEventSource
    AEEventSource is defined as an SInt8 for compatability with pascal.
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    AERemoteProcessResolverRef
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    AERemoteProcessResolverCallback
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    CSDiskSpaceRecoveryOptions
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    CSDiskSpaceRecoveryCallback
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    UCKeyOutput
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    UCKeyCharSeq
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    CollatorRef
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    UCCollateOptions
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    UCCollationValue
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    UCTypeSelectRef
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    UCTypeSelectCompareResult
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    UCTSWalkDirection
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    UCTypeSelectOptions
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    IndexToUCStringProcPtr
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    IndexToUCStringUPP
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    TextBreakLocatorRef
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    UCTextBreakType
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    UCTextBreakOptions
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    FSEventStreamCreateFlags
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    FSEventStreamEventFlags
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    FSEventStreamEventId
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    FSEventStreamRef
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    ConstFSEventStreamRef
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    FSEventStreamCallback
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    IconRef
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    IconServicesUsageFlags
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    MDQueryCreateResultFunction
    @typedef MDQueryCreateResultFunction
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    MDQueryCreateValueFunction
    @typedef MDQueryCreateValueFunction
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    MDQuerySortComparatorFunction
    @typedef MDQuerySortComparatorFunction
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    CSIdentityClass
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    CSIdentityFlags
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    CSIdentityStatusUpdatedCallback
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    CSIdentityQueryFlags
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    CSIdentityQueryStringComparisonMethod
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    CSIdentityQueryEvent
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    CSIdentityQueryReceiveEventCallback
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    SKDocument
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    SKDocumentID
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    SKSearchOptions
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    SKSearchResultsFilterCallBack
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    LSSharedFileListResolutionFlags
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    LSSharedFileListChangedProcPtr
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