Cannot register a manufacturer code (for Audio Unit app extension)

Hello,


I tried multiple links mentioned in different developer resources, but I seem to be redirected to a page which offers no registration possibilities.

The links I tried:

http://developer.apple.com/datatype/

http://developer.apple.com/datatype/creatorcode.html

http://developer.apple.com/support/mac/creator- code-registration.html


My understanding is having a valid manufacturer code is a must for Audio Unit development, as per the "Audio Unit Development Fundamentals" document (and also I'm expected to fill it in when adding the target in XCode). But I also gather that these "creator codes" are somewhat deprecated, which might explain why I cannot register them. But then surely there must be a way to avoid naming collisions - not sure if this is relevant for ver2 AU's only, or how the whole thing comes into play.


Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Zoltan

Accepted Reply

Apple hasn't maintained an official manufacturer code registry for quite some time and unfortunately that documentation is stale. Generally the advice has been to pick a manufacturer code as it relates to your company name (since that is hopefully unique) and try to make it unique to the best of your knowledge. Unless there's a real concern on your part that you've picked something another AU developer will be using (for example the obvious like 'SSL ', don't pick that) do some research, check out the Plugin Alliance etc. etc.


Of the three values that are part of the AudioComponents array (type, subtype and manufacturer), the subtype and manufacturer keys are generally related, in that a specific AU developer will have their own way to organize subtypes adding to uniqueness and lessening the issue of actually hitting a conflict.


So 'aufx' / 'dely' / 'appl' describes the delay audio unit effect from Apple. While another delay from the hypothetical "Mulch Music Production & Gardening" may describe itself hypothetically as 'aufx' / 'MDLy' / 'mMPG'.


Things to definitely avoid:

Don't use all lowercase - reserved for Apple.

Don't use 'Demo' - reserved for Apple Sample Code.

Don't use 'DEMO' - 'DEMO' used for type, subtype or manufacturer is ignored by the system and will result the following console spew - "Can't register component with 'DEMO' type, subtype, or manufacturer."


Hope this information is helpful as it does apply to v3 AUs as well.

Replies

I'm in exactly the same situation. Looking forward to a reply from Apple.

Apple hasn't maintained an official manufacturer code registry for quite some time and unfortunately that documentation is stale. Generally the advice has been to pick a manufacturer code as it relates to your company name (since that is hopefully unique) and try to make it unique to the best of your knowledge. Unless there's a real concern on your part that you've picked something another AU developer will be using (for example the obvious like 'SSL ', don't pick that) do some research, check out the Plugin Alliance etc. etc.


Of the three values that are part of the AudioComponents array (type, subtype and manufacturer), the subtype and manufacturer keys are generally related, in that a specific AU developer will have their own way to organize subtypes adding to uniqueness and lessening the issue of actually hitting a conflict.


So 'aufx' / 'dely' / 'appl' describes the delay audio unit effect from Apple. While another delay from the hypothetical "Mulch Music Production & Gardening" may describe itself hypothetically as 'aufx' / 'MDLy' / 'mMPG'.


Things to definitely avoid:

Don't use all lowercase - reserved for Apple.

Don't use 'Demo' - reserved for Apple Sample Code.

Don't use 'DEMO' - 'DEMO' used for type, subtype or manufacturer is ignored by the system and will result the following console spew - "Can't register component with 'DEMO' type, subtype, or manufacturer."


Hope this information is helpful as it does apply to v3 AUs as well.

Thanks for the info!