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(Safari 5.1.9) I'd like to trash ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist in an attempt to cure some recurring, possibly plist related, weirdness, but I want to be certain that I won't lose my AutoFill items in the process.

I've found that deleting an item from Safari > Prefs > AutoFill causes it to be deleted from my keychain, but I can't figure out where Safari stores its database, and (clone notwithstanding) I don't want to risk losing it. (It doesn't look like it's in the plist, but I want to be 100% certain.)

Am I at risk?

Thanks.

What is the "recurring ... weirdness" that you are experiencing? Let's see if we can diagnose it before you go trashing plists or other things.

Have a go at it...

Safari > Prefs > General is set at "Safari opens with: All windows from last session," but every once in a too often while, although it opens with the correct two tabs from the last session, the tab on the left, while headed appropriately, comes without a URL in its address bar, so all I get is a correctly titled blank window.

Note that I never clear Safari's history, and, although I can't imagine its making an iota of difference, the two tabs have been FTM on the left (always) and Wunderground on the right (mostly, if not always), so it's always been FTM's URL that's been missing.

(And, for info purposes, have you got any idea where AutoFill's database lives?)

Edit: The path to AutoFill in my OP is incomplete... Safari> Prefs > AutoFill > User names and passwords. (It's the only AutoFill functionality I use.)

You could move ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist to the Desktop and see what happens when you launch Safari. You can always move it back and overwrite the newly-created plist if you're unhappy with the consequences. (This is where TimeMachine excels, BTW: you can screw up—like I did when experimenting with the move described above—and recover gracefully anyway.)

I think you'll find that trashing Safari's prefs has no adverse effect on your Safari passwords. (AFAIK, they're actually stored in your keychain.)

I always forget about moving plists to my desktop, but then again, impetuous trashing is one of my personality quirks.

You're correct about the passwords being stored in Keychain Access; I already mentioned that deleting one from Safari's prefs results in its deletion from my keychain.

I guess my real question is "Where does the link between Safari and Keychain Access live?"

I've seen that happen if the server that the Web site lives on is not responding for whatever reason.

This is the only instance I've ever run into of a non-responding server that doesn't show a spinning "loading icon" and eventually generate a pop-up "Server not responding" window.

In case you didn't read more, this has only happened with FTM; does that mean anything?

Edit: And I don't recall it ever happening when FTM was the only window/tab to be reopened...only with multiple tabs.

I believe it lies within the bones of Safari.app itself. In other words, there is no Safari database of passwords; Safari simply acts as a front end to your keychain in the matter of website passwords. When it offers to store a password you've just entered, and you say yes, it passes the information to your keychain.

When you visit a site which presents a password form, Safari consults your keychain, and, if it finds a matching site address in the keychain, retrieves the stored password.

I don't have any link which states this relationship authoritatively; it's just the way I've always believed Safari handles stored passwords, and I've not seen anything which contradicts it, and several behaviors which support it. For example, before I added my old Leopard login keychain to ~/Library/Keychains on my new Mac mini, I would get "Safari wants to use the [Leopard login] keychain" if I visited a site for which I'd maintained a saved password in my Leopard installation—but only if my Leopard clone was mounted.

Thanks for the analysis.

Based on the interaction between Safari and Keychain Access that I've seen, I'm inclined to agree with you.

(And if you couldn't find a link, I'm inclined to believe that none exists.)