I finally found an App that actually reads and reports the contents of ~/Library/Application Support/App Store/updatejournal.plist
Etrecheck under the heading of Software Installs in the Last 30 Days. (Etrecheck notes the list may be incomplete???) Etrecheck's list (and updatejournal.plist) has a lot more entries than what appears in App Store's "Updates installed in the last 30 days" and does not include any System software updates. Neither Etrecheck nor App Store provide any means of accessing the extensive text and "version notes" type data shown in updatejournal.plist.
I can't figure out a rhyme or reason for updatejournal.plist or its contents. Is it a hangover from previous App Store iterations, a precursor of future App Store contents, or what? I am sorry you brought the subject up 'cause it has my
curiosity bump itching like crazy.
I thought you had more or less settled on the purpose of updatejournal.plist when you posted
BAS (Before App Store) many apps were installed in the user's ~/Applications file, but some years ago Apple deprecated the use of the ~/Applications folder in favor of putting all apps in /Applications. More recent installations no longer include a ~/Applications folder. I hadn't thought of this before you brought it up but it appears the segregation is being handled by the ~/Library/Application Support/App Store/updatejournal.plist. A reasonable work around. (Emphasis added)
And your "conclusion" is supported by your report in post #47708.
If you supplement that with the ASSumption that the App Store is drawing its system-wide info from /System/Library/Receipts, you've made a good case for all bases having been covered, and for my preferred scenario of user info being stored in home folders and by user, and system info being stored in a universally accessible location, being a reality.
(My only guess about why updatejournal.plist includes so much info that's not posted in the App Store is that the info may be stored locally to save bandwidth...in which case it's awfully well-hidden.)
