Launch an NSTask and bring it to front

Launch an NSTask and bring it to front

I'm trying to launch another application using NSTask

NSArray* argArray = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:fileName, nil];

NSTask* task = [NSTask launchedTaskWithLaunchPath:appName arguments:argArray];

while this works the main gui window doesn't come to front.

when repeatedly calling with different fileName the new file does get loaded in the app even though only 1 instance of the app is running

any poiners? I did try SetFrontProcess but seems to have no effect even after introducing a delay

I did look into NSRunningApplication but it seems it is not available on 10.5 whereas I need a solution for both 10.5 and 10.6

objective-c nstask

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asked Feb 8 '11 at 0:39 user549164 7810

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up vote 3 down vote

Don't use NSTask to launch applications. Use NSWorkspace, which has several methods (e.g. -launchApplication:) to launch and activate an application. share|improve this answer answered Feb 8 '11 at 1:21 indragie 7,209248104

There is a problem with using NSWorkspace I want to pass a file name as the argument in NSWorkspace functions if the app is already running meaning new instance is not created the argument part is ignored which makes it unusable in this scenario –  user549164 Feb 8 '11 at 1:47 Well in that case, maybe launch the app using NSTask and then use one of the NSWorkspace launching methods right after, because the NSWorkspace methods will bring the application to the front if it is already running. –  indragie Feb 8 '11 at 3:30 @user549164: You can provide NSWorkspaceLaunchNewInstance to always launch a new instance, if that's appropriate. –  Patrick May 18 at 15:11

up vote 1 down vote

I grabbed these from my MDFoundationAdditions and MDAppKitAdditions categories. This solution should work for Mac OS X 10.4.x and later (which is when LSOpenApplication() was introduced): MDAppKitAdditions.h: #import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h> #import "MDFoundationAdditions.h" @interface NSWorkspace (MDAdditions) - (BOOL)launchApplicationAtPath:(NSString *)path           arguments:(NSArray *)argv             error:(NSError **)error; @end MDAppKitAdditions.m: #import "MDAppKitAdditions.h" #if MAC_OS_X_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED <= MAC_OS_X_VERSION_10_4 #include <ApplicationServices/ApplicationServices.h> #elif MAC_OS_X_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED >= MAC_OS_X_VERSION_10_5 #include <CoreServices/CoreServices.h> #endif @implementation NSWorkspace (MDAdditions) - (BOOL)launchApplicationAtPath:(NSString *)path arguments:(NSArray *)argv              error:(NSError **)error {     BOOL success = YES;         if (error) *error = nil;         if (path) {             FSRef itemRef;             if ([path getFSRef:&itemRef error:error]) {                 LSApplicationParameters appParameters =                   {0, kLSLaunchDefaults, &itemRef, NULL, NULL,                 (argv ? (CFArrayRef)argv : NULL), NULL };                 OSStatus status = noErr;                 status = LSOpenApplication(&appParameters, NULL);                 if (status != noErr) {                     success = NO;                     NSLog(@"[%@ %@] LSOpenApplication() returned %hi for %@",                         NSStringFromClass([self class]),                         NSStringFromSelector(_cmd), status, path);                     if (error) *error =         [NSError errorWithDomain:NSOSStatusErrorDomain code:status userInfo:nil];             }         }     }     return success; } @end MDFoundationAdditions.h: #import <Foundation/Foundation.h> #import <CoreServices/CoreServices.h> @interface NSString (MDAdditions) - (BOOL)getFSRef:(FSRef *)anFSRef error:(NSError **)anError; @end MDFoundationAdditions.h: #import "MDFoundationAdditions.h" #import <sys/syslimits.h> @implementation NSString (MDAdditions) - (BOOL)getFSRef:(FSRef *)anFSRef error:(NSError **)anError {     if (anError) *anError = nil;     OSStatus status = noErr;     status = FSPathMakeRef((const UInt8 *)[self UTF8String], anFSRef, NULL);     if (status != noErr) {         if (anError)     *anError = [NSError errorWithDomain:NSOSStatusErrorDomain code:status userInfo:nil];     }     return (status == noErr); } @end share|improve this answer answered Feb 8 '11 at 13:17 NSGod 11.8k1232

up vote 0 down vote	If the task you want to launch is a proper application, you can use NSWorkspace's (BOOL)openFile:(NSString *)fullPath withApplication:(NSString *)appName andDeactivate:(BOOL)flag share|improve this answer answered Feb 8 '11 at 3:52 jon 111
	I've tried this but there seems to be a problem in passing arguments which have ' ' spaces int like a long file path with spaces. I tried passing in with quotes but the function returns an error –  user549164 Feb 8 '11 at 20:36 the app doesn't open file if there are spaces in filename –  user549164 Feb 8 '11 at 21:19

up vote 0 down vote

To expand on indragie's answer, if you want a new instance launched with a file argument, do something like (untested): NSDictionary *config = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:                          [NSArray arrayWithObject:filePath], NSWorkspaceLaunchConfigurationArguments,                          nil]; NSError *error = nil; [[NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace] launchApplicationAtURL:yourAppURL options:NSWorkspaceLaunchNewInstance | NSWorkspaceLaunchDefault configuration:config error:&error] On 10.5, you might try (not tested): NSURL *fileURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath]; [[NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace] openURLs:[NSArray arrayWithObject:fileURL] withAppBundleIdentifier:@"com.foo.someapp" options:NSWorkspaceLaunchNewInstance | NSWorkspaceLaunchDefault additionalEventParamDescriptor:nil launchIdentifiers:nil]; share|improve this answer edited Feb 8 '11 at 22:10 answered Feb 8 '11 at 3:53 Wevah 14.8k23643

NSWorkspaceLaunchConfigurationArguments is only available in 10.6 or later –  user549164 Feb 8 '11 at 21:06 Then you'll probably have to use launchAppWithBundleIdentifier:... and construct your own Apple Event to pass in the file. –  Wevah Feb 8 '11 at 22:06 Actually... [edits answer] –  Wevah Feb 8 '11 at 22:08 other app doesn't have a bundle identifier :( –  user549164 Feb 10 '11 at 0:01 Is it an older app? I don't think I've come across one without a bundle identifier in a while… –  Wevah Feb 10 '11 at 0:09