Re: Launch app with params as front process and wait?

[Ken Thomases]

On Apr 17, 2010, at 12:43 PM, Gaurav Srivastava wrote:

> I am using following:
> 
> NSTask* task = [NSTask launchedTaskWithLaunchPath:@"path" arguments:args];
> int pid  = [task processIdentifier];
> ProcessSerialNumber psn;
> GetProcessForPID(pid, &psn);
> SetFrontProcess(&psn);
> [task waitUntilExit];
> SetFrontProcess(&psn);
> 
> Even on switching to NSWorkSpace doesn't seem to solve the purpose. The 
> launched application does not get highlighted. Also, one more issue I am 
> facing is how to send custom events from launched application to parent 
> application. Thanks in advance.

First, you have to wait for the process to have gotten to a certain point in 
its startup before trying to make it the front process.  It has to acquire its 
connection to the window server and check in.  If you try to SetFrontProcess 
immediately, as shown above, it probably won't work.  In fact, you may be 
failing to acquire the PSN.  I hope in your real code you're checking all 
return values, etc.  This is why I suggested that you wait for the NSWorkspace 
notification that the process did launch.

Second, are you by any chance trying to launch a program which is not packaged 
into an application bundle but is trying to be a GUI application?  The symptoms 
you describe sound like it.  Another way of asking this is, does the program 
work normally (become frontmost, process mouse and keyboard, etc.) if launched 
from the Finder?

An unbundled GUI application does not work properly without some extra work.  
You should build a proper application bundle for any GUI app.  If there's some 
real reason that you can't bundle the application, it can call 
TransformProcessType() to become a proper GUI application.


As far as sending custom events, there are a couple of approaches.  Since you 
seem to be sticking with NSTask, you can communicate between the processes 
using pipes for standard input and output.  You can use Distributed Objects.  
You can use a Unix-domain socket.  You can make the parent application 
scriptable and have the child script it with AppleEvents.  Etc.

Regards,
Ken

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Re: Launch app with params as front process and wait?

[Jens Alfke]

On Apr 17, 2010, at 10:43 AM, Gaurav Srivastava wrote:

> NSTask* task = [NSTask launchedTaskWithLaunchPath:@"path" arguments:args];

OK, but that’s the code you already know doesn’t work, thanks to the previous 
reply, right? Use LaunchServices or NSWorkspace.

> Even on switching to NSWorkSpace doesn't seem to solve the purpose. The
> launched application does not get highlighted.

You’d need to show us the code you’re using for that, for us to be able to help.

—Jens___

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Re: Launch app with params as front process and wait?

[Gaurav Srivastava]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I got a better insight into the APIs. But
somehow I am not able to fix my problem.

I am using following:

NSTask* task = [NSTask launchedTaskWithLaunchPath:@"path" arguments:args];
int pid  = [task processIdentifier];
ProcessSerialNumber psn;
GetProcessForPID(pid, &psn);
SetFrontProcess(&psn);
[task waitUntilExit];
SetFrontProcess(&psn);

Even on switching to NSWorkSpace doesn't seem to solve the purpose. The
launched application does not get highlighted. Also, one more issue I am
facing is how to send custom events from launched application to parent
application. Thanks in advance.

On Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 7:13 PM, Ken Thomases  wrote:

> On Apr 17, 2010, at 8:14 AM, Gaurav Srivastava wrote:
>
> > I was working with NSTask and came across some issues. I searched on the
> > internet and found that there has been a similar query but that didn't
> have
> > any solution. The link for that is
> > http://lists.apple.com/archives/cocoa-dev//2003/May/msg01468.html. Could
> you
> > suggest any possible solution for this.
> >
> > Also, if my parent application has a non-modal dialog up, on launching
> > another app, it goes behind the non-modal dialog. Please suggest some
> > solution as I am stuck with it for last few days.
>
> To launch a secondary application, you should use NSWorkspace or Launch
> Services.  That will bring it to the front, even if it's already running.
>  To wait until it's finished, you can use the techniques outlined in this
> tech note  >.
>
> If you need to pass information into the other application, and you control
> the implementation of that application, I recommend using one of:
>
> * -[NSWorkspace launchApplicationAtURL:options:configuration:error:] with
> the relevant information in the configuration parameter
>
> * -[NSWorkspace
> launchAppWithBundleIdentifier:options:additionalEventParamDescriptor:launchIdentifier:]
> with an AppleEvent descriptor
>
> * LSOpenFromURLSpec() with an AppleEvent descriptor in the passThruParams
> fields of the inLaunchSpec parameter
>
> You can also pass information into the application through a scripting
> interface.
>
>
> If you don't control the implementation of the other application and the
> above techniques don't suffice, you can use NSTask to launch it, but it
> wouldn't be my first choice.  If you need to bring it to the foreground,
> you'd want to use NSWorkspace to monitor for when it's launched and ready,
> and then activate it.  You know when it is launched when you receive the
> NSWorkspaceDidLaunchApplicationNotification notification which matches the
> application that you ran.  On 10.6 and later, you get an
> NSRunningApplication object with that notification, and you can activate it
> by invoking -activateWithOptions: on it.  For 10.5 and earlier, you get a
> dictionary that includes a ProcessSerialNumber, and you can use
> SetFrontProcess with that.
>
> Regards,
> Ken
>
>


-- 
Gaurav Srivastava
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Re: Launch app with params as front process and wait?

[Ken Thomases]

On Apr 17, 2010, at 8:14 AM, Gaurav Srivastava wrote:

> I was working with NSTask and came across some issues. I searched on the
> internet and found that there has been a similar query but that didn't have
> any solution. The link for that is
> http://lists.apple.com/archives/cocoa-dev//2003/May/msg01468.html. Could you
> suggest any possible solution for this.
> 
> Also, if my parent application has a non-modal dialog up, on launching
> another app, it goes behind the non-modal dialog. Please suggest some
> solution as I am stuck with it for last few days.

To launch a secondary application, you should use NSWorkspace or Launch 
Services.  That will bring it to the front, even if it's already running.  To 
wait until it's finished, you can use the techniques outlined in this tech note 
.

If you need to pass information into the other application, and you control the 
implementation of that application, I recommend using one of:

* -[NSWorkspace launchApplicationAtURL:options:configuration:error:] with the 
relevant information in the configuration parameter

* -[NSWorkspace 
launchAppWithBundleIdentifier:options:additionalEventParamDescriptor:launchIdentifier:]
 with an AppleEvent descriptor 

* LSOpenFromURLSpec() with an AppleEvent descriptor in the passThruParams 
fields of the inLaunchSpec parameter

You can also pass information into the application through a scripting 
interface.


If you don't control the implementation of the other application and the above 
techniques don't suffice, you can use NSTask to launch it, but it wouldn't be 
my first choice.  If you need to bring it to the foreground, you'd want to use 
NSWorkspace to monitor for when it's launched and ready, and then activate it.  
You know when it is launched when you receive the 
NSWorkspaceDidLaunchApplicationNotification notification which matches the 
application that you ran.  On 10.6 and later, you get an NSRunningApplication 
object with that notification, and you can activate it by invoking 
-activateWithOptions: on it.  For 10.5 and earlier, you get a dictionary that 
includes a ProcessSerialNumber, and you can use SetFrontProcess with that.

Regards,
Ken

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Launch app with params as front process and wait?

[Gaurav Srivastava]

Hi,

I was working with NSTask and came across some issues. I searched on the
internet and found that there has been a similar query but that didn't have
any solution. The link for that is
http://lists.apple.com/archives/cocoa-dev//2003/May/msg01468.html. Could you
suggest any possible solution for this.

Also, if my parent application has a non-modal dialog up, on launching
another app, it goes behind the non-modal dialog. Please suggest some
solution as I am stuck with it for last few days.


Thanks,
Gaurav Srivastava
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