Launch(3)

NAME
Mac::Apps::Launch - Mac module to launch /quit applications

SYNOPSIS
    use Mac::Apps::Launch;
    my @apps = qw(R*ch Arch MPGP);
    my $path = "HD:System Folder:Finder";
    LaunchApps([@apps], 1) or warn $^E; # launch and switch to front
    LaunchApps([@apps])    or warn $^E; # launch and don't switch
    LaunchApps($app, 1)    or warn $^E; # launch and switch to front
    LaunchSpecs($path, 1)  or warn $^E; # use path instead of app ID
    QuitApps(@apps)        or warn $^E; # quit all @apps
    QuitAllApps(@apps)     or warn $^E; # quit all except @apps
    IsRunning('MACS');                  # returns boolean for whether
                                        # given app ID is running
    SetFront('MACS')       or warn $^E; # set Finder to front
    Hide('MACS')           or warn $^E; # hide Finder
    Show('Finder', 1)      or warn $^E; # show Finder (1 == use name)

DESCRIPTION
Simply launch or quit applications by their creator ID. The Finder can be quit in this way, though it cannot be launched in this way.

This module is used by many other modules.

This module as written does not work with MacPerls prior to 5.1.4r4.

"Hide" and "Show" do not currently work on Mac OS X.

Apps that don't have signatures under Mac OS X currently aren't handled, except with LaunchSpecs().

"SetFront" and "IsRunning" can take a four-char creator ID ('MACS'), a bundle ID ('com.apple.Finder'), or a path (/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app). They both optionally take a second parameter which affirms that the data is indeed a path (for those rare cases where a path might possibly look like a creator ID or bundle ID ... you never know).

"IsRunning" will return the PSN of the application if it is running, which you can then use for targetting the app, or converting to a PID (with "Mac::Processes::GetProcessPID()"), to send signals to it.

EXPORT
Exports functions "QuitApps", "QuitAllApps", and "LaunchApps", "IsRunning", "LaunchSpecs", "SetFront", "Hide", "Show".

AUTHOR
Chris Nandor <pudge@pobox.com>, http://pudge.net/

Copyright (c) 1999-2005 Chris Nandor. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.