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Ask The Experts
Issue: 1.5 (April/May 2003)
Author: Seth Willits with Thomas Reed & Sean Beach
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 9,286
Starting Page Number: 32
Article Number: 1516
Resource File(s):
1516.zip Updated: 2013-03-11 19:07:56
Related Web Link(s):
http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/OSUtilities/OSUtilities-13.html#HEADING13-0
http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/macosx/Carbon/oss/GestaltManager/Gestalt_Manager/gestalt_refchap/index.html
http://www.freaksw.com/test.lasso
http://www.freaksw.com/testresult.lasso
Excerpt of article text...
How can I launch a helper application on both Mac OS 8/9 and X? It must be possible in Classic by using the creator type, but how would it work on OS X if there aren't any creator types?
In the classic versions of the Mac OS (those prior to OS X) a four-character string (called a creator type string or MacCreator in REALbasic) was used to uniquely identify each application. Using AppleEvents, it was possible to launch a specific application by telling the Finder to open the one with the specified creator type. On OS X, however, creator and file types have been deprecated. As more and more applications are being designed specifically for OS X, creator types are becoming extinct.
Of course, Apple took notice of the reliance on creator types for this exact kind of problem and -- using the same code as before -- one can launch an application on OS X given either a creator type OR the CFBundleIdentifier value. The bundle identifier is essentially the next version of creator types, and can be found in the Info.plist file within the Contents directory of the application's package.
Below is the code to launch an application:
Function LaunchApp(AppCreatorCode as string) As Boolean
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