OS X: Can launch app but not file

[Richard Gaskin]

Alex Rice wrote:

> 
> On Saturday, August 30, 2003, at 03:52  AM, Kaveh Bazargan wrote:
> 
>> This works for me:
>> 
>> launch "/Applications/BBEdit 7.0/BBEdit.app"
>> 
>> but this doesn't:
>> 
>> launch "/Applications/BBEdit 7.0/myfile.txt" with
>> "/Applications/BBEdit
>> 7.0/BBEdit.app"
>> 
>> If BBEdit is not running, I get "no such program"
>> If it is running, I get "process already open"
>> 
>> Any guidance please.
> 
> Kaveh, I think it's a Rev bug. Can you, and others, please add your
> findings to bugzilla bug #449? I have just changed the bug title to be
> more general because it seems the "launch DOC with APP" command is
> broken in more than one way.

The Mac OS API's _launch call has been riddled with issues since Mac OS 7,
or maybe earlier.  This gets funkier in OS X since a .app is not a file, but
really a folder.

Best to use AppleScript and let the Finder sort it out:

  tell program "Finder" to open "drive:folder:application.app"

-- 
 Richard Gaskin 
 Fourth World Media Corporation
 Developer of WebMerge: Publish any database on any Web site
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