| 1 | appswitch 1.0 [19 February 2003]
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| 2 | =============
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| 3 |
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| 4 | A command-line interface to the Mac OS X process manager.
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| 5 |
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| 6 | Written by Nicholas Riley <mailto:appswitch@sabi.net>.
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| 7 | Obtain updates from <http://web.sabi.net/nriley/software/>.
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| 8 |
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| 9 | WHAT IS IT?
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| 10 | -----------
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| 11 |
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| 12 | If you use shell scripts to automate Mac OS X applications, you may
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| 13 | need to switch between applications. You could use AppleScript via
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| 14 | osascript(1), but that would take several seconds for the script to
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| 15 | compile and execute - or you could use appswitch, which works almost
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| 16 | instantly.
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| 17 |
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| 18 | Say you're launching an X11 application from Terminal but the X server
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| 19 | isn't in front when you need it. Use appswitch to fix the problem.
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| 20 |
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| 21 | Or, if you'd like a version of the ps(1) utility which understands the
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| 22 | concept of OS X applications, appswitch can help.
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| 23 |
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| 24 | INSTALLATION
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| 25 | ------------
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| 26 |
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| 27 | The commands below install the 'appswitch' tool in /usr/local/bin,
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| 28 | which is in the default path. You should subsequently be able to use
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| 29 | 'appswitch' by typing its name. If you wish to install it somewhere
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| 30 | else, modify the install line as appropriate.
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| 31 |
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| 32 | % sudo /usr/bin/install -d /usr/local/bin /usr/local/man/man1
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| 33 | % sudo /usr/bin/install -c build/appswitch /usr/local/bin
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| 34 | % sudo /usr/bin/install -c appswitch.1 /usr/local/man/man1
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| 35 | % rehash
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| 36 |
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| 37 | Uninstallation:
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| 38 |
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| 39 | % sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/appswitch
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| 40 |
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| 41 | COMPILATION
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| 42 | -----------
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| 43 |
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| 44 | A Project Builder project, 'appswitch.pbproj', is included. A
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| 45 | precompiled binary is also provided. 'appswitch' was developed and
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| 46 | tested under Mac OS 10.2.4 with the December 2002 Developer Tools,
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| 47 | and does not require any additional software to build.
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| 48 |
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| 49 | USAGE
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| 50 | -----
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| 51 |
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| 52 | Just type 'appswitch' by itself to receive usage information. See the
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| 53 | manual page (man appswitch) for more information.
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| 54 |
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| 55 | If you're curious about the speed difference between appswitch and
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| 56 | other methods, this should give you some indication.
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| 57 |
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| 58 | appswitch -a Emacs 0.00s user 0.02s system 5% cpu 0.355 total
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| 59 | appswitch -i com.gnu.Emacs 0.01s user 0.04s system 13% cpu 0.381 total
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| 60 | open -a Emacs 0.30s user 0.15s system 53% cpu 0.842 total
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| 61 | osascript -e 'tell application "Emacs" to activate'
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| 62 | 0.66s user 0.42s system 45% cpu 2.361 total
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| 63 |
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| 64 | The above tests were performed on a PowerBook G4/800; slower systems
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| 65 | should show more dramatic differences.
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| 66 |
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| 67 | COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS, BUG REPORTS, ETC.
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| 68 | ----------------------------------------
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| 69 |
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| 70 | Please send to the author, Nicholas Riley, at <appswitch@sabi.net>.
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| 71 |
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| 72 | VERSION HISTORY
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| 73 | ---------------
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| 74 |
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| 75 | 1.0 - 19 February 2003
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| 76 | - added description of -q delay bug (no workaround)
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| 77 | 1.0b3 - 13 February 2003
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| 78 | - display spaces instead of ? characters when unprintable
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| 79 | - properly handle very narrow window width with -l
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| 80 | - further revised and clarified man page
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| 81 | - added -q, -K, -L options
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| 82 | 1.0b2 - 11 February 2003
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| 83 | - display ? characters for unprintable creator code characters
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| 84 | (e.g. java)
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| 85 | - fixed -P/-p error in man page
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| 86 | - revised and clarified man page
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| 87 | 1.0b1 - 10 February 2003
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| 88 | - added -S, -S, -h, -H, -k, -P, -l, -F options
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| 89 | - fixed reference to bogus -u option
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| 90 | - fixed bug where unknown match type was silently discarded
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| 91 | - added man page and this README
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| 92 | 1.0d1 - 4 February 2003
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| 93 | - initial release
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