How to intercept a hot key in Cocoa when the application window is not active

Question

I am trying to create a utility that doesn\'t open a window when executed, and that would be activated from a hot key; I read that currently Cocoa doesn\'t have a function for t

Answer 1

Use the Carbon Event Manager's RegisterEventHotKey function. This function is supported in 64-bit (notice that it lacks the “not available in 64-bit” availability note).

Conversely, NSEvent's new addGlobalMonitorForEventsMatchingMask:handler: method in Snow Leopard is not the easiest way to implement a hot-key. For one thing, it requires that the user have access for assistive devices turned on; moreover, it requires you to examine every event yourself, as compared with the RegisterEventHotKey system, which only calls your callback function when the user presses the specific key you registered for.