How can you get information such as, users window for example using the NSTask class in Swift, for OSX apps?

Question

If I can explain my self better knowing if a user is running some particular program such as word or chrome, etc.

I will try to update my question as I write code or find more information.

Thank you (:

Answer 1

You don't have to go through NSTask, you can use Cocoa's NSWorkspace to get the list of running applications:

import Cocoa
let apps = NSWorkspace.sharedWorkspace().runningApplications

It returns an array of NSRunningApplication objects.

Let's say you want the running applications names in an array:

let appsNames = apps.flatMap { $0.localizedName }

If you want to know for example if iTunes is running:

if appsNames.contains("iTunes") {
    // iTunes is running
}

Note, a more precise way to find a running app would be to use the bundle identifier:

let bundleNames = apps.flatMap { $0.bundleIdentifier }
if bundleNames.contains("com.apple.iTunes") {
    // iTunes is running
}

If you want to know which app is active (has its window frontmost):

let actives = apps.filter { $0.active }
if let active = actives.first {
    // "active" is the frontmost app
}