I am trying to work on an applescript to hide all apps that are open.
tell application "System Events"
set visible of every process whose visible is true and name is not "Finder" to false
end tell
Unfortunately it is not working as expected.
The first time when I run it, it hides script editor but not other apps
The second or third time when I run it, it closes script editor and other apps(but not finder windows)
My goal is as soon as applescript runs, hide all apps that are running
according to Willeke, this works for me :
tell application "System Events"
set visibleApps to every process whose visible is true and name is not "Finder"
repeat with theApp in visibleApps
set visible of theApp to false
end repeat
end tell
I am controlling iTunes via AppleScript and I am playing streams from an HTTP server. The code I'm using looks like this:
tell application "iTunes"
open location "your_url_here"
play
end tell
It works fine, but I would like to avoid those URLs to show up in the iTunes library or any playlist afterwards. Is there a trick to achieve that?
Have you considered using QuickTimePlayer to play the stream instead?
tell application "QuickTime Player"
open URL "http://www.a-1radio.com/listen.pls"
end tell
It should open all the iTunes formats, it comes as a default on OsX, it is more "minimal", won't save tracks.
(I know you specified you want to use iTunes so this might not be a solution, but being preinstalled software it was worth a try)
EDIT To have it hidden, this seems to work:
tell application "QuickTime Player"
-- don't use launch or activate
-- on my mac with launch I see a flicker of the window
set numberOfWindows to (count windows)
repeat with i from 1 to numberOfWindows
close front window
end repeat
end tell
-- may add some delay here if it still flickers the window
-- delay 1
tell application "QuickTime Player"
open URL "http://www.a-1radio.com/listen.pls"
set visible of every window to false
end tell
tell application "System Events"
set visible of process "QuickTime Player" to false
end tell
-- must be called after the open URL command or won't work (no idea why)
To close the stream either quit or close windows (just close if you plan to reopen):
tell application "QuickTime Player"
-- here you can either:
-- close all (will leave app open and hidden)
set numberOfWindows to (count windows)
repeat with i from 1 to numberOfWindows
close front window
end repeat
-- or:
quit -- or just quit (will close app so will need to hide again next time)
end tell
If you hide it before opening the url, it doesn't work (no idea why). Of course the window, even if invisible, is still open so if someone clicks on the dock icon it will show all the open windows.
If you don't want to stop previous streams remove the first repeat -- end repeat part at the top, but leave the set numberOfWindows to (count windows) that is useless but activates the app without needing a activate/launch command
I have a application running a gtk window.
When the user exit the app I just want to hide the window but keep the process running.
So when the app is started I want to check
if app already running: show window, else create new window...
Is there a way to do this without using DBus?
I chose to use libunique, for gtk3 apps GtkApplication can be used.
I've searched for solutions in many forums but they all tell me that usign the WindowPattern and checkign the topmost value should return true if the window is on top. However, this isn't the case for me. I am testing an application that is housed within a tab in outlok. A user can then click within the application and open a new window. I'd like to verify this window is in the foreground. Also.. this is a WPF application so I cant grab separate handles for new windows that open.
thanks
This might be a terminology problem: 'Topmost' has a special meaning in Win32 (See description of WS_EX_TOPMOST here), which basically means "floats above other ordinary windows" - it's typically used for things like tooltips, menu popups, notification balloons and the like, which float above all other windows on the screen. It's rarely by actual application windows.
An application can be the currently foreground window, above other windows, but not have this property.
An alternate approach to see if the window is in the foreground is to see if it is or contains the contains the current focus or active window.
I am using Windows, and I have two monitors.
Some applications will always start on my primary monitor, no matter where they were when I closed them.
Others will always start on the secondary monitor, no matter where they were when I closed them.
Is there a registry setting buried somewhere, which I can manipulate to control which monitor applications launch into by default?
#rp: I have Ultramon, and I agree that it is indispensable, to the point that Microsoft should buy it and incorporate it into their OS. But as you said, it doesn't let you control the default monitor a program launches into.
Here's what I've found. If you want an app to open on your secondary monitor by default do the following:
1. Open the application.
2. Re-size the window so that it is not maximized or minimized.
3. Move the window to the monitor you want it to open on by default.
4. Close the application. Do not re-size prior to closing.
5. Open the application.
It should open on the monitor you just moved it to and closed it on.
6. Maximize the window.
The application will now open on this monitor by default. If you want to change it to another monitor, just follow steps 1-6 again.
Correctly written Windows apps that want to save their location from run to run will save the results of GetWindowPlacement() before shutting down, then use SetWindowPlacement() on startup to restore their position.
Frequently, apps will store the results of GetWindowPlacement() in the registry as a REG_BINARY for easy use.
The WINDOWPLACEMENTroute has many advantages over other methods:
Handles the case where the screen resolution changed since the last run: SetWindowPlacement() will automatically ensure that the window is not entirely offscreen
Saves the state (minimized/maximized) but also saves the restored (normal) size and position
Handles desktop metrics correctly, compensating for the taskbar position, etc. (i.e. uses "workspace coordinates" instead of "screen coordinates" -- techniques that rely on saving screen coordinates may suffer from the "walking windows" problem where a window will always appear a little lower each time if the user has a toolbar at the top of the screen).
Finally, programs that handle window restoration properly will take into account the nCmdShow parameter passed in from the shell. This parameter is set in the shortcut that launches the application (Normal, Minimized, Maximize):
if(nCmdShow != SW_SHOWNORMAL)
placement.showCmd = nCmdShow; //allow shortcut to override
For non-Win32 applications, it's important to be sure that the method you're using to save/restore window position eventually uses the same underlying call, otherwise (like Java Swing's setBounds()/getBounds() problem) you'll end up writing a lot of extra code to re-implement functionality that's already there in the WINDOWPLACEMENT functions.
It's not exactly the answer to this question but I dealt with this problem with the Shift + Win + [left,right] arrow keys shortcut. You can move the currently active window to another monitor with it.
Get UltraMon. Quickly.
http://realtimesoft.com/ultramon/
It doesn't let you specify what monitor an app starts on, but it lets you move an app to the another monitor, and keep its aspect ratio intact, with one mouse click. It is a very handy utility.
Most programs will start where you last left them. So if you have two monitors at work, but only one at home, it's possible to start you laptop at home and not see the apps running on the other monitor (which now isn't there). UltrMon also lets you move those orphan apps back to the main screen quickly and easily.
I'm fairly sure the primary monitor is the default. If the app was coded decently, when it's closed, it'll remember where it was last at and will reopen there, but -- as you've noticed -- it isn't a default behavior.
EDIT: The way I usually do it is to have the location stored in the app's settings. On load, if there is no value for them, it defaults to the center of the screen. On closing of the form, it records its position. That way, whenever it opens, it's where it was last. I don't know of a simple way to tell it to launch onto the second monitor the first time automatically, however.
-- Kevin Fairchild
Important note: If you remember the position of your application and shutdown and then start up again at that position, keep in mind that the user's monitor configuration may have changed while your application was closed.
Laptop users, for example, frequently change their display configuration. When docked there may be a 2nd monitor that disappears when undocked. If the user closes an application that was running on the 2nd monitor and the re-opens the application when the monitor is disconnected, restoring the window to the previous coordinates will leave it completely off-screen.
To figure out how big the display really is, check out GetSystemMetrics.
So I had this issue with Adobe Reader 9.0. Somehow the program forgot to open on my right monitor and was consistently opening on my left monitor. Most programs allow you to drag it over, maximize the screen, and then close it out and it will remember. Well, with Adobe, I had to drag it over and then close it before maximizing it, in order for Windows to remember which screen to open it in next time. Once you set it to the correct monitor, then you can maximize it. I think this is stupid, since almost all windows programs remember it automatically without try to rig a way for XP to remember.
So I agree there are some apps that you can configured to open on one screen by maximizing or right clicking and moving/sizing screen, then close and reopen. However, there are others that will only open on the main screen.
What I've done to resolve: set the monitor you prefer stubborn apps to open on, as monitor 1 and the your other monitor as 2, then change your monitor 2 to be the primary - so your desktop settings and start bar remain. Hope this helps.
Do not hold me to this but I am pretty sure it depends on the application it self. I know many always open on the main monitor, some will reopen to the same monitor they were previously run in, and some you can set. I know for example I have shortcuts to open command windows to particular directories, and each has an option in their properties to the location to open the window in. While Outlook just remembers and opens in the last screen it was open in. Then other apps open in what ever window the current focus is in.
So I am not sure there is a way to tell every program where to open. Hope that helps some.
I've noticed that if I put a shortcut on my desktop on one screen the launched application may appear on that screen (if that app doesn't reposition itself).
This also applies to running things from Windows Explorer - if Explorer is on one screen the launched application will pick that monitor to use.
Again - I think this is when the launching application specifies the default (windows managed) position. Most applications seem to override this default behavior in some way.
A simple window created like so will do this:
hWnd = CreateWindow(windowClass, windowTitle, WS_VISIBLE | WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW, CW_USEDEFAULT, SW_SHOW, CW_USEDEFAULT, 0, NULL, NULL, hInst, NULL);
Right click the shortcut and select properties.
Make sure you are on the "Shortcut" Tab.
Select the RUN drop down box and change it to Maximized.
This may assist in launching the program in full screen on the primary monitor.