fetch the path of the application

Question

Hello All,

I am using following code to fetch the path of the application. It works for all cases but fails for front row.

CFStringRef cfStrAppShortName = NULL;
FSRef        appRef;
CFURLRef cfAppUrlRef = NULL;
CFBundleRef cfAppBundleRef = NULL;
CFDictionaryRef cfAppDictRef = NULL;
CFStringRef cfStrAppBundleName = NULL;
OSErr osErr;

cfStrAppShortName = CFSTR(Front Row);

if(cfStrAppShortName != NULL)
{
    osErr = LSFindApplicationForInfo(kLSUnknownCreator,NULL,cfStrAppShortName,&appRef,NULL);
    if(osErr == noErr) 
    {
        cfAppUrlRef = CFURLCreateFromFSRef ( kCFAllocatorDefault, &appRef);
        cfAppBundleRef = CFBundleCreate (kCFAllocatorDefault,cfAppUrlRef);
        cfAppDictRef = CFBundleGetInfoDictionary (cfAppBundleRef);
        cfStrAppBundleName = (CFStringRef)CFDictionaryGetValue (cfAppDictRef,kCFBundleNameKey);
    }

I was expecting application path from Applications folder, but it comes from /system/coreservices/..

This happens for all items present in /system/library/coreservices/.. .

Is there any was that it should not look in /system/library/coreservices.. or any better solution? Can anyone help me?

Thanks in Advance.

Thanks, Rahul

Answer 1

A more reliable way to identify an application is by bundle identifier. In the case of Front Row, for example, there are two separate applications with the same name:

• /Applications/Front Row.app: com.apple.frontrowlauncher
• /System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app: com.apple.frontrow

Looking at the bundle identifiers, it looks like this function is returning the path to the correct Front Row after all, since the one in /Applications is just a launcher.

But you shouldn't rely on that—the function could return the launcher's path at any time. Moreover, anybody could create an application bundle and name it “Front Row”.

Use the bundle identifier, so that you are always asking for the correct application.