docs » hs.application.watcher

Watch for application launch/terminate events

This module is based primarily on code from the previous incarnation of Mjolnir by Markus Engelbrecht and Steven Degutis.

API Overview

API Documentation

Constants

activated
Signature hs.application.watcher.activated
Type Constant
Description

An application has been activated (i.e. given keyboard/mouse focus)
deactivated
Signature hs.application.watcher.deactivated
Type Constant
Description

An application has been deactivated (i.e. lost keyboard/mouse focus)
hidden
Signature hs.application.watcher.hidden
Type Constant
Description

An application has been hidden
launched
Signature hs.application.watcher.launched
Type Constant
Description

An application has been launched
launching
Signature hs.application.watcher.launching
Type Constant
Description

An application is in the process of being launched
terminated
Signature hs.application.watcher.terminated
Type Constant
Description

An application has been terminated
unhidden
Signature hs.application.watcher.unhidden
Type Constant
Description

An application has been unhidden

Constructors

new
Signature hs.application.watcher.new(fn) -> watcher
Type Constructor
Description

Creates an application event watcher

Parameters:

  • fn - A function that will be called when application events happen. It should accept three parameters:
    • A string containing the name of the application
    • An event type (see the constants defined above)
    • An hs.application object representing the application, or nil if the application couldn't be found

Returns:

  • An hs.application.watcher object

Notes:

  • If the function is called with an event type of hs.application.watcher.terminated then the application name parameter will be nil and the hs.application parameter, will only be useful for getting the UNIX process ID (i.e. the PID) of the application

Methods

start
Signature hs.application.watcher:start()
Type Method
Description

Starts the application watcher

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • The hs.application.watcher object
stop
Signature hs.application.watcher:stop()
Type Method
Description

Stops the application watcher

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • The hs.application.watcher object