From: gordie@yamanote.dolphin.com (Gordie Freedman)
Subject: What is -MachLaunch, and other anomalies ?
Keywords: MachLaunch, NewsGrazer, Mail.app
Reply-To: gordie@yamanote.dolphin.com
Organization: Dolphin Software
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 09:12:15 GMT

I came up with a trick to "autolaunch" programs without putting them in  
the workspace. A variant on this technique allows me to launch an app as  
user X from user Y's workspace (using terminal). But there are problems,  
and a mysterious -MachLaunch flag involved...

Here's what I do:

I set the default for Workspace::LaunchPaths
"dwrite Workspace LaunchPaths  
/usr/local/bin/DiskEjectFix.daemon;/gordie/bin/.Workspace" (sorry this  
didn't fit on one line without Rich text), this causes the .Workspace  
shell script to run when the workspace starts up. Here's what is in  
.Workspace:
---------
#! /bin/csh -f

/LocalApps/NewsGrazer -NXAutoLaunch YES&
---------

This launches the NewsGrazer app, and tricks it into thinking it was  
autolaunched, such that it "hides on autolaunch". This works fine,  
however, the icon is two dimensional, and the workspace ignores the icon  
(when another app started, the workspace stuck the new app's icon on top  
of the NewsGrazer icon). Actually, the NewsGrazer icon starts out normal  
(3-d effect), and lasts 1 - 2 seconds, and than changes to the flat  
version. I suspect NewsGrazer is displaying a tiff from it's binary, which  
for some reason doesn't work (NG changes the tiff on the icon when there  
is/is-not news). (* see note)

If I do the following, I also get the 2-d icon:

(from a terminal, like the next example with mail.app)
> su - gordie
> /LocalApps/NewsGrazer&


Here's more:

From a terminal app, actually Stuart (the workspace is from a normal login  
by the user "Mayumi"):

> su - gordie
> /NextApps/Mail.app/Mail

(Note that typing "open /NextApps/Mail.app" insists on running the app as  
Mayumi's uid, even though I did the su.)

The problem here is that PostScript files included in a NeXTMail were  
represented as the "unknown type" tiff, which is a black and white text  
with the big question mark in it. Later, when I logged in from using my  
own workspace, they showed up in the same mail as postscript files with  
the expected tiff. I don't know what other wierdnesses might occur when  
running mail this way.

So the kicker is when I did "ps -ax" looking at the apps when they were  
opened from the workspace normally, (or using "open whatever.app"), they  
looked like this:

8122 ?  S     0:03 /LocalApps/NewsGrazer -MachLaunch 17 964

So what's -MachLaunch nn nnn ???
Or why else didn't these apps work correctly when launched directly?
The "nn nnn" numbers after -MachLaunch are always different, I suspect  
they have to meaning to either WS, mach, or the app, and I didn't want to  
make some up to see what will happen.

-----------

* note: Also, a general problem with NewsGrazer is that the icon is the  
"2.1 gray" color, it starts out as the nice "3/0-blue-gray" icon, but when  
NG puts its icon on, it is the old grey (I checked with segedit, and the  
icon tiffs appear to be using transparancy). This occurs even when I  
launch NG normally and get the full 3-d icon. Anybody know why this  
happens?
-- 
Gordie Freedman gordie@yamanote.dolphin.com   ->   NextMail encouraged
(Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are my own and represent no one else.)

Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.software