Xcode cocoa - dynamically change the checkbox bool

Question

I want to write test_application for MacOS which will show whether IM client is running. This test_application also will have ability to start and kill IM Messenger (checkbox on/off)

I understand how to run / kill application with the help of push-buttons and now i want to show status of IM (is it running or not) and show checkbox ON or OFF depending on it

I suppose, i need to use some system call like "ps -aux processname" and parse it or use some API from Cocoa - but i can't understand how to get that information to test_application and how to do it outside any method (i want test_application to load initial information at it start, so if i open test_application it looks whether IM Messenger is running and makes checkbox ON or OFF without any clicks)

Answer 1

You can have a look at GetBSDProcessList and the Process Manager Reference to get running processes and daemons.

You could also use NSAppleScript and some AppleScript to launch the application or NSTask along with ps -aux processname and grep