do shell script without waiting

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Level 2

208 points

do shell script without waiting

I have an Applescript that uses a "do shell script" to start an application. After the application has started I want the Applescript to quit but instead it stays open until I quit the called application. I know that "do script" could do this but I wanted to bypass the Terminal. Is there anyway to bypass the waiting?

PowerBook G4 1Ghz, Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Posted on Jan 19, 2006 2:07 AM

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Answer 1

Camelot

Level 9

58,299 points

Jan 19, 2006 2:39 AM in response to Monoman1

This is covered in the do shell script bible.

Specifically, AppleScript waits for the shell command to exit before continuing. You can bypass this by telling the shell command to run in the background, and by suppressing the command's stdout and stderr:

do shell script "/bin/blah > /dev/null 2>&1 &"

The '> /dev/null' suppresses stdout; '2>&1' suppresses stderr (specifically, sends stderr to the same place as stdout), and the trailing '&' puts the command in the background.

Using this suffix will return control to your AppleScript immediately, leaving the shell process running in the background.

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Answer 2

Monoman1 Author

Level 2

208 points

Jan 19, 2006 8:47 PM in response to Camelot

Thanks that was exactly what I was looking for. The do shell script bible has been bookmarked.

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