An app that isn't in the Dock and never activates?

My app has one Plain Box window and no others. I want my app never to take activation away from another app that’s active,
and I want it never to show up in the Dock. If I click in my app’s window, I want the currently active app to stay active; in other words, I never want my app to activate, except maybe when it’s first launched.

How can I make it work like this?

Perhaps what you want is a CONSOLE app, since the purpose of a GUI oriented app IS to show the user something

It’s possible to do a background app for the Mac. Do you know how to create and run IDE scripts? The code below must run after building:

dim dbg as String if debugBuild then dbg = ".debug" dim appNameForShell as string appNameForShell = PropertyValue("App.MacOSXAppName") + dbg +".app" + "/Contents/Info.plist" appNameForShell = replaceall(appNameForShell, " ", "\\ ") dim theResult as string theResult = DoShellCommand("/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c ""Add :NSUIElement string \""true\"""" " + CurrentBuildLocation + "/" + appNameForShell ) if theResult <> "" then print theResult

I do want to show the user something—and let them interact with it.

Thanks! However:
compiler error 11 on line 1.

The script takes the app out of the dock. It’s up to you how you want to show your interface.

A compile error in the first line? How did you do that?

Very simple. You do not explain where to put the shared code.

Dave:
In the Insert menu, choose Build Step → Script,
Paste the code there
Set a name to that script (say UI_Dave)

Then, in the Navigator, move the UI_Dave in the OS X entry (near bottom)
Open the OS X entry,
Move the UI_Dave script below the Build entry.

I hope this is clear enought.

I think I did what you said. I still get the compiler errors.

BTW, how do I delete the script I created per the earlier advice?

Have a look at http://www.mothsoftware.com/downloads/test.zip .

You can delete with the context menu.

See also https://forum.xojo.com/11024-how-to-start-app-with-no-window-and-without-icon-in-dock/0