Question

I made a simple experiment, I wrote the following code in Xcode:

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    NSAutoreleasePool* pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
    NSApplication* app = [[NSApplication alloc] init];
    NSWindow* window = [[NSWindow alloc] 
        initWithContentRect: NSMakeRect(0, 0, 640, 480)
        styleMask: NSTitledWindowMask | NSMiniaturizableWindowMask
        backing: NSBackingStoreBuffered
        defer: NO];
    [window setTitle: @"New Window"];
    [window center];
    [window makeKeyAndOrderFront:nil];
    [app run];
    [pool release];
    return 0;
}

It runs as expected, a new empty window out there, but if I compile it under terminal with command line:

$ g++ test.mm -framework Cocoa
$ ./a.out

It will breeze at [app run] without the window.

Am I doing wrong? Why it has different behaviors between Xcode and command line? Does somebody can tell me how I can achive the same behaviors in command line?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Taking your code and compiling it works fine for me on a 10.7.2 machine… the window shows up (albeit behind my terminal window and does not appear as a running application).

If you’re looking to get your app to show up as a process running in the dock, it has to be properly packaged in a .app bundle. If you do the following:

g++ test.mm -framework Cocoa
mkdir -p cli.app/Contents/MacOS
cp a.out cli.app/Contents/MacOS/cli

and then run cli.app/Contents/MacOS/cli from the command line, your process will show up as a running application.