how to get all installed applications with Objective C in OSX

Question

I need to get all installed application on the OSX using objective c

I googled and found someone suggesting to do this with terminal command:

I am running this command on terminal

"system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType -xml"

to find all applications but I am not able to retrieve the terminal data from code behind.

please provide a way to fetch all installed applciations or at least please let me know to get terminal command result from objective c.

tons of thanks in advance

And now please type 100 times: "C is **not** Objective-C is **not** C!" — too honest for this site, Jul 29 '15 at 12:39
Possible duplicate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/21091532/cocoa-get-list-of-installed-applications — El Tomato, Jul 29 '15 at 13:38
@Olaf, actually we are able to use C code with objective C that is why i had tagged C. thanks — Vikas Bansal, Jul 30 '15 at 06:14
Wea are also able to use Fortran code with C code, Python with C++ code, etc. Still no reason to just add all tags. That contradicts the idea of tagging. — too honest for this site, Jul 30 '15 at 11:44

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 29 '15 at 12:59

You could use the NSFileManager Class to list all the item from the /Applications directory.

NSArray *urls = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSApplicationDirectory inDomains:NSLocalDomainMask];

NSError *error = nil;
NSArray *properties = [NSArray arrayWithObjects: NSURLLocalizedNameKey,
                       NSURLCreationDateKey, NSURLLocalizedTypeDescriptionKey, nil];

NSArray *array = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] 
                 contentsOfDirectoryAtURL:[urls objectAtIndex:0]
               includingPropertiesForKeys:properties
                                  options:(NSDirectoryEnumerationSkipsHiddenFiles)
                                    error:&error];
if (array == nil) {
    // Handle the error
}

Apple Doc Reference:

NSFileManager Class https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSFileManager_Class/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000305-SW24

File System Programming Guide https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/FileManagement/Conceptual/FileSystemProgrammingGuide/AccessingFilesandDirectories/AccessingFilesandDirectories.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010672-CH3-SW25

Tons of thanks to yu @deniel Albertini. Could you tell me how to parse the name of Application from the paths present in Array. — Vikas Bansal, Jul 30 '15 at 06:41
'for (NSURL *appUrl in array) { NSString *appName = [[appUrl lastPathComponent] stringByDeletingPathExtension]; }' should do the trick. Sorry for the formatting I'm writing this from my phone. — Daniel Albertini, Jul 30 '15 at 07:33

how to get all installed applications with Objective C in OSX

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