Swift: using NSRunningApplication - macos

Question

I'm trying to activate a running application, but can't seem to get the app.activateWithOptions call correct as each of the four attempts below result in compile time errors.
import AppKit
var ws = NSWorkspace.sharedWorkspace()
var apps = ws.runningApplications
var app :NSRunningApplication
for app in apps {
if (app.activationPolicy == NSApplicationActivationPolicy.Regular) {
app.activateWithOptions(options: ActivateIgnoringOtherApps)
app.activateWithOptions(options: NSApplicationActivateIgnoringOtherApps)
app.activateWithOptions(options: NSRunningApplication.ActivateIgnoringOtherApps)
app.activateWithOptions(options: NSRunningApplication.NSApplicationActivateIgnoringOtherApps)
println(app.localizedName)
}
}

Answer 1

The declaration var app : NSRunningApplication is pointless, because the app in the for...in line declares a different app. You should just delete that line, as it is misleading you and is utterly pointless and confusing.
Thus, it is that app, the one in the for...in that you need to specify the type of. You won't get any further in this attempt to compile until you fix that:
for app in apps as [NSRunningApplication] {
Now you can begin to fix your errors, one by one. I'll just give you a hint for the first one; it should be:
app.activateWithOptions(.ActivateIgnoringOtherApps)
The remaining three lines are left as an exercise for the reader! Even then you will still be in some trouble, though, because you are not combining the options - instead, you are activating the same app four separate times, which is silly and not at all what you want. You should combine the options first and then active the app once.
On the whole, it looks from your code as if you do not know Swift at all. You really should stop and learn it before you try to use it. Otherwise you'll just be flailing (as you clearly are now).

Answer 2

Thanks for the answer Matt. I'll add that if you are looking for just your application (rather than you can add a line before activating it. The following two lines will assign your application to the constant "app" and then activates it. This is useful for when yo want to get an NSAlert on the screen from an app running in the background.
let app = NSRunningApplication.currentApplication()
app.activateWithOptions(.ActivateIgnoringOtherApps)
let user_choice = alert.runModal()