Launching an application in AS - best way to do it ?

Question

Hi,
This script detect if an application is running, if it's not It will launch it...
tell application "System Events" to (name of processes) contains "Skype"
if the result is true then
tell application "Skype"
send command "SET USERSTATUS Invisible" script name "My Script"
end tell
else
activate application "skype"
end if
The only way i found to launch the apps it's to use "activate application "skype"), I try several variants like "activate it" or "activate application" but It didn't works.
What it's the short and best way to launch an application within a script ?
Thanks

Answer 1

Hello
General syntax to activate an application is:
tell application "XXX"
activate
end tell
And to launch an application:
tell application "XXX"
launch
end tell
And 'tell' block syntax can be simplified if there's one statement in the block.
Such as:
tell application "XXX" to activate
tell application "XXX" to launch
I'd think they are simple enough...
Cheers,
H
PS. You may write as follows, if you wish. (This 'if' test is processed solely in AppleScript interpreter without sending any event to target application.)
-- SCRIPT
tell application "System Events" to set _e to (name of processes) contains "Skype"
tell application "Skype"
if _e then
send command "SET USERSTATUS Invisible" script name "My Script"
else
activate
end if
end tell
-- END OF SCRIPT