AppleScript: Check to see if an app is running

As I was writing an AppleScript to control Skype and Adium yesterday, I wanted to make sure that I didn't start those applications if they weren't already running.

There seem to be a number of ways in AppleScript to check if an application is already running, and they all center around using the "

System Events

" method.

Here's the one that I chose:

tell
 
application
 "System Events"
    
if
 (
count
 (
every
 
process
 
whose
 
name
 
is
 "Adium")) > 0 
then

        
tell
 
application
 "Adium"
            
set
 
my status type
 
to
 
away
            
set
 
my status message
 
to
 "I'm on the phone..."
        
end
 
tell

    
end
 
if

    
if
 (
count
 (
every
 
process
 
whose
 
name
 
is
 "Skype")) > 0 
then

        
tell
 
application
 "Skype"
            
send
 
command
 "SET PROFILE MOOD_TEXT I'm on the phone..."

                
script name
 "IM On Phone"

            --

            -- 
Uncomment the following if you'd like to take Skype off-line
            --

            -- 
send
 
command
 "SET USERSTATUS OFFLINE"
 
script name
 "IM On Phone"

        
end
 
tell

    
end
 
if

end
 
tell

Read my previous blog entry for a description of the scripts that I wrote.
They are also available for download.

Thanks to sparrow from Walled Networks for pointing me in the right direction.