Open app in current directory when another app with the same name exists, from command line

Question

I have an app name foo.app I want to open from command line (using open).

My folder structure is like this:

~
+---bar
     +--- foo.app
+---baz
     +--- foo.app

I want to open the app located in the bar folder, however if I do open -a foo.app, the app located in the baz folder will open, even if my current working directory is in the bar folder.

open -a ./foo.app or open -a ~/bar/foo.app doesn't work either.

Answer 1

In this case, open -a is NOT what you want; the -a option is for launching known applications (indexed in the Launch Services database that lets you open a document and get the right application) by name, not by pathname, or for opening files with a given application.

What you are looking for is just plain opening foo.app, just like you double-clicked it in the Finder. To do that,

open foo.app

This will open exactly that application, without involving the Launch Services database at all.

Answer 2

open bar/foo.app/Contents/MacOS/foo

If you're using the -a parameter to open, then you need to omit the .app extension.