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# init(processIdentifier:)

Returns an instance of an `SBApplication` subclass that represents the
target application identified by the given process identifier.

```
init?(processIdentifier pid: pid_t)
```

## Parameters

`pid`

A BSD process ID specifying an application that is OSA-compliant.
Often you can get the process ID of a process using the
<doc://com.apple.documentation/documentation/Foundation/Process/processIdentifier>
method of `NSTask`.

## Return Value

An initialized `SBApplication` that you can use to communicate
with the target application specified by the process ID. Returns `nil` if no
such application can be found or if the application does not have a
scripting interface.

## Discussion

You should avoid using this method unless you know nothing about an external
application but its PID. In most cases, it is better to use
[`init(bundleIdentifier:)`](/documentation/ScriptingBridge/SBApplication/init(bundleIdentifier:)), which will dynamically locate
the external application’s path at runtime, or
[`init(url:)`](/documentation/ScriptingBridge/SBApplication/init(url:)-6xbe5), which is not dependent on the external
application being open at the time the method is called.

## See Also

[`+  applicationWithProcessIdentifier:`](/documentation/ScriptingBridge/SBApplication/applicationWithProcessIdentifier:)

Returns the shared instance representing a target application specified by
its process identifier.


---

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