I need to create an application on Mac OS X that runs in the background, without windows, and provides a status icon in the upper right corner of the menu bar. It should be launched on a specific action initiated by the user (not at system startup) and interact exclusively through the status bar icon.
On Windows, this is very close to Services, on Unix, on daemons. What should I look for in the Mac documentation? I just need some keywords.
Nothing strictly defined. Mac OS X treats parts of your question as separate concepts:
DOS Windows, , "". Mac OS X " ", , , .
Windows . - -, (, , , -, , , , ). - : ) ), . , Windows, , , API .
, , , , , , , Windows. ( OS X, launchd.)
launchd
"launch programs"
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launchd