open program but not appear in dock?

Yes you can. Sys Pref/ Acct/ Login items. "Hide"

You might want to search next time, or search the help in osx.

 

Umm, no. That makes it hide so that no windows appear for the program, but the icon is in the Dock (dimmed sometimes, but still there). You might want to get your facts straight before you go reprimanding people for not searching.

To the OP, try downloading a program called Dockless, it's designed for exactly that purpose.

jW

 

I use Dockless and it works like a charm.

One thing about using Dockless that I have not been able to find a way to change is that when the app is running there is also no indication of it in the menu bar. If I want to change preferences for the application, I have to bring up dockless and make the app visible, then open it and change preferences, and close it and make it invisible again, then relaunch.

 

There are programs that run without Dock icons.

Conan the Librarian and UnderCover are two.

Sorry that I don't know how they do it, but searching for their names might bring up discussions on the topic.

 

Google: run without Dock icons site:forums.macrumors.com
Jeez... Is that so hard???

 

I've done something similar with Quicksilver. Couldn't remember how I did it but a quick Googling found this:

Hide any program's Dock icon

Hope that helps

 

Agreed.

I used to have the the same problem - but oddly enough, if you focus the program (click it.. that is, if it has a window you can see even though it's not in the dock), then hit CMD-, it will bring up prefs for that app even though its menubar is not visible.