Opening applications

I can’t seem to be able to open applications. I was thinking it was something like a run or launch command but nothing seems to work. I checked the standerd editions and finder dictionaries but they were no help. I should know how to open an application but I just can’t seem to remember.
Thanks,
Terry :rolleyes:

If the app is scriptable at all, telling it to launch or activate should be enough.

tell application “app name” to launch
– or
tell application “app name” to activate