AppleScript For Dummies

Spending a little time with this book can save lots of time on the computer! AppleScript is object-oriented programming language used to write script files to automate tasks and customize applications for the Mac. AppleScript can automate much of what you do with your Mac computer, saving time and helping you be more productive. Businesses and individuals frequently use it for: Batch processing File conversion and manipulation Performing tasks at specified times Transferring information between databases and other applications Creating automated workflows by linking the actions of multiple applications to perform a series of related tasks Written by Tom Trinko, a Mac man since 1984,and author of articles for MacTutor and MacTech Journal, AppleScript For Dummies, 2nd Edition covers everything from the basics to more advanced stuff, with information on: Finding and installing AppleScript Using AppleScript to automate tasks in programs such as Word, Excel, FileMaker Pro, and the Mac OS Finder Arranging applications to work together to accomplish complex tasks Controlling applications that aren’t even scriptable Taking advantage of tools that make composing AppleScript programs easy and fun Finding additional AppleScript information on the Internet and elsewhere With this book, you’ll discover how to script Internet activities, iLife applications, and more. Then, instead of letting your computer and/or software dictate how you do things (and often, how you have to do them over and over and over), you take charge! You’ll agree —this book is MacNificent!

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 Why Should I Spend My Time Reading This Book? 1 How to Use This Book 3 What I Expect You Already Know and Have 4 You know how to use a Mac 4 You’re not a hacker 5 You have AppleScript 5 You know what a path to a file looks like 5 What the Silly Little Pictures Mean 6 Typeface Conventions 7 Part I: Getting Started 9 Chapter 1: A Cannonball Dive into the Scripting Pool 11 Writing Your First Script 11 The first, and in this case only, script line 13 Writing a Second (And Even Better) Script 14 Line 1: Displaying a dialog 16 Line 2: Accessing the user’s choice 18 Line 3: Responding to the user’s choice 18 Line 4: Filling a variable 19 Line 5: Greeting the user 19 Line 6: Examining alternatives 20 Line 7: Macs do have feelings! 20 Line 8: Ending the if 21 Saving Your Work 21 Running Your Script 22 Chapter 2: AppleScript Basics without Stomach Acid 25 What Is Scripting? What If Your Penmanship Is Poor? 25 Apple Events Aren’t Just Parties Anymore! 26 Levels of Scripting 27 What Can I Do with a Script? 29 What Can a Real Expert — You with a Few Months’ Experience — Do with a Script? 31 Chapter 3: Writing a Script without Ink 33 The Path toward a Script 33 Step 1: Figure out what you want to do 34 Step 2: To script or not to script: That is the question 35 Step 3: Define how the script will work 36 Step 4: Write the script 37 Step 5: Test the script 37 Step 6: Find and fix the problems 38 Step 7: Document the script 38 Script Editor: Free and Worth a Lot More 39 The basics 40 Great new stuff 41 Menus aren’t just for meals anymore 42 Wetting Your Whistle by Bossing Around a High-Paid Hacker’s Code 49 Line 1: Pick a database to work with 51 Line 2: Start bossing around FileMaker 51 Line 3: Open the selected database 52 Line 4: Alphabetize the records 52 Line 5: Select the reporters you care about 52 Line 6: How many reporters were selected? 52 Line 7: If there’s at least 1 relevant reporter 53 Line 8: Process each reporter in turn 53 Line 9: Get each reporter’s first name 53 Line 10: Get his/her company’s name 54 Line 11: Start bossing Mariner Write around 54 Line 12: Make a new press release 54 Line 13: Write the salutation 54 Line 14: Let Mariner Write know you’re done 55 Line 15: End of stuff repeated for each reporter 55 Line 16: If you can’t find a good reporter 55 Line 17: Let the script tell you something 56 Line 18: End of the if 57 Line 19: Finish with FileMaker 57 Part II: All You Ever Needed to Know about AppleScript You Learned in Part II 59 Chapter 4: Values: Different Types of Information 61 Values Are Classy Things 61 AppleScript Values 63 Integer 63 Real 64 String or Text 64 List 67 Record 68 Boolean 69 Reference 69 Date 70 Units 71 Constants and global properties 72 Styled text 72 Unicode text 73 Number 73 Data 73 Class 73 File 74 Alias 74 Application 74 Machine 74 Chapter 5: Variables: Data Cupboards 75 Rules for Naming Variables 75 Using Variables 78 When to Use Set and When to Use Copy 79 Chapter 6: Operators: Math without Mistakes 81 Operator? Can You Place This Number? 81 Math Operators 82 The addition operator: + 83 The subtraction operator: – 83 The division operator: / 83 The multiplication operator: * 83 The exponent operator: ^ 83 Other math operators 84 Date arithmetic 84 Logical and Comparison Operators 85 Miscellaneous Operators 86 & 86 as 87 a reference to 88 Precedence: When to Use Parentheses 88 Chapter 7: References: Being Picky about Data 91 What Is a Reference? 91 Different Kinds of Reference Forms 97 arbitrary 97 every 98 filter (called a whose clause by those in the know) 99 ID 100 index 101 middle 103 name 103 property 104 range 105 relative 106 Referencing Files 107 Chapter 8: Commands: Ordering AppleScript Around 109 Basic Commands 110 activate 110 clipboard info 111 copy 112 count 113 current date 114 delay 115 get 116 info for 116 launch 119 list disks 120 list folder 121 mount volume 123 offset 124 path to 126 random number 129 round 130 set 131 set the clipboard to 132 set volume 133 summarize 134 the clipboard 135 time to GMT 135 Advanced Commands 136 do shell script 136 scripting components 138 system attribute 138 ASCII character 140 ASCII number 141 Chapter 9: I/O (I Owe) without Credit Cards 143 I/O Commands 143 display dialog 144 choose from list 149 beep 151 say 151 choose application 152 choose URL 154 choose file 155 choose file name 156 choose folder 157 choose color 158 A Final Word 158 Chapter 10: If: Letting Your Computer Make Decisions So You Can Blame It Later 159 The Ever-Famous if Statement 159 Logical Operators 160 and 161 or 161 =, is, equal, equals, is equal to 162 ≠ (option =), is not, isn’t, isn’t equal to, is not equal to, doesn’t equal, does not equal 162 >, is greater than, comes after, is not less than or equal to, isn’t less than or equal to 163 <, is less than, comes before, is not greater than or equal to, isn’t greater than or equal to 163 ≥ (Option+Shift+>), >=, is greater than or equal to, is not less than, isn’t less than, does not come before, doesn’t come before 164 ≤ (Option+,), <=, is less than or equal to, is not greater than, isn’t greater than, does not come after, doesn’t come after 164 start[s] with, begin[s] with 165 ends with 165 contains 166 does not contain, doesn’t contain 166 is in, is contained by 167 is not in, is not contained by, isn’t contained by 167 not 167 A parting shot 168 How Your Script Can Make Up Its Mind 168 Chapter 11: Repeat: Going in Circles for Fun and Profit 175 The Repeat Statement 175 Searching for a word that may not be in the text file 178 Working with lists and records 180 Finding files containing keywords 181 Using repeat times 182 Using repeat forever 182 Chapter 12: Try: Dealing with Problems without Crashing 185 Using the try Statement — the Simple Way 186 Advanced try Options 190 Chapter 13: Handlers: Organizing Your Script 193 Getting a Handle on Messages 193 Calling a handler with variables 194 Calling a handler with values 195 Understanding a variable scope 197 Passing data between handlers 198 Other handler syntaxes 201 Chapter 14: Properties: Storing Data for Awhile 203 Defining Properties 203 Using Read and Write 204 The read and write Commands 211 get eof 212 read 214 set eof 215 write 216 open for access 217 close access 217 Chapter 15: Deploying Scripts: Cool Ways to Access Scripts 219 Creating a Drag-and-Drop Script Application 219 Testing Your Drag-and-Drop Script 221 Using the Script Menu 222 Writing a Toolbar Script 224 Triggering Scripts with Speech 226 Chapter 16: Autonomous Scripts: Working Unsupervised 227 Writing Autonomous Scripts (Agents) 227 Displaying the Startup Screen 230 Testing Agents 231 Dealing with Quitting 232 Reacting to Changes: Folder Actions 232 Periodically Launching Scripts 235 Launching Scripts at Login and Logout 236 Scripting the Digital Hub 239 Scripts Can Be Applications, Too! 240 Chapter 17: Taking Charge of Applications 241 The Basics of Bossing Around Apps 241 Using a Dictionary without Knowing How the Words Are Spelled 244 Reading a value type (class) entry 244 Reading a command entry 247 Dictionaries aren’t perfect 248 Differentiating between Good Applications and Pond Scum 251 Tell: Getting Applications to Pay Attention 253 Making a Good Recording — Even If You Can’t Sing 256 Chapter 18: Debugging: Fixing Problems without DDT 259 The Art of Debugging 259 Not using global variables 260 Labeling variable names clearly 261 Breaking large scripts into modular handlers 261 Incrementally testing your script 264 Using rapid prototyping 265 Use lots of comments 265 Savvy Troubleshooting 266 Understanding the problem 267 Figuring out where the problem occurs in the script 268 Pinpointing why the error occurs 268 A diversion: Using the Event Log window to see what’s going on in your script 270 Fixing the problem 275 Testing the solution 276 Chapter 19: Scripting Additions: Taking AppleScript to New Heights 277 Working with Scripting Additions 277 Chapter 20: Script Objects: Recycling Scripts for a Healthy Environment 279 Creating a Script Object 279 Using Inheritance 283 Using the continue statement 285 store script 286 load script 288 run script 289 Chapter 21: Miscellaneous Advanced Stuff 291 Timeout: Dealing with Slowpoke Applications 291 Transactions: Dealing with States 292 Considering and Ignoring: Changing the Rules 292 Part III: How to Control the World — or at Least Some Common Programs 295 Chapter 22: Finder/System Tricks without Touching the Mouse 297 Some Quick Finder Tricks 298 Playing Hide and Seek with the Finder 300 Cleaning Up the Desktop by Tiling Windows 300 Showing Free Disk Space 304 Finding Scriptable Applications and Processing Every File to Boot 305 Working with System Events 307 Chapter 23: Business Applications and Microsoft Office 2004 309 FileMaker Pro 309 Scripting and Office: A History 311 Microsoft Word 312 Microsoft Excel 316 Microsoft PowerPoint 319 Chapter 24: Layout and Graphics Applications 321 OS X’s Built-In Graphics Engine 321 Photoshop CS 323 InDesign CS 325 Chapter 25: Scripting the Web 329 Opening a Web Page 329 Scripting Web Surfing 330 Automating Your E-Mail 332 Working with iDisk 334 Working over a Network 335 Automating Web Services 338 Chapter 26: Scripting iLife 341 Scripting iTunes 341 Scripting iPhoto 345 Scripting iDVD 347 Working with DVD Player 349 Working with iCal 350 Chapter 27: GUI Scripting 351 How GUI Scripting Works 351 Addressing an Item 352 Part IV: The Part of Tens 355 Chapter 28: More Than Ten Scriptable Applications 357 Business (Database, Spreadsheets) 357 Charts/Drawing 358 Graphics/Digital Photos 358 Internet-Related (E-Mail, Web Browsers) 359 Miscellaneous 359 Multimedia (Music/Movies) 360 Page Layout 360 Script Launchers/Utilities 360 Utilities 361 Web Development 361 Writing 362 Chapter 29: More Than Ten Scripting Resources 363 Web Sites 363 Mailing Lists/Discussion Boards 364 Tools 364 Scripting Additions 365 The Author or a Reasonable Facsimile Thereof 366 Index 367

About the Author :
Born in Chicago, Tom Trinko has lived a deprived life, never once having butchered a hog. In an attempt to improve the quality of life in Chicago, he pursued his higher education in Pasadena, California, at Cal Tech. He moved to Wisconsin for the better climate and picked up his PhD in physics, graduating with the official title of mad scientist. His first smart move was marrying a woman who worked at Apple and who had an Apple IIe. With that, he was able to extend his professional programming career, which began in 1972, to home computers. His long-suffering wife brought a Mac home in 1984, which marked the start of Tom’s enthusiasm for the only OS for people who want to get work done. He’s ordered the Mac around in Basic, Forth, C, Pascal, and about a billion or so scripting languages. Back when Apple didn’t know any better, he did contract work for Apple’s Developer University. In real life, he works on other platforms, ranging from supercomputers to UNIX workstations, which continually remind him of how spiffy the Mac really is. His current main objective in life is staying more computer literate than his kids.