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.
