Mac OS X Leopard - ARCAism

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CHAPTER 23 MAC OS X AUTOMATION WITH AUTOMATOR AND APPLESCRIPT
User: User information such as username, first name, last name, e-mail address, and .Mac
account name
Utilities: Other useful values such as an AppleScript variable or a random number
User-definable variables in the sidebar will have a blue icon with a V on them. They will also
appear blue in the workflow. Variables whose contents are determined entirely by the computer
will have a purple icon with a gear on it in the sidebar and will appear purple in the workflow.
Just like with the sidebar, you can drag variables from the list into actions or the workflow.
Variables are contained by the workflow but are used by actions, rather than accessed directly.
As such, dragging a variable from the sidebar into an action will add it to that action, but dragging
a variable into the workflow itself will create an action, Get Value of Variable.
NOTE The Get Value of Variable action and the Set Value of Variable action are available from
the Actions pane, in the Utilities category.
The bottom of the workflow pane contains a list of all its variables and their values, if applicable.
Adding variables to the workflow automatically adds them to this list, but you can also
create them in the list directly via the context menu. You can also edit variable names and values
in the list.
From the Utilities group, drag in a Set Value of Variable action. From the Variable dropdown
list, select “New variable...” and name it Image Folder, as shown in Figure 23-11. This will
save the value of the Get Specified Finder Items action in the Image Folder variable, but you can
also use the value immediately.
Figure 23-11. Setting the value of a variable in Automator
When you type a keyword and download images, they are going to be saved in the same
folder as previous runs. Thus, your screen saver is going to remember all your previous keywords,
diminishing the effect. Instead, you should clear the folder between runs so you always
start fresh.