Mac OS X Leopard - ARCAism

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CHAPTER 23 MAC OS X AUTOMATION WITH AUTOMATOR AND APPLESCRIPT
What’s amazing about AppleScript is not the language itself but what it does. Even in the
high-performance world of professional software development, when you need to control
another application, AppleScript is the first place to turn.
Application developers who write scriptable applications are a boon to the platform. Not
only do they enable AppleScript gurus to work their magic, but they also contribute to Automator.
With Leopard’s new Scripting Bridge, it’s even more important to be scriptable, because
programmers in other languages can now address AppleScript’s application hooks directly.
Automation saves people time and eliminates wasted effort, and the foundation of automation
is interapplication cooperation. The more developers and users can leverage existing
applications, the more our platform becomes extensible, flexible, and, that most important of
attributes, usable.
More Information
If you think there’s something to the phrase “Cult of Mac,” you should see the zealots in the
Mac automation community. I don’t think we’ve ever written an AppleScript or a halfway decent
Automator action without consulting at least one of the following sources:
Automator home page (http://automator.us/): Sal Soghoian is Apple’s product manager
for automation and is generally recognized as a, if not the, foremost expert on AppleScript
and Automator. We can also personally attest that he is a character. All that aside, Sal’s
Automator page has everything you need to know, from the whys and wherefores
of Automator to a massive collection of free Automator actions and links to other
great Automator sites on the Web.
Automator Programming Guide (http://developer.apple.com/documentation/
AppleApplications/Conceptual/AutomatorConcepts/): This is Apple’s official documentation
on developing Automator actions. There’s less here for the casual user, but the barrier to
becoming a power user who can bust out custom actions is really not all that high. If you
have any scripting or programming experience, you’re practically there already.
AppleScript: The Comprehensive Guide to Scripting and Automation on Mac OS X,
Second Edition by Hanaan Rosenthal (Apress, 2006): This is the ultimate tome on
AppleScript and is, as of this writing, more up-to-date than even Apple’s own
documentation. Hanaan’s critically acclaimed work will walk you step by step from
automation neophyte to AppleScript master. It also makes a great footstool, on account
of being huge.
AppleScript Essential Subroutines (http://www.apple.com/applescript/guidebook/sbrt/):
This hidden page of useful AppleScript functions is the first place we turn when we get
stuck trying to figure out how to do something. There’s not a lot here, but what is here is
solid gold.
AppleScript Language Guide (http://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppleScript/
Conceptual/AppleScriptLangGuide/): This is Apple’s official documentation on AppleScript
and quite possibly the oldest document on the entire Internet. Apple keeps saying it is
going to update this as part of Leopard’s AppleScript improvements, but it hasn’t
happened yet. We can understand the reluctance. With contributions by such notable
minds as Mark Twain, Alexander Hamilton, and Sir Isaac Newton, this document is
practically a national treasure.