Archives for July 2009

Mac Automation Made Simple Video Podcast > Using Repeat Loops in AppleScript

Episode 23
Date: 07.22.2009
Duration: 00:09:14
Using Repeat Loops in AppleScript
In this episode of Mac Automation Made Simple, Ben Waldie continues discussing AppleScript's core language, which a focus on using repeat loops. Learn how to perform infinite and incremental repeat looping in your scripts..
[View in Tunes...] [View at Peachpit.com...]

Press Release > Mac Automation Made Simple Video Podcast Episode 23 Announced

Mac Automation Made Simple Video Podcast Episode 23 Announced
Video Podcast Episode Provides an Introduction to Using Repeat Loops in AppleScript

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania - July 22nd, 2009 - Automated Workflows, LLC is pleased to announce the availability of Episode 23 of the Mac Automation Made Simple video podcast series.
In this video podcast series, Ben Waldie, author of "Automator for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide" and president of Automated Workflows, LLC, shows you how to simplify your life and have fun doing it with tips and tricks for using AppleScript and Automator in Mac OS X.
In this episode of Mac Automation Made Simple, Ben Waldie continues discussing AppleScript's core language, which a focus on using repeat loops. Learn how to perform infinite and incremental repeat looping in your scripts.
Mac Automation Made Simple is owned by Peachpit TV. Episodes are available for download from the Peachpit Press website, as well as within iTunes.
For additional information, including an episode guide and links to the podcast, visit the >Tips section of the Automated Workflows, LLC's website.

Press Contact:

Ben Waldie
President
Automated Workflows, LLC
116 Cold Stream Road
Phoenixville, PA 19460

AppleScript and Automator are registered trademarks of Apple Computer. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

AppleScript and Automator User Resources

Web Sites

  • Mac OS X Automation - AppleScript and Automator documentation, links, sample scripts, sample workflows, actions, and more.
  • MacScripter.net - AppleScript articles, scriptable application dictionaries, forums, sample scripts, scripting additions, and more.
  • Veritrope - AppleScript and Automator links, sample code, sample workflows, and more.

Training

Books

Videos

Mailing Lists and Forums

  • Apple's Mailing Lists - Apple hosts several AppleScript mailing lists, including the AppleScript Users list, AppleScript Studio list, AppleScript Implementors list, Automator developer's list, among others.
  • Apple Support Community - AppleScript, Automator and More.
  • MACSCRPT Mailing List - A great mailing list for beginners or experienced scripters. This mailing list mainly deals with AppleScript, but also dabbles in other Macintosh scripting related topics now and then.
  • Adobe Forums - Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop scripting forums.
  • QuarkXPress AppleScript Forum

User Groups

AppleScript Return on Investment Information

Because AppleScript is used to automate repetitive tasks, it offers trememdous ROI possibilities. In 1998, Apple Computer hired the company Gistics to perform an ROI study for AppleScript implementation. The results were amazing! Keep in mind that this study was done back in 1998, so the numbers would have increased dramatically by today. According to the study:

  • Back in 1998, AppleScript generated over $100.6 million in savings across North America
  • Large companies who use AppleScript to automate tasks in existing workflows typically achieve an ROI of over 2.8 times in the first year
  • Companies implementing fully-automated workflows can generate an ROI of over 4.3 times in the first year of use
  • In one year, Hallmark generated $3.6 million in benefits, after an investment of $150,000. That's a 24 times ROI!

Download the entire AppleScript ROI Study, by Gistics AppleScript-ROI.

The facts and figures specified above are copyright Gistics.

Real World Savings

In addition to the facts and figures in the study specified above, some of the solutions created by our developers have generated tremendous savings. For example:

  • At Piermed, Inc., the process of manually converting 40 PDF form files for client delivery would take approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes of non-stop processing (continuous processing without looking away from the computer, taking a sip of coffee, etc.). Using an AppleScript-based solution built by Automated Workflows, this process takes approximately 10 minutes.
  • From 1997 to 1999, AppleScript allowed TV Guide's Ad Production department to increase their advertising volume by over 20,000 ads a year
  • In 1999, TV Guide's Ad Production department probably saved over $5,000 in printer supplies and repairs from AppleScripts that converted jobs to PDF for proofing
  • In 1999, TV Guide's Ad Production department saved approximately $52,000 per year by using AppleScript to output ads to a laser printer, rather than to the Prepress department for output on expensive veloxes
  • In TV Guide's Editorial Graphics department, it took 4 - 5 designers a week to lay out a pay-per-view listings section of the magazine. After implementing an AppleScript-based workflow, it took 1 designer about 20 minutes.

Benefits of Workflow Automation

Automating a company's workflow offers many benefits. For one, it can help to reduce the number of tasks employees would otherwise do manually, freeing them to work on other important non-repetitive tasks. This essentially allows more things to get done in the same amount of time. In addition, this reduction of repetitious work in an employee's day can help to increase employee motivation and productivity by making their job more interesting and allowing them to spread out into other areas of production.

Automation also helps companies to generate more accurate and consistent products. By automating areas of production, there are fewer chances of mistakes occurring. So, companies can begin generating higher quality products with more features, with little or no additional increase in production time or resources. In fact, Automation can help improve the speed of a workflow because computer programs can perform tasks much faster than humans. This offers the potential to generate more revenue with fewer expenses.

While there is usually a cost involved in developing and maintaining an automated workflow, this is easily justified by the return on investment that will be gained from the automation.

In general, the following benefits are typically achieved through workflow automation:

  • Increased Consistency
  • Increased Efficiency
  • Increased Productivity
  • Increased Speed
  • Increased Profit
  • Reduced Errors

Read about the return on investment potential from implementing AppleScript solutions in a workflow AppleScript-ROI.

Who Can Benefit from Automation

Any company utilizing Macs in their daily workflow can benefit from workflow automation. The following are some of the many industries that are benefiting from the use of automation:

Real-World Benefits

  • AppleScript allowed NASA to have the largest archive of daily radar animations available anywhere in the world.
  • In TV Guide's Editorial Graphics department, it took 4 - 5 designers a week to lay out a pay-per-view listings section of the magazine. After implementing an AppleScript-based workflow, it took 1 designer about 20 minutes.
  • In just three years, from 1997 to 1999, AppleScript allowed TV Guide's Ad Production department to increase their advertising volume by over 20,000 ads a year.
  • In 1999, TV Guide's Ad Production department saved approximately $52,000 in supplies alone by utilizing AppleScript to automate the process of digital ad printing and proofing.
  • At Piermed, Inc., the process of manually converting PDF form files for client delivery would take approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes of non-stop manual processing. Using an AppleScript-based solution, this process now takes approximately 10 minutes.
  • Companies that implement fully automated workflow systems typically generate a 4.3 times return on their investment during the first year alone.
  • Using AppleScript to automate a small workflow system can often result in an initial 2.8 times return on investment in the first year alone.

Introduction to Automator

Automator, first released with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, is an application that brings the power of workflow automation to the user level, with no programming required!

Within Automator, users work with two main types of components, actions and workflows. Actions are built by developers, and each action’s purpose is to perform a single task, such as opening a file, checking your email, or rotating an image. Workflows are designed and constructed by users, by piecing together actions in a sequence, to create a virtual assembly line of automated tasks.

Once constructed, workflows may be saved and triggered by a user in a variety of ways. Workflows may be run from within the Automator application, saved and run as an application, as a Folder Action, as an iCal alarm, as a print workflow, and more.

Automator’s Reach

Automator is installed with over 150 different actions for performing a variety of tasks in Apple applications and the operating system. However, the power of Automator may be extended even further by installing new Automator-compatible applications, or by downloading and installing actions from third-party developers.

Apple applications that are Automator-ready include the following:

  • Address Book
  • Aperture
  • Font Book
  • iDVD
  • iPhoto
  • iTunes
  • Keynote
  • Mail
  • Safari
  • TextEdit

Automator actions are also available for many third-party applications, including:

  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Graphic Converter
  • iView MediaPro
  • NetNewsWire
  • QuarkXPress
  • Transmit

Uses for Automator

Your usage of Automator is limited only by your imagination, and by the actions that are available to you. Since each action performs a single specific task, multiple actions can be intertwined in virtually infinite ways to create a workflow that meets your very unique needs. Some common uses for Automator include:

  • Backups
  • Desktop Publishing
  • File/Folder Creation
  • Image Processing
  • PDF Processing
  • Podcasting
  • Video Processing
  • Website Maintenance

Introduction to AppleScript

AppleScript is a scripting language that is installed with the operating system onto every Macintosh computer. Scripting differs slightly from programming. Programming generally allows you to write a compiled application that directly controls the behavior of a computer. Scripting allows you to write a set of instructions to control existing applications on a computer. On a Macintosh, this includes the operating system.

AppleScripts are written in an editor application, and Apple has included a script editor in the operating system. Simply called "Script Editor," this application can be used by anyone to write, compile, and save AppleScripts.

Not all Macintosh applications are AppleScriptable. However, there are many well-known applications that are scriptable. It is up to software developers to implement scriptability into their products. Some applications provide little or no support for scripting, while others provide a lot of support. In addition, the quality of AppleScript support can vary greatly from application to application, making some applications easy to script, and others more difficult.

Uses for AppleScript

Whether you know it or not, you have probably used AppleScripts in the past. AppleScript is primarily used to automate repetitive tasks that are performed at regular intervals. Many programs such as application installers and email programs use AppleScripts to perform specialized tasks. The following are some tasks that are commonly automated with AppleScript:

  • Image manipulation and conversion
  • Desktop and database publishing
  • Database maintenance
  • Server maintenance
  • File/Folder maintenance
  • CD/DVD duplication