MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > Introduction to Scripting Microsoft Entourage

2007.05.03 By

May, 2007 - Introduction to Scripting Microsoft Entourage.

For some time now, we have been discussing scripting the Microsoft Office applications, partially in preparation for the forthcoming release of Office 2008, in which Microsoft has announced that Visual Basic macros will no longer be supported. So far, we have explored the AppleScript support in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, three applications that currently (in Office 2004) include Visual Basic macro support. This month, we are going to discuss the fourth major Office application, Entourage, a popular email and project management client. [Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > Introduction to Scripting Microsoft PowerPoint

2007.03.03 By

March, 2007 - Introduction to Scripting Microsoft PowerPoint.

In recent months, we have been discussing ways to automate the Office applications using AppleScript. We have discussed Word and Excel scripting, and this month, we are going to focus on scripting PowerPoint. [Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > Introduction to Scripting Microsoft Excel

2007.02.03 By

February, 2007 - Introduction to Scripting Microsoft Excel.

With Office 2008 on the horizon, Microsoft has recently begun to push AppleScript as an alternative automation technology to Visual Basic macros in the Office applications. Moving forward, Visual Basic macros will not be supported in the release of Office 2008. Current AppleScript users are ahead of the curve. The Office applications have been AppleScriptable for quite some time, and AppleScript actually provides several advantages over Visual Basic. For one, AppleScripts can interact with multiple applications, including non-Microsoft applications, allowing even complex multi-application workflows to be automated.

Last month, we began discussing how to get started with scripting Microsoft Word. We explored various techniques for interacting with Word documents, as well as the content within those documents, all using AppleScript. This month, we're going to begin discussing another Office application, Microsoft Excel. Like Word, Excel contains a quite extensive AppleScript dictionary, allowing almost any task that can be performed manually to be automated using AppleScript. [Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > Introduction to Scripting Microsoft Word

2007.01.03 By

January, 2007 - Introduction to Scripting Microsoft Word.

Lately, there has been a lot of talk in the Macintosh community about Microsoft, and the forthcoming Office 12. One of Microsoft's big announcements is that they will be doing away with support for creating and running Visual Basic macros in the next version of Office. This leaves many people wondering how they will go about automating their Office applications. AppleScript to the rescue. I'm pleased to say that Entourage, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word are all AppleScriptable.

Office has supported AppleScript for some time now, and with the release of Office 11 in 2004, Microsoft actually completely re-implemented much of their AppleScript support, and also added AppleScript support for PowerPoint. Due to these changes, much of the AppleScript terminology in Word and Excel changed from previous versions. If you are currently using Office AppleScripts with a pre-2004 version of Office, then please be aware that you will probably need to make some modifications to your scripts when you decide to upgrade your Office suite. Of course, this should go without saying when upgrading any scriptable application. Any time any application is updated, AppleScript terminology changes may be introduced. This is why it is always a good idea to test your existing scripts with any new application version before implementing it into your live workflow.

This month, we're going to take a look at scripting Microsoft Word. We'll walk through some basic techniques for interacting with Word documents, and the content within those documents. Please note that all code in this month's column was written for and tested with Office 11 (2004). Therefore, if you're using a different version of Office, please be aware that the terminology you need to use may differ from that which I have used.

[Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > AppleScript Code Libraries

2006.12.03 By

December, 2006 - AppleScript Code Libraries.

If you have been reading my columns for a while (prior to my introductory series on scripting different applications), then you may know that I am somewhat of a subroutine handler fanatic. I feel that handlers are an extremely important part of AppleScript development, and that every AppleScripter should be using them quite often. Unfortunately, many AppleScript developers do not.

There are many benefits to using handlers in a script. Let's discuss a few of these briefly. Handlers provide a mechanism for modularizing AppleScript code into generic chunks, which can be called from multiple locations within a script. This can lead to more efficient script writing. Instead of spending time writing virtually the same code over and over again throughout a script, you can instead focus more time on writing a solid and reliable handler, which can be called numerous times throughout the script. Not only does this help to cut down on the total amount of code you need to write in a script, but it also helps to provide a more focused completed script. Because multiple sections of the script call the same handler code, there are typically fewer areas to troubleshoot if problems do occur during execution. Furthermore, if written modularly enough, it may even be possible to extract a handler from a script, and plug it into other scripts, potentially reducing script writing time in the future too. This leads me into the main focus of this month's column, AppleScript code libraries.

[Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > Introduction to Scripting InDesign

2006.11.03 By

November, 2006 - Introduction to Scripting InDesign.

In last month's column, we discussed scripting page layout applications in order to automate your desktop publishing workflow. Specifically, we focused on getting started with scripting QuarkXPress <http://www.quark.com>. This month, we will be discussing another popular and well-known page layout application, Adobe InDesign <http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/>.

[Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > Introduction to Scripting QuarkXPress

2006.10.03 By

October, 2006 - Introduction to Scripting QuarkXPress.

My last two columns have focused on using AppleScript to automate graphic processing with Photoshop and GraphicConverter. This month, we are going to switch gears from graphic processing to discuss another commonly automated creative process - desktop publishing. Specifically, we will explore some initial steps necessary for automating a desktop publishing workflow using QuarkXPress, a popular page layout application.[Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > Introduction to Scripting GraphicConverter

2006.09.03 By

September, 2006 - Introduction to Scripting GraphicConverter.

In last month's column, we began discussing scriptable creative applications. Specifically, we looked at Adobe Photoshop, and explored how opening, manipulating, and saving graphic files can be automated using AppleScript.

This month, we will discuss scripting GraphicConverter, another popular graphic conversion and manipulation application, which is available from Lemke Software GmbH. While not packed with all the bells and whistles of something like Adobe Photoshop, GraphicConverter does offer quite a lot of bang for your buck. [Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > Introduction to Scripting Photoshop

2006.08.03 By

August, 2006 - Introduction to Scripting Photoshop.

Over the past several months, we have focused on scriptable ways to interact with remote directories using applications like Fetch, Transmit, Cyberduck, and more. Now, we're going to switch gears a bit, and begin to discuss something that pertains more to the creative side of the Macintosh market. We're going to begin looking at scriptable graphics programs. This month's column will provide an introduction to scripting Photoshop, the professional-level image editing application from Adobe.[Read more at MacTech.com...]

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MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > More Scriptable Access to Remote Directories

2006.07.03 By

July, 2006 - More Scriptable Access to Remote Directories.

For some time now, we have been discussing various ways to interact with directories on remote servers using scriptable FTP clients. So far, we have discussed scripting Fetch (http://www.fetchsoftworks.com) and Transmit (http://www.panic.com), both of which are widely used scriptable FTP clients for the Macintosh. However, these applications are not the only options available to you. In this month's column, we will discuss some other options for interacting with remote directories, including using Cyberduck, URL Access Scripting, and more.Please note that in order to test the code throughout this column, you will need to acquire access to an FTP server, either remote or on your local network. If you have been following along, the past few months, then you may recall that for testing, I created a local FTP server by enabling FTP access on another machine within my office. [Read more at MacTech.com...]

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