AppleScript Easter Egg: Nothing to see here; move along.

In honor of AppleScript's 20th birthday (it was introduced at WWDC 1993), here's a little Easter Egg to share.

1. Create an empty text file.

2. Change the extension of the text file to .sdef (an AppleScript terminology file)

3. Drag the .sdef file onto AppleScript Editor

AppleScript Editor displays an empty dictionary window, stating "Nothing to see here; move along."

Screen Shot 2013-06-14 at 3.54.45 PM

AppleScript Easter Egg: Way too long, dude.

I've posted this before, but this one still cracks me up.  Create an AppleScript variable name with 252 characters or more, and you get this...

 

Peachpit Article > Building a Basic AppleScriptObjC (Cocoa-AppleScript) Application with Xcode

In OS X Mountain Lion, AppleScript continues to be a powerhouse tool for controlling applications on the Mac. Whether you need to automate the creation of a few folders in the Finder, or generate a several-hundred-page product catalog in Adobe InDesign, AppleScript is waiting to lend a hand. Despite AppleScript's learning curve, Mac users everywhere are using it on a daily basis, and it saves time and money that might otherwise be wasted.

 AppleScripts aren't known for having slick interfaces. Perhaps most often, these scripts are written as simple applications, using the AppleScript Editor (found in/Applications/Utilities). When you double-click the application, it launches, performs some series of hidden tasks, and then quits. Developing script applications that work like this is quick and easy if you have the know-how, but if you're planning to distribute your script to other people, this format isn't always ideal. For one thing, aside from displaying simple dialog messages, you have no real way to let users know what your script is doing. Furthermore, unless users are AppleScript-savvy, there's no way for them to adjust the behavior of your script.

AppleScriptObjC (also called Cocoa-AppleScript) is an advanced method of developing AppleScript-based native Cocoa applications. With AppleScriptObjC, you can develop rich user interfaces and interact with them directly from your scripts. [Read more on the Peachpit.com...]

GUI Automation Tools for Mac OS X

I've received a lot of inquiries recently from people who are interested in controlling Mac OS X's GUI. First, let me say that there are some limitations inherent to most GUI automation processes. Here are the top five that I see most often...

  1. GUI automation is interface-reliant. It expects the interface to always be the same. If it changes, the process must be updated.
  2. GUI automation can sometimes be error prone. For example, changing the window layering on screen, accidentally clicking the mouse, and so forth, can cause some GUI automation tools to become confused.
  3. Tracking down the cause of a GUI automation error or problem is not always straightforward. Locating "button 12" of "window 500", for example, isn't as easy as it sounds.
  4. GUI automation tools typically have a limited ability to perform branching, i.e. looking at something, and making a decision about how to proceed.
  5. While GUI automation tools may be able to click around, select menus, and type keystrokes, they aren't good for "processing" actual data. For example, don't expect GUI automation to retrieve content from a database, bring it into an InDesign document, construct a catalog, output it to PDF, and send it to your printer.

For simple tasks, GUI automation may work just fine. For complex tasks, it may not. In these situations, you may need something much more robust, such as AppleScript, or AppleScript+GUI automation, or some other tool.

So, strictly with regard to GUI automation, there are a number of tools that can help you get the job done…

Automator - Automator has the ability to record manual tasks, and play them back as part of a workflow. Here are some resources I've released in the past to get you started…

Third-Party Automator Actions - My Automator Extension Action Pack includes several GUI automation actions, including:

  • Click Safari Web Form Button
  • Click Safari Web Form Checkbox
  • Click Safari Web Form Radio Button
  • Set Safari Web Form Text or Popup Field
  • Type Keystroke

Learn more or download a demo of my Automator actions here.

QuicKeys - An automation tool that can simulate user interaction by clicking buttons, selecting menus, and more. Essentially, a macro utility. Learn more on the QuicKeys website and in the following episode of my podcast...

iKey - Another macro utility for Mac OS X, allowing you to automate keystrokes, mouse clicks, and more. Learn more on the iKey website and in the following episode of my podcast...

Sikuli - An interesting visual automation tool for Mac OS X, which works from screenshots. Learn more on the Project Sikuli website.

Fake - A browser for automating web tasks, such as filling out forms, testing websites, and more. Learn more on the Fake.app website.

Eggplant - A visual, screen-shot-based automated testing tool, designed for automating processes across multiple machines (even PCs) through VPN. Learn more on the Eggplant website.

AppleScript Editor - Used to write AppleScripts, but also includes the ability to record manual tasks in certain applications as a script for later playback. Unfortunately, recordable applications are few and far between, but some include BBEdit, Fetch, and the Mac OS X Finder. Learn more in the following episode of my podcast...

If you are into AppleScript, check out my MacTech column on User Interface Scripting.

MacTech AppleScript Essentials Column > AppleScript in Snow Leopard

October, 2009 - AppleScript in Snow Leopard.

With the release of Snow Leopard, AppleScript developers will no doubt be in store for a few surprises. While the AppleScript language itself hasn't changed too much, a variety of other enhancements are welcome, but will take some getting used to.

[Read more at MacTech.com...]

Mac Automation Made Simple Video Podcast > Introducing AppleScript and Script Editor

Episode 17
Date: 03.03.2009
Duration: 00:09:06
Introducing AppleScript and Script Editor
In this episode of Mac Automation Made Simple, Ben Waldie provides an introduction to the primary AppleScript components in Mac OS X, including the AppleScript Utility, Folder Actions Setup application, example scripts, and Script Editor..
[View in Tunes...] [View at Peachpit.com...]