Learn AppleScript: The Comprehensive Guide to Scripting and Automation on Mac OS X

1105 Pages·2010·21.52 MB·English

by  Hanaan Rosenthal

CYAN YELLOW SPOT MATTE
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ppleScript is an English-like, easy-to-understand scripting language built The most complete book available
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LE into every Mac. AppleScript can automate hundreds of AppleScriptable L
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TI applications, performing tasks both large and small, complex and simple. e covering AppleScript 2 and Mac OS X automation
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T Learn AppleScript: The Comprehensive Guide to Scripting and Automation on a
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REL Mac OS X, Third Edition has been completely updated for Mac OS X Snow r
Leopard. It’s all here, with an emphasis on practical information that will
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help you solve any automation problem, from the most mundane, repeti-
tive tasks to highly integrated workflows of complex systems. This edition
includes major contributions from expert AppleScripters Emmanuel Levy, A
Harald Monihart, Ian Piper, Shane Stanley, Barry Wainwright, and Craig Wil-
liams and includes a foreword by AppleScript inventor, William Cook.
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You’ll learn the following in this book:
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How to script professional productivity applications—Apple iWork,
Microsoft Office, FileMaker Pro, and Adobe InDesign p
•
How to automate iTunes, Mail, iCal, and other popular lifestyle
applications in Mac OS X
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•
How AppleScript represents information as objects—including,
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numbers, strings, lists, and records
•
How to manipulate those objects using commands and operators and
how to store them in variables S
•
How to manipulate the Mac OS X file system
• How to harness the power of the Unix command line in Mac OS X c Learn AppleScript
•
How to perform sophisticated text processing techniques using
r
regular expressions
•
How to create your own Cocoa applications with the new i
AppleScriptObjC bridge The Comprehensive Guide to Scripting
p
Whether you are a first-time scripter who wants to automate tasks on your
Mac, an experienced AppleScripter looking to develop proficient, profes-
sional, or guru-level knowledge and skills, or a professional Mac OS X de- t and Automation on Mac OS X
veloper wishing to understand this powerful and pervasive technology, this
book is for you!

THIRD
THIRD EDITION
EDITION
RoSan Hamish Sanderson  |  Hanaan Rosenthal
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COMPANION eBOOK SEE LAST PAGE FOR DETAILS ON $10 eBOOK VERSION ISBN 978-1-4302-2361-0 tharson Foreword by Dr. William Cook
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Learn AppleScript
The Comprehensive Guide to Scripting and
Automation on Mac OS X, Third Edition

■ ■ ■
Hamish Sanderson and
Hanaan Rosenthal
i
Learn AppleScript: The Comprehensive Guide to Scripting and Automation on Mac OS X,
Third Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Hamish Sanderson and Hanaan Rosenthal
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
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ii
Contents at a Glance
■Contents at a Glance................................................................................................................ iii
■Contents.....................................................................................................................................v
■Foreword ................................................................................................................................xix
■About the Authors...................................................................................................................xxi
■About the Technical Reviewer ...............................................................................................xxii
■Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................xxiii
■Introduction ..........................................................................................................................xxiv
Part I: Welcome to AppleScript.................................................................................................... 1(cid:1)
■Chapter 1: Introducing AppleScript .......................................................................................... 3(cid:1)
■Chapter 2: AppleScript in Principle ........................................................................................ 15(cid:1)
■Chapter 3: AppleScript in Practice ......................................................................................... 33(cid:1)
Part II: Understanding AppleScript ............................................................................................ 51(cid:1)
■Chapter 4: Writing Scripts in AppleScript Editor .................................................................... 53(cid:1)
■Chapter 5: Understanding How Application Scripting Works ................................................. 77(cid:1)
■Chapter 6: Learning to Work with AppleScript Objects ........................................................ 143(cid:1)
■Chapter 7: Working with Text ............................................................................................... 163(cid:1)
■Chapter 8: Working with Numbers ....................................................................................... 215(cid:1)
■Chapter 9: Working with Dates............................................................................................. 241(cid:1)
■Chapter 10: Working with Lists and Records ....................................................................... 267(cid:1)
■Chapter 11: Storing Objects in Variables.............................................................................. 293(cid:1)
■Chapter 12: More on Commands .......................................................................................... 319(cid:1)
■Chapter 13: More on Operators and Coercions..................................................................... 369(cid:1)
■Chapter 14: Making Decisions Using Conditionals and Loops.............................................. 389(cid:1)
■Chapter 15: Making Decisions When Dealing with Errors .................................................... 413(cid:1)
■Chapter 16: Interacting with the User .................................................................................. 437(cid:1)
■Chapter 17: Working with Files ............................................................................................ 471(cid:1)
iii
■ CONTENTS AT A GLANCE
■Chapter 18: Organizing Your Code with Handlers ................................................................ 505
■Chapter 19: Organizing Your Code with Script Objects ........................................................ 541
Part III: Putting AppleScript to Work ....................................................................................... 585(cid:1)
■Chapter 20: Scripting the File System .................................................................................. 587(cid:1)
■Chapter 21: Scripting Apple Applications............................................................................. 623(cid:1)
■Chapter 22: Extending AppleScript with Scripting Additions ............................................... 675(cid:1)
■Chapter 23: AppleScript Amenities....................................................................................... 711(cid:1)
■Chapter 24: Scripting iWork and Office ................................................................................ 743(cid:1)
■Chapter 25: Scripting Data and Databases........................................................................... 793(cid:1)
■Chapter 26: Scripting Adobe InDesign.................................................................................. 817(cid:1)
■Chapter 27: Interacting with the Unix Command Line.......................................................... 863(cid:1)
■Chapter 28: Using Smile: The AppleScript Integrated
Production Environment ................................................................................................. 897(cid:1)
■Chapter 29: Tips and Techniques for Improving Your Scripts.............................................. 927(cid:1)
■Chapter 30: Creating Cocoa Applications with AppleScriptObjC .......................................... 969(cid:1)
■Index................................................................................................................................... 1019
iv
Contents
■Contents at a Glance................................................................................................................ iii(cid:1)
■Contents.....................................................................................................................................v(cid:1)
■Foreword ................................................................................................................................xix
■About the Authors...................................................................................................................xxi(cid:1)
■About the Technical Reviewer ...............................................................................................xxii(cid:1)
■Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................xxiii(cid:1)
■Introduction ..........................................................................................................................xxiv(cid:1)
Part I: Welcome to AppleScript.................................................................................................... 1(cid:1)
■Chapter 1: Introducing AppleScript .......................................................................................... 3(cid:1)
Automating with AppleScript: From Small Tasks to Large ....................................................................................3(cid:1)
Automating Small Tasks ....................................................................................................................................3(cid:1)
Automating Large Tasks ....................................................................................................................................4(cid:1)
When to Automate (or Not)?..............................................................................................................................5(cid:1)
The Golden Triangle: Scriptable Applications, the AppleScript Language, and the Scripts You Write ..................6(cid:1)
What Is a Scriptable Application? ......................................................................................................................6(cid:1)
What Is the AppleScript Language?..................................................................................................................8(cid:1)
What Is a Script?................................................................................................................................................9(cid:1)
Your First AppleScript: Hello World!......................................................................................................................10(cid:1)
Summary .............................................................................................................................................................13(cid:1)
■Chapter 2: AppleScript in Principle ........................................................................................ 15(cid:1)
The Four Key Concepts of Application Scripting..................................................................................................16(cid:1)
How Applications Represent Information As Objects......................................................................................16(cid:1)
How Applications Manipulate Objects Using Commands ...............................................................................18(cid:1)
How Applications Organize Their Objects into Object Models ........................................................................19
How Applications Describe Their Objects and Commands in Dictionaries .....................................................21
The Four Key Concepts of the AppleScript Language..........................................................................................22(cid:1)
How AppleScript Represents Information As Objects.....................................................................................23(cid:1)
How AppleScript Manipulates Objects Using Commands, Operators, and Variables ......................................24
How AppleScript Organizes Code Using Handlers and Script Objects............................................................26(cid:1)
v
■ CONTENTS
Tying It All Together: What Makes AppleScript Special.......................................................................................28(cid:1)
The English-like Syntax ..................................................................................................................................28(cid:1)
Built-in Application Scripting Support ............................................................................................................29(cid:1)
Attaching Scripts to Applications.....................................................................................................................29(cid:1)
The AppleScript Community ...........................................................................................................................30(cid:1)
Summary .............................................................................................................................................................31(cid:1)
■Chapter 3: AppleScript in Practice ......................................................................................... 33(cid:1)
The Project: Tidy Desktop .....................................................................................................................................33(cid:1)
Planning the Script ..............................................................................................................................................34(cid:1)
Writing the Script.................................................................................................................................................35(cid:1)
Creating the Folder Name...............................................................................................................................35(cid:1)
Interacting with the File System......................................................................................................................39(cid:1)
Final Thoughts .....................................................................................................................................................46(cid:1)
Improving Reliability ........................................................................................................................................46(cid:1)
Adding Features...............................................................................................................................................47(cid:1)
Documenting Your Code .................................................................................................................................48(cid:1)
Summary .............................................................................................................................................................49(cid:1)
Part II: Understanding AppleScript ............................................................................................ 51(cid:1)
■Chapter 4: Writing Scripts in AppleScript Editor .................................................................... 53(cid:1)
Working with Script Windows..............................................................................................................................53(cid:1)
Compiling a Script............................................................................................................................................54(cid:1)
Running and Stopping a Script .......................................................................................................................55(cid:1)
Recording a Script ...........................................................................................................................................55(cid:1)
Viewing the Result of Running a Script ..........................................................................................................56(cid:1)
Viewing the Events Sent by a Running Script.................................................................................................56(cid:1)
Adding a Description to a Script ......................................................................................................................57(cid:1)
Viewing Application Dictionaries ..........................................................................................................................57(cid:1)
Other Useful AppleScript Editor Features ............................................................................................................58(cid:1)
Using the Library Window...............................................................................................................................59(cid:1)
Navigating to a Handler in a Script ..................................................................................................................60(cid:1)
Viewing the Event Log History ........................................................................................................................61(cid:1)
Scripting the AppleScript Editor.......................................................................................................................61(cid:1)
Using Context Menu Scripts............................................................................................................................62(cid:1)
Viewing the Bundle Contents Drawer .............................................................................................................62(cid:1)
Setting the Script Formatting Preferences .....................................................................................................63(cid:1)
Saving Scripts......................................................................................................................................................65(cid:1)
Text-Based Scripts...........................................................................................................................................66(cid:1)
Compiled Scripts..............................................................................................................................................66(cid:1)
Script-Based Applications (Applets) ...............................................................................................................69(cid:1)
Other Tools for Writing and Running AppleScripts ..............................................................................................72(cid:1)
The System-wide Script Menu........................................................................................................................72(cid:1)
Third-Party AppleScript Editors ......................................................................................................................74(cid:1)
Developing GUI Applications ...........................................................................................................................76(cid:1)
Command-Line Tools......................................................................................................................................76(cid:1)
Summary .............................................................................................................................................................76(cid:1)
■Chapter 5: Understanding How Application Scripting Works ................................................. 77(cid:1)
A Quick Application Scripting Example.................................................................................................................78(cid:1)
Understanding Objects..........................................................................................................................................79(cid:1)
How Objects Are Categorized by Class...........................................................................................................79(cid:1)
Introducing Object Properties .........................................................................................................................81(cid:1)
vi
■ CONTENTS
Introducing Object Elements...........................................................................................................................84(cid:1)
Understanding Commands...................................................................................................................................86(cid:1)
Introducing Command Names ........................................................................................................................87(cid:1)
Introducing Command Parameters .................................................................................................................87(cid:1)
Commands Must Be Targeted at Objects.........................................................................................................89(cid:1)
Commands Can Return Results or Report Errors............................................................................................90(cid:1)
Understanding the Application Object Model.......................................................................................................91(cid:1)
How Objects Can Contain Other Objects.........................................................................................................92(cid:1)
How AppleScript Refers to Application Objects ..............................................................................................93(cid:1)
Exploring a Typical Object Model....................................................................................................................98(cid:1)
Understanding Application Dictionaries.............................................................................................................103(cid:1)
Introducing AppleScript Editor’s Dictionary Viewer ......................................................................................104(cid:1)
How Classes Are Documented......................................................................................................................107(cid:1)
How Commands Are Documented ................................................................................................................118(cid:1)
Application Dictionaries Don’t Tell You Everything!......................................................................................120(cid:1)
More on application Objects ..............................................................................................................................123(cid:1)
Creating application Objects.........................................................................................................................123(cid:1)
The Standard Properties of application Objects ...........................................................................................126(cid:1)
How AppleScript Compiles tell application ... Blocks ...................................................................................127(cid:1)
More on Constructing References .....................................................................................................................128(cid:1)
Referring to Properties...................................................................................................................................129(cid:1)
Referring to Elements ....................................................................................................................................129(cid:1)
Referring to Insertion Locations.....................................................................................................................138(cid:1)
Summary ...........................................................................................................................................................139(cid:1)
■Chapter 6: Learning to Work with AppleScript Objects ........................................................ 143(cid:1)
How AppleScript Represents Information As Objects........................................................................................144(cid:1)
What Kinds of Objects Does AppleScript Provide? .......................................................................................144(cid:1)
Creating New Objects ....................................................................................................................................145(cid:1)
Getting Information from Objects..................................................................................................................145(cid:1)
How AppleScript Works with Objects ................................................................................................................146(cid:1)
Manipulating Objects with Commands .........................................................................................................146(cid:1)
Manipulating Objects with Operators ...........................................................................................................148(cid:1)
Coercing Objects............................................................................................................................................153(cid:1)
Storing Objects in Variables..........................................................................................................................154(cid:1)
Working with Boolean Objects...........................................................................................................................157(cid:1)
Boolean Operators .........................................................................................................................................158(cid:1)
Boolean-Related Coercions...........................................................................................................................160(cid:1)
Summary ...........................................................................................................................................................161(cid:1)
■Chapter 7: Working with Text ............................................................................................... 163(cid:1)
Introducing Text.................................................................................................................................................163(cid:1)
A Brief History of Text....................................................................................................................................164(cid:1)
Introducing Text in AppleScript 2.0...............................................................................................................169(cid:1)
How to Write Literal Strings in AppleScript .......................................................................................................170(cid:1)
The Properties of Text.........................................................................................................................................174(cid:1)
The class Property......................................................................................................................................174(cid:1)
The length Property....................................................................................................................................174(cid:1)
The quoted form Property..........................................................................................................................174(cid:1)
The id Property ............................................................................................................................................174(cid:1)
The Elements of Text ..........................................................................................................................................175(cid:1)
Characters ....................................................................................................................................................175(cid:1)
vii
■ CONTENTS
Words............................................................................................................................................................178(cid:1)
Paragraphs....................................................................................................................................................179(cid:1)
Text Ranges ...................................................................................................................................................179(cid:1)
Operators and Commands .................................................................................................................................181(cid:1)
Joining Strings...............................................................................................................................................181(cid:1)
Comparing Strings .........................................................................................................................................182(cid:1)
Checking for Strings Within Strings..............................................................................................................184(cid:1)
Considering and Ignoring Attributes .............................................................................................................185(cid:1)
The count Command.....................................................................................................................................189(cid:1)
The offset Command.....................................................................................................................................189(cid:1)
Coercing to and from Text ............................................................................................................................190(cid:1)
Working with Text Item Delimiters......................................................................................................................192(cid:1)
Splitting Strings with Text Item Delimiters ...................................................................................................192(cid:1)
Combining List Items into a Single String.....................................................................................................194(cid:1)
Finding and Replacing Text ..........................................................................................................................196(cid:1)
How AppleScript Text Works in Tiger ................................................................................................................197(cid:1)
The Many Different Classes of Text ..............................................................................................................198(cid:1)
Working with the Various Text Classes.........................................................................................................198(cid:1)
The ASCII number and ASCII character Commands......................................................................................200(cid:1)
Example Projects ...............................................................................................................................................201(cid:1)
Defining a Find-and-Replace Command.......................................................................................................202(cid:1)
Transferring Meeting Arrangements from Mail to iCal .................................................................................204(cid:1)
Summary ...........................................................................................................................................................213(cid:1)
■Chapter 8: Working with Numbers ....................................................................................... 215(cid:1)
Introducing Integers and Reals..........................................................................................................................215(cid:1)
Operators and Commands .................................................................................................................................216(cid:1)
Math Operations ............................................................................................................................................217(cid:1)
Comparison Operations ................................................................................................................................221(cid:1)
Introducing Operator Precedence.................................................................................................................224(cid:1)
The round Command......................................................................................................................................225(cid:1)
The random number Command .....................................................................................................................227(cid:1)
Coercing to and from Numbers.....................................................................................................................229(cid:1)
Example Projects ...............................................................................................................................................231(cid:1)
Defining a Round-to-Decimal-Places Command ..........................................................................................231(cid:1)
Blackjack! .....................................................................................................................................................233(cid:1)
Kitchen Timer.................................................................................................................................................237(cid:1)
Summary ...........................................................................................................................................................240(cid:1)
■Chapter 9: Working with Dates............................................................................................. 241(cid:1)
Introducing Dates...............................................................................................................................................241(cid:1)
Understanding Date and Time Formats ........................................................................................................242(cid:1)
Forming Dates On-the-Fly.............................................................................................................................244(cid:1)
Specifying a Time Relative to a Date ............................................................................................................246(cid:1)
The Properties of Dates ......................................................................................................................................247(cid:1)
The class Property......................................................................................................................................247(cid:1)
The year Property ........................................................................................................................................247(cid:1)
The month Property......................................................................................................................................247(cid:1)
The day Property ..........................................................................................................................................248(cid:1)
The weekday Property..................................................................................................................................248(cid:1)
The hours Property......................................................................................................................................249(cid:1)
The minutes Property..................................................................................................................................249(cid:1)
viii