AppleScript's Uses

macasaurusmacasaurus
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hi guys, I am kinda new to the mac platform. I switched to mac just a year ago. Anyway, I hear a lot of stuff about Apple Script and how useful it is. I have no idea what Apple Script does or how to make scripts. Anybody use these? I have looked at Apple pages talking about them, but I just get lost and confused. Is there way I can get a script to refresh webpages every once and awhile or open up a bunch of webpages without me having to type in my favortie links? Any scripts that can alert me of new info on a webpage such as on forums like this? Thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Well, for starters, you could save a bookmark for every web page you want to open, and use "script Editor" to record you opening each. (Now you professionals out there know I don't program ) As with new content, I think that is more of a browser thingy than applescript. I mostly mooch scripts off friends, and change them for my needs.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    imhoimho Posts: 30member
    Het macasaurau! If you're using IE or OmniWeb for your web browser, you can subscribe to (in IE) or have your bookmarks checked for changes (in OmniWeb). That way you'll be notified of changes.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    macasaurusmacasaurus Posts: 243member
    Thanks on the browser stuff.

    What about apple script? What can I use Apple script for? Is there a place I can get scripts?
  • Reply 4 of 5
    soulcrushersoulcrusher Posts: 587member
    I used to use AppleScript to make trojans.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,562member
    Where to start? Applescript is like macros on steroids. Start at <a href="http://www.applescript.com"; target="_blank">http://www.applescript.com</a>; which will route you to Apple's AS page.



    Go to this link and view the video about OS X. Towards the end there is a demo by Sal showing some of what AS can do.

    <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/powerofx/"; target="_blank">http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/powerofx/</a>;



    The tutorial series on MacCentral by Bill Briggs is a nice place to start learning about AS.



    Tex-Edit Plus is a scriptable and recordable text editor. The TE+ page has a link to a page of scripts. It is useful to open some and see how they work. Recordable applications let you make scripts without actually writing any code. Open the Script Editor, make sure a script window is open. Press the RECORD button. Go back and use the application for a while. Go back to the Script Editor and press the Stop button. Now you will see the script which does what you just did manually.



    Start at versiontracker.com to find applications for Mac OS 9 or OS X. These pages also contain links to the developer sites.

    The Finder in OS 9 is Recordable. The Finder in OS X is not yet Recordable. iCab is extensively scriptable. Some other browsers are not.



    If you open the Script Editor you can use the option to Open Dictionary to inspect any application to see what options the application will provide.



    Last December Applescript Studio was released for OS X. This is pretty amazing. It lets you add a cocoa interface to your AppleScript. AppleScript is now a peer language with C and Java on OS X.



    In spite of how wonderful this is it might not be what you want. Applescript is not the same as having a robot press keys for you. It works at a deeper level than that. I am not familiar with them myself but you might want to look at Quick-Keys, Keyboard Maestro or similar applications for that purpose.
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