AppleScript: The Definitive Guide

Front Cover
"O'Reilly Media, Inc.", 2003 - Computers - 453 pages

If you want to know all about AppleScript--the how, where, and why of using it--dig into AppleScript: The Definitive Guide. It doesn't make the mistake that other books do: it isn't about scripting this or that particular application, and it doesn't assume that learning AppleScript is easy or obvious. Instead, the book teaches and documents the language in a clear and rigorous manner, just as you'd expect with any programming or scripting language.

AppleScript is a dynamic, object-oriented scripting system that allows Mac users--even novices who know nothing about programming--to directly control Macintosh applications, including the Mac OS itself. You can write scripts to automate repetitive tasks, customize applications, and even control complex workflows.

AppleScript has always been useful, but with Mac OS X it's even more so. Nearly every application that comes with Mac OS X is scriptable. Even non-scriptable applications can often be driven with AppleScript, thanks to the new Accessibility API and GUI Scripting technologies. And now AppleScripters can put a true Aqua interface around their scripts! There's never been a more exciting time for AppleScript users.

AppleScript: The Definitive Guide explores and teaches the language from the ground up. If you're a beginner and want to learn how to write your first script or just understand what the excitement is all about, you'll be able to do so after reading this book.

AppleScript: The Definitive Guide is the quintessential guide to this important Mac tool. Regardless of their level of experience, AppleScripters everywhere will turn to this book again and again.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Ways to Use AppleScript
3
Is This Application Scriptable?
5
Calculation and Repetition
6
Reduction
8
Customization
10
Places to Use AppleScript
16
Script Editor
17
Scripting Environment
22
Identifying References
210
Dereferencing a Reference
211
Creating References to Local Variables
215
Control
218
Looping
220
Tell
228
Using Terms From
229
With
232

Internally Scriptable Application
23
Script Runner
28
Automatic Location
29
Application
31
Unix
37
The AppleScript Experience
39
A Day in the Life
41
Conclusions Lessons and Advice
62
Basic Concepts
65
The Open Scripting Architecture
73
Script
77
Compiling and Decompiling
80
Script Text File
86
Applet and Droplet
88
Scripting Addition
89
Dictionary
90
Scriptable Recordable Attachable
92
The AppleScript Language
95
Introducing AppleScript
97
Extensibility and Its Perils
98
The Englishlikeness Monster
99
Objectlikeness
101
LISPlikeness
102
The Learning Curve
103
Syntactic Ground of Being
104
Result
106
Comments
109
Abbreviations and Synonyms
110
Blocks
111
The
112
Variables
113
Declaration and Definition of Variables
115
Variable Names
117
Scoping of Variables
120
Script Properties
131
Lifetime of Variables
137
Handlers
140
Returned Value
141
Parameters
143
Syntax of Defining and Calling a Handler
145
Pass By Reference
148
Scoping of Handlers
150
Handlers as Values
155
Script Objects
159
Scoping of Script Objects
160
TopLevel Entities
162
Script Objects Run Handler
164
Script Objects as Values
166
Compiled Script Files as Script Objects
172
Inheritance
178
Objects
184
Class
185
Get
191
It
192
Me
194
Properties and Elements
195
Element Specifiers
197
Properties of Multiple References
204
Object String Specifier
205
References
206
References as Incantations
207
Creating a Reference
209
ConsideringIgnoring
234
Errors
236
SecondLevel Evaluation
242
Datatypes
243
Integer Real and Number
244
Date
245
String
247
Unicode Text
249
Styled Text
251
Alias
253
Application
255
Data
256
Record
261
Coercions
264
Explicit Coercion
265
Boolean Coercions
267
String Number and Date Coercions
268
List Coercions
269
Unit Conversions
270
Operators
272
Boolean Operators
274
Comparison Operators
275
Containment Operators
277
Concatenation Operator
279
Parentheses
281
Who Performs an Operation
282
Global Properties
285
Strings
286
Numbers
287
Miscellaneous
288
Constants
289
Commands
292
Logging Commands
293
AppleScript In Action
295
Dictionaries
297
Resolution of Terminology
298
Resolution Difficulties
301
Whats in a Dictionary
309
The aeut Resource
320
Inadequacies of the Dictionary
321
Scripting Additions
332
Scripting Additions and Speed
333
Classic Scripting Additions
334
Loading Scripting Additions
335
Standard Scripting Addition Commands
336
Scriptable Applications
349
Some Scriptable Applications
353
Unscriptable Applications
356
Getting Started with Accessibility
357
GUI Scripting Examples
358
Unix
362
Osascript
365
Writing Applications
370
Digital Hub Scripting
377
CGI Application
379
AppleScript Studio
382
Appendixes
403
The aeut Resource
405
Tools and Resources
424
Index
431
Copyright

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Page xiv - How This Book Is Organized This book is divided into four sections.

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About the author (2003)

Matt Neuburg has a PhD in Classics and has taught at many universities and colleges. He has been programming computers since 1968. He has written applications for Mac OS X and iOS, is a former editor of MacTech Magazine, and is a long-standing contributing editor for TidBITS. His previous O'Reilly books are Frontier: The Definitive Guide, REALbasic: The Definitive Guide, and AppleScript: The Definitive Guide. He makes a living writing books, articles, and software documentation, as well as by programming, consulting, and training.

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