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AppleScript is one of the very cool things about the
Macintosh for which there is no real equivalent in the
Wintel orbit, but way too few Mac users really take
advantage of what it has to offer. How many times a day do you perform the same dull and
time-consuming tasks on your Mac?; opening and closing
programs; typing e-mail addresses; checking your e-mail.
AppleScript can do all these things and much more with a
keystroke or mouse click shortcut.
"Not enough Macintosh users are ever aware that their
computer comes installed with this great tool," says Bruce
W. Perry, author of O'Reilly's New AppleScript in a Nutshell
addition to their "in a nutshell" series of computer books.
"They tend to become distracted by the inner workings (or
failings) of their favorite programs, to the point where
they become less productive. As a powerful automation tool,
AppleScript can thus free users from the bondage of
machine-like behavior."
With his new book, Perry hopes to encourage and instruct
more Mac users in making more expansive and better use of
AppleScript.
With AppleScript you can, without programming training
and skills, write or record small programs or "applets" to
automate tedious and repetitive operations performed by the
Mac operating system or a wide variety of AppleScript-savvy
Mac applications.
I was really turned on to AppleScript by Tom Bender's Tex
Edit Plus text editor, which has the slickest AppleScript
support of any application I've encountered. I've used a
combination of AppleScripts that I recorded myself and
others that I downloaded from Doug Adams' cool script
archive Web site to customize Tex Edit Plus into a word
cruncher and HTML editor that suits my specific needs to a
"T." You can visit Doug Adams’ site, which is devoted
specifically to scripting Tex-Edit and contains an
AppleScript guide for beginners, here:
http://www.malcolmadams.com/te/
AppleScript in a Nutshell is written for anyone who is
interested in becoming more knowledgeable about AppleScript,
be they novices, power users, or graphics professionals, as
the first complete AppleScript reference manual. "Readers
will be able to use it as a reference next to their Macs as
they write new scripts," says Perry. "They will specifically
learn how to program various system elements to which I have
devoted separate chapters such as speech technology,
Sherlock, network setup scripting, and folder actions."
AppleScript in a Nutshell covers the latest updates and
improvements in AppleScript version 1.4 and beyond, running
on Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X. Bruce Perry says the purpose of
the book is threefold:
1. Describe AppleScript and its tools and provide a core
language reference.
2. Provide detailed descriptions, examples, and reference
information on how to script various functions and features
of the Mac OS.
3. Give AppleScripters general insight on how to approach
scripting several popular third party Mac applications such
as Photoshop, FileMaker Pro, Quarkxpress, and others.
The book is organized in six parts with 35 chapters and
two appendices.
Part I, "AppleScript: An Introduction," includes the
first two chapters and covers the basics of AppleScript, and
various ways it can be used to make the use of Mac computers
more efficient and pleasurable, noting that with the release
of Mac OS 9, Apple made most of the OS script double and
controllable by AppleScript. AppleScript is not fully
integrated on OS X yet, but it is coming.
As for other software, Perry notes that "If an
application is attachable and recordable (or both) [such as
Tex Edit Plus], it is considered a near paragon of
scriptability. Attachable means that you can create a script
and attach it to a program, so that the script is added to
the program's internal menu. A few applications allow
themselves to be recorded by Script Editor [part of the Mac
OS AppleScript package], which is a great way to get started
scripting them."
Perry goes on to describe and discuss Apple Events, which
is the way AppleScript and scriptable programs communicate
with each other in the Mac OS, in considerable detail in
Chapter1. Chapter 2 addresses the use of Script Editor, and
describes using AppleScript with Mac OS 9.x and 0S X
respectively.
Part II, incorporating chapters 3 through 9, is the
section to look in for more information on specific
AppleScript language functions, with plenty of syntax
examples and text descriptions. The chapters respectively
cover Data Types; Operations; Reference Terms; Variables and
Constants; Flow-Control Statements; Subroutines; and Script
Objects and Libraries. This is not a section you're likely
to read through from start to finish, but rather a
comprehensive reference.
The book has handy Chapter identification marks staggered
at the page edges, which makes it easy to quickly find the
beginning of a chapter or section.
Part III includes chapters 10 through 18, and covers
scripting Mac OS 9 applications at the system level, such as
Apple System Profiler, Keychain scripting, the Finder,
Network Setup scripting, and Sherlock 2.
Part IV, chapters 19 through 31, carries on with
scripting of the Mac's Control Panels and Extensions,
including new scriptable technologies such as Apple Data
Detectors, Folder Actions, and Speech-related Extensions
which allow you to integrate speech into your scripts such
as the "listen for" and "say" AppleScript commands.
Part V, "Scripting the Mac OS X System," notes that
AppleScript faces formidable "competition from the
programming tools that come with (and can be installed on)
Mac 0S X, such as shell scripting tools, Perl, and Java."
However, AppleScript still has plenty to offer MAC 0S X
users, and this section tells how to script the OS X
Desktop, the Mail application, the Terminal App, and Text
Edit.
Part VI includes Appendix A, -- Standard Scripting
Additions, and Appendix B, AppleScript Resources. There is
also an extensive index.
AppleScript in a Nutshell is an Apple Developer
Connection "recommended title," and it delivers on its
promise of being the definitive AppleScript desktop quick
reference.
My main criticism of the book is more its style than its
substance. Bruce Perry obviously knows his stuff, but he is
also definitely a no-nonsense, "just the facts," sort of
writer, which makes AppleScript in a Nutshell a less than
entertaining, albeit very informative, tome. Perhaps I've
been spoiled by David Pogue's ability to combine information
with conversational readability in O'Reilly's companion "The
Missing Manual" series, but it would have been nice if Mr.
Perry had been able to make this book read a bit less like a
textbook or a programmer's manual.
However, if you want to learn how to use AppleScript, on
your Mac, this is the best resource I've encountered to
date. Consequently, I'm going to give AppleScript in a
Nutshell a double Applelinks rating -- one for information
value and another for readability.
AppleScript in a Nutshell Sample Chapter: Appendix:
AppleScript in a Nutshell Table of Contents
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