Dialogs for Lists

In this post, we will deal with situations when you want to choose from multiple options within a list. You can have lists that are preset, such as choosing from a list of months of the year, for instance, or perhaps a list such as that which might be generated from a database program when certain criteria are specified (ie names beginning with the surname Bill).

Take a look at this example:

set theName to (choose from list {"John", "Joe", "Bill"})
if theName is false then
display dialog "You clicked cancel to exit." with icon stop buttons {"Exit"} default button {"Exit"}
else
set theName to (item 1 of theName)
display dialog theName with icon note buttons {"Info"} default button {"Info"}
end if

–first note in the first line that ‘choose from list’ prompts you to choose from the three names given {”John”, “Joe”, “Bill”}. the name chosen is assigned to the variable ‘theName’.

–if the user clicks cancel from a ‘choose from list’ dialog such as this, then the variable ‘theName’ takes on the value false indicating that the user decided not to make a choice of the items listed in the dialog.

–if the user makes a choice, say for instance “Bill”, then ‘theName’ takes on that value and can be used for further script execution.

Adapting the previous dialog, assuming you had a list of items (whatever criteria relevant to what you want) compiled from a database of your own design, in this case we will call the list ‘recentOrders’, a list of customer names who have ordered products or services from you in recent months. Another version of the list dialog that could be used based on these premises:

set recentOrders to recentOrdersArray as list
try
set recentCustomer to (choose from list recentOrders)
if recentCustomer ≠ false then
set recentCustomer to (item 1 of recentCustomer)
set scriptAction to button returned of (display dialog "Get information for last order from '" & recentCustomer & "' ?" with icon note buttons {"Cancel","Info"} default button {"Info"})
display dialog "Info for last order from: " & recentCustomer
--here you would return to the user the info from your database on 'recentCustomer'
end if
on error
end try

–here, we choose a particular item (customer) from ‘recentOrders’. next, if we do not cancel execution, the variable ‘recentCustomer’ is assigned. if we do not cancel the next request dialog, the data on the requested customer can be displayed (based upon info stored in whatever the referenced database).

As list type dialogs deviate from the standard dialogs dealt with up until now, it is important to note that, although computers are supposed to follow some sort of logic, you sometimes have to ‘go with the flow’ on things that don’t seem to follow that logic.

I have tried to emphasize from the beginning, that the whole process of learning how to AppleScript builds upon itself. In my coming posts, I will continue to try to make things easier to grasp by using a step-by-step approach, as I have found it effective in building my AppleScript repertoire.

I hope everyone has found this post useful in furthering their knowledge of scripting with AppleScript. If you do not understand the basics of this post, please see my recent posts at the bottom of the page, as they are the basis of understanding the more complex ones.

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As always, if you have any questions or comments, contact me at: hyperscripter@gmail.com or http://twitter.com/hyperscripter or to subscribe, click the By Email link at the top of the page

If you find this post useful, check out this one: More on List Dialogs