Learning AppleScript for Beginners » SuperCard

Choose Application

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:39:51 +0000

The ‘choose application’ command is very similar in syntax to the ‘choose file’ command, in fact, so similar that I will not go into too much detail. As in my post on the enhancements to the list dialog, I will present a script and then explain the purpose of the parameters used as needed:

set [...]

Enhanced Choose from List (Tiger and Leopard)

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:04:25 +0000

In one of my early posts I outlined the basic syntax for the ‘Choose from List’ dialog. Here, I will present some of the new parameters that are available in Tiger (10.4) and Leopard (10.5).

In case you need to refresh your memory, here is the basic command:

set theName to (choose from list {"John", [...]

Choose File Dialogs

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:23:56 +0000

In this post, we continue with the ‘choose file’ command. Like the ‘choose folder’ command, it returns a reference pointer to the actual file that it represents. In this case, it returns an alias reference to a document such as:

set theFile to choose file with prompt "Select a file to open:"

With the following [...]

Choose Folder Dialogs

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:27:56 +0000

In the next few posts, we will look at dialogs where the user chooses among items in directories on the desktop that return reference pointers to the actual files (most are aliases) that they represent. The dialogs we will deal with here are ‘choose folder’, ‘choose file’, ‘choose file name’ and ‘choose color’.

First, a [...]

AppleScript – When to Use Set and When to Use Copy

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:04:58 +0000

This one can be a difficult one, but if you have been following my posts so far, or otherwise are that much interested in learning AppleScript, this is an important issue to get straight.

Even if you have been using AppleScript for a while, as I have, you may still be unclear as to the [...]

AppleScript to Sort Folder Items by Creation Date

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:48:00 +0000

This script takes the items in a folder specified by ‘front finder window’, gets their names, and sorts them according to their Date of creation. This will look a little complicated if you are fairly new to AppleScript, but a few notes on this should clarify how this works:

tell application "Finder" [...]

FileMaker Pro AppleScript to Backup Files

admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:20:14 +0000

This script was adapted from one written specifically for a FileMaker Pro program, although it could easily be used in any database program you use that supports AppleScript.

Most of what appears here builds upon the information presented in previous posts to this point. For a similar AppleScript that is [...]

More on List Dialogs

admin — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:07:47 +0000

This post will deal with what I consider a very concrete use of the ‘choose from list’ dialog. After reading this (and perhaps trying it out in the Script Editor) you will probably be totally confused (just kidding!!) It gets a little complicated, but it is basically a cut-and-paste script.

If you pay close attention [...]

Dialogs for Lists

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:43:26 +0000

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 [...]

Using AppleScript Dialogs to Invoke actions

admin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:41:21 +0000

If you remember from my last post, we ended up with this dialog which had to be encompassed by a ‘try clause’ to prevent an error message from being generated by activating the ‘Cancel’ button. In this post, I will begin by modifying the script below to show you how you can use data returned [...]