Applescript Newbie

Point me towards the light

[your_store]

For some reason after many years w/ my Mac, I still haven't learned the wonders of Applescript. The new folder actions in Panther and a certain personal project have made learning AS a must.

So, I'm looking for either sites or books about Applescript. Any suggestions?

[whoisgregg]

I have just started diving into Applescript to add new functionality and automation with Filemaker Pro 7, Freehand, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, etc. so hopefully I can make some recommendations for you! :D

You asked for an applescript site and the most active user supported site is probably [macscripter.net...] although I find their website difficult to navigate. They have good forum and lots of posted sample code.

I would like to add some pointers from my recent experience:

1. As long as you are working on backups, the best way to see if an applescript will work is to "Compile" and "Run" it! You will get error messages that point in the direction of success.

2. Find sample code that does things similar to what you want to do and dissect it to see what it is doing. If you simply modify the parts you think you understand and ignore the rest, you won't be able to write the scripts where there are no examples out there.

3. In the script editor, in the "Open Dictionary..." item dialog you can choose an application from the list. If the application isn't there, you can click "Browse..." and select any application to get it's Applescript dictionary. (I've found at least one app with a huge amount of applescript support, but the dictionary wasn't automatically listed.)

Good luck and I'd say the Mac webmaster forum should be the perfect place for applescript questions. :)

Edited by whoisgregg: Just read Brett's announcement about broken links. Fixed the url.

[timster]

Apple predictably has some good AppleScript resources on their site:

[apple.com...]

Many people don't know that you can use AppleScript for CGI (if your Web server is a Mac). Here's a page on using AppleScript to process forms:

[apple.com...]

[Hissingsid]

Re Books.

I have:

Applescript in Nutshell O'reilly press - OK comprehensive reference

Applescript for Applications Visual quickstart guide - again OK

I wouldn't strongly recomend either of these books and have found most of the answers I needed in the docs and on scripter web sites.

If you are on OSX I recomend that you install developer tools and associated documantation. I'm still very much an Applescript newbie but have found that I'm able to write small scripts which have been very helpful. Doing stuff like moving and renaming files following Filemaker exports etc.

Best wishes

Sid