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Milio · Nov 29, 2000, 06:26 PM

"Future" complete would be really impressive!

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Support the DiskDock.

Evinyatar · Dec 1, 2000, 04:06 AM

Question for Sal: http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/Foru...ML/000307.html
Please...

Sal · Dec 4, 2000, 12:31 AM

I'm trying to carbonize some of my shareware and one of them needs to get the Finder selection. In 9 I used to do this using AppleEvents, but the MacOS X finder is not returning anything (although the AE is sent correctly).

The Finder scripting in the beta is broken and incomplete. The release version will have good Finder scripting.

Dec 5, 2000, 11:05 AM

Sal:

It's great to see AppleScript in the new OS. This, along with technologies such as QuickTime and ColorSync will make the transition a little easier for long time Mac admins, developers and users. Now for my question/comment....

Since all (or most) admininstrative functions point back to NetInfo, it would be very handy if AppleScript could read and write data into NetInfo. NetInfo's hierarchical structure reminds one of Frontier...and having a browsable place to store key-value pairs, script objects, etc could be very handy.

Also, with other aspects of the OS utilizing XML, it would be great if AppleScript on X had a friendly, built-in XML parser/engine.

Sal · Dec 6, 2000, 03:44 AM

Also, with other aspects of the OS utilizing XML, it would be great if AppleScript on X had a friendly, built-in XML parser/engine.

AppleScript and XML will develop a close relationship in Mac OS X.

Dec 7, 2000, 09:39 PM

Hi all 8)

well what if apple buy rebol ( www.rebol.com ) and switch to it instead of applescript ?

rebol keypoint:
- syntax is really great
- works already on 30 platforms
- ....

rebol & mac lover

Gee4orce · Dec 8, 2000, 05:59 AM

Sal,

1)How do I use Applescript to change the desktop picture ?

2)How do I make the Desktop/Finder re-read it's saved preferences using Applescript ?

(If (1) doesn't work, I want to use 'defaults write' to change the desktop picture, and then use (2) to force Desktop to re-read it's preferences).

Thanks

eevyl · Dec 9, 2000, 09:34 PM

It's really cool to have AS in OS X, and I hope it continue to develop further so it can use all the UNIX like stuff of OS X.

But my question is something I disscussed in a mailing list, �is posible to code a script that does the same as the virus 'I love you' did using VBS? I say no, but someone else think yes.

I'm in no way interested in doing such weird thing, but I would be glad to hear a confimation of my thoughts.

dogzilla · Dec 10, 2000, 12:17 AM

Originally posted by eevyl:
But my question is something I disscussed in a mailing list, �is posible to code a script that does the same as the virus 'I love you' did using VBS? I say no, but someone else think yes.

While I'm wary of spewing out absolutes, especially when Unix enters the discussion, I'd tend to agree with you, at least using AppleScript as the language. It seems to me that the main reason why "I Love You" propagated so effectively was because of Microsoft's integration of VB into Express (and by having it turned on by default, no less!). While it's certainly feasible that undiscovered holes exist in OSX that could allow for exploits, I can't conceive of an AppleScript virus managing to rampage across networks using email as it's method of distribution. Even Applescript's TCP/IP support isn't really an effective means for a virus to propagate.

In short, given what we currently know, it seems unlikely.

Sal · Dec 11, 2000, 12:05 AM

well what if apple buy rebol ( www.rebol.com ) and switch to it instead of applescript ?

We've had AppleScript since System 7. It is supported by hundreds of the key Macintosh applications including Media 100i, QuickTime Player, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, BBEdit, Multi-Ad Creator, Canto Cumulus, Outlook Express, Eudora, ViaVoice, QuarkXPress, Fetch, and FileMaker Pro to name a few. Not only can it automate a single computer but it can be used to query and control any Macintosh connected to the Internet.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals and companies use AppleScript daily. 80 percent of our top-tier customers rely on AppleScript to automate their production workflows. It is powerful and approachable. Why abandon a tool that makes millions of dollars for our customers?

Sal · Dec 11, 2000, 12:12 AM

But my question is something I disscussed in a mailing list, �is posible to code a script that does the same as the virus 'I love you' did using VBS? I say no, but someone else think yes.

No. An AppleScript sent in an email as either code or as an attachment will not execute on its own. The user must double-click an enclosed script application to run it.

DoughBoy · Dec 11, 2000, 08:55 PM

Hello Sal,

You had mentioned that AppleScript has been around since System 7. When exactly was AppleScript 1.0 released?

Thanks

Dec 12, 2000, 02:34 AM

Sal,

Has there been any discussion among the various OS X teams of having Apple host or sponsor a Mac OS X packages repository? Mainly, I'm thinking of folks that want to extend the server functionality of OS X (Apache with PHP, mod_perl) w/o needing to get down and dirty with./configure, make and make su-install on the CL.

RedHat and Debian packages are part of what's made Linux a great alternative to Windows NT and proprietary Unix. Apple sponsoring the same would be a great method of touting the advantages of OS X over Win 2000 for end users and sysadmins alike.

Thanks much.

Monique · Dec 13, 2000, 11:57 AM

Since you read this board Steve here are some technical questions for you?

When is OS X coming out?

Since all our iMac cannot function on the same operating system? Will it change anything with X. Let me explain we work on a network and the main computer is on 9 my boss also is on 9, I have 8.5, and the researchist is on 8, the consultants (2) are on 9. Now I want to know why can't we have the same level of OS?

Why can't I merge letters and evelopes on 9? Why can't I print with 8.5 envelopes; I have to downgrade to Word 5.1 so I will be able to print them, this is very ennoying because I have to reformat all of them individually and I would print about 100 to 200 envelopes a day.

My co-worker cannot print anything coming out from her computer to her printer because it won't do it. So she has to wait until I go to lunch come to my computer and print what she needs. (now I am talking about merge documents.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 13, 2000, 03:13 PM

Originally posted by Monique:
Why can't I merge letters and evelopes on 9? Why can't I print with 8.5 envelopes; I have to downgrade to Word 5.1 so I will be able to print them, this is very ennoying because I have to reformat all of them individually and I would print about 100 to 200 envelopes a day.

LOL!

"Must be Microsoft."

-chris.

Zoro · Dec 14, 2000, 04:30 AM

Hi Sal,

I wondered if it will be possible to send Appleevents from within a program "a la" java JDBC ?
I mean like:

Code:
// here you precompile a statement
statement = [AppleScript prepareStatement:@"tell app \"SurfWriter\" to get word %1 of document %2"];
...
// here you send it
result = [AppleScript sendStatement:statement withArgs:12, @"Document 1"];

I think that would make it quite easy !
What do you think ?

thanks

------------------
MacTV

Sal · Dec 14, 2000, 05:48 AM

You had mentioned that AppleScript has been around since System 7. When exactly was AppleScript 1.0 released?

Version 1.0 was released in 1993. I first started scripting with the preview release in 1992!

Sal · Dec 14, 2000, 05:51 AM

Has there been any discussion among the various OS X teams of having Apple host or sponsor a Mac OS X packages repository? Mainly, I'm thinking of folks that want to extend the server functionality of OS X (Apache with PHP, mod_perl) w/o needing to get down and dirty with./configure, make and make su-install on the CL.

RedHat and Debian packages are part of what's made Linux a great alternative to Windows NT and proprietary Unix. Apple sponsoring the same would be a great method of touting the advantages of OS X over Win 2000 for end users and sysadmins alike.

I'm passing your request to the Product Line Manager for OS Server Software. If he get's a chance to reply, I'll post it here.

Sal · Dec 14, 2000, 06:07 PM

OTE]wondered if it will be possible to send Appleevents from within a program "a la" java JDBC ? I mean like:

code:

// here you precompile a statement statement = [AppleScript prepareStatement:@"tell app \"SurfWriter\" to get word %1 of document %2"]; ... // here you send it result = [AppleScript sendStatement:statement withArgs:12, @"Document 1"];

I think that would make it quite easy ! What do you think ?

thanks[/QUOTE]

A reply from Chris Nebel of the AppleScript team:

AppleScript and AppleEvents have well-defined C interfaces (see the various OSA, AppleEvent, and AE headers), so assuming your favorite language allows calling C functions either directly or indirectly via a plug-in, yes, this is possible. The APIs on Mac OS X are the same as they've always been for Mac OS 9 (with a few minor changes for opaque data structures -- three, I think).

The above snippet takes the approach of compiling an AppleScript on the fly and executing it: this makes the client code much simpler, but is fairly expensive at run-time, since you have to load and initialize the AppleScript engine. Alternatively, you could compose AppleEvents yourself and send them -- this is more hassle for you, but much cheaper.

I know MacPerl has a package that supports sending AppleEvents, and I believe Late Night Software's JavaScript OSA component supports it as well. I don't know of any language other than AppleScript itself that has direct support for compiling and executing scripts dynamically, but it's less than ten lines of code to do so in C.

[email protected] · Dec 15, 2000, 01:10 PM

Originally posted by Monique:
Since you read this board Steve here are some technical questions for you?

When is OS X coming out?

Since all our iMac cannot function on the same operating system? Will it change anything with X. Let me explain we work on a network and the main computer is on 9 my boss also is on 9, I have 8.5, and the researchist is on 8, the consultants (2) are on 9. Now I want to know why can't we have the same level of OS?

Why can't I merge letters and evelopes on 9? Why can't I print with 8.5 envelopes; I have to downgrade to Word 5.1 so I will be able to print them, this is very ennoying because I have to reformat all of them individually and I would print about 100 to 200 envelopes a day.

My co-worker cannot print anything coming out from her computer to her printer because it won't do it. So she has to wait until I go to lunch come to my computer and print what she needs. (now I am talking about merge documents.

It sounds like you need an someone who knows about supporting macintosh computers to come out and set up your computers. All your imacs can run OS 9 and it depends on what printer you have as to what envelope size you can print. Word does do mail merges. I am not sure what you are asking to be able to do, print envelopes and letters at the same time?

Dec 15, 2000, 01:33 PM

<b>Monique wrote:
That does not solve my problem. Aren't you guys supposed to be top notch in the industry.

Get off your ass and do something.</b>

Have some manners:
1. This is the Applescript thread--not tech support.

2. If you're gonna ask for tech support help, then please porvide some details of your system setup and what is and isn't working. From your description it may be one of many things, including network setup, printer setup, software setup or operator error.

behave

Scott_H · Dec 15, 2000, 01:48 PM

Monique,

Your questions have nothing to do with AppleScript in OS X. Apple has made many statements about when OS X will ship. Please read this from Sal's first post in this thread.

My name is Sal Soghoian and I'm the AppleScript Product Manager for Apple.

...snip...

Now, please allow me to make a few statements concerning what I can and cannot say. I'm here as Sal, not as the "Voice of Apple." I am not the PR contact for Apple Computer and do not represent Apple here in any offical capacity. Please do not quote me beyond the normal thread replys. I'll be glad to share an insider's perspective as long as it doesn't involve talking about unreleased products or sensitive materials and topics. I'm here to help and learn.

Finally, please keep in mind that, while I know quite a bit about some things like AppleScript, I may not be a good resource for all other topics. If I say "I don't know", it's true! ;-)

If you need help with current Mac software you may want to goto Apple's support site where Apple Support people are.
http://www.apple.com/support/

Scott H.
MacNN Moderator

Jaharmi · Dec 16, 2000, 08:20 AM

As a Mac system admin, I would desperately love to have the ability to set up an individual Mac, from scratch, with AppleScript. Have it ready to go for the end user, with a reliably reproduced desktop environment (including printer queues and such) each time.

I already use Apple Software Restore to create disk images for Mac systems. (In fact, I may be something of an outside authority on it, based on feedback to my Web site at <http://macsetup.editthispage.com/>.)

What I've seen as my "holy grail" for setting up Macs -- and I realize this may be obsoleted by potential new technologies (like NetInfo) in OS X -- is the ability to:

1. Edit the Apple system software installer to add new components onto it (I can already do this with classic installers; you need the Apple Installer SDK)

2. Install these extra components -- which could be small as control panels or as large as full applications

3. Configure all settings at the end of the installer -- create aliases to help users find obscure things (in classic Mac OS, strangely, that includes any installed application -- I throw aliases into the Launcher), configure settings (I wish every control panel were scriptable), and add features (like desktop printer queues) ... even if you're booted off of a system CD (the scripting environments on system CD's are hampered by not having the Standard Additions OSAX installed, urgh!)

If you could reliably and easily (a GUI tool!) add extra components and then run scripts that could configure the rest of the OS, all as part of the installation process, this would make administering OS X systems amazing. I'm sure there are some things you can do with shell scripting and whatnot.

What I envision, though, is a GUI tool (or set of tools) that would let you put this all together, and glue it together with AppleScript (since many Mac admins are already familiar with it).

Even if this dream never came to pass, I would love for the next (or last) full system CD for Mac OS 9.x to come with the Standard Additions in its system folder. It would make for a much better experience for system admins who need to perform some scripted tasks while booted from that CD. (I know I can make my own CD. But that won't boot the latest Apple computers unless I hunt down the correct ROM file and such.) Currently, I can't even display a dialog or choose from a list or provide any feedback other than beeps since the system CD's don't include the Standard Additions!

So, Sal, I think there are some things about AppleScript that will be valuable to system admins, which are not done now. Things that won't produce millions in customer workflows, but will help harried Mac administrators get their jobs done more reliably, over and over, in less time and with less effort. And that translates into being able to fix more problems and being more productive.

------------------
Jeremy J. Reichman, aka "Jaharmi"

Dec 17, 2000, 03:49 AM

Not having much AppleScript experience yet (just fooled around in 9 with the speech capability), I was wondering if this is possible:

I'd like to write a script that would automatically launch OS X's Battery Monitor app when I go to battery power, and quit it when I go back on power adapter power. I know, I could put a shortcut in the Dock and load it manually, or put it in the Login Items thingy, but I'd prefer to not have it taking up a Dock slot when it's not needed.

Thanks for being here, Sal!
--
Kevin Buchanan
The Spirit of Volkswagen - http://homepage.mac.com/spirit_vw

Sal · Dec 18, 2000, 04:57 AM

What I envision, though, is a GUI tool (or set of tools) that would let you put this all together, and glue it together with AppleScript (since many Mac admins are already familiar with it).

Excellent requests, suggestions, and examples.

We've reved AppleScript three or four times since Mac OS 9 (adjusting for various unforseen circumstances) and perhaps that is why the Standard Additions file is not included on the OS CD ROM. I'll look into this issue and see if there is a solution.

Thank you for bringing up these issues, they'll be frseh on my mind during the next weeks and I'll include them in my Mac OS AppleScript overview which will be posted on the AppleScript website when OS X releases.

Sal · Dec 18, 2000, 05:02 AM

I'd like to write a script that would automatically launch OS X's Battery Monitor app when I go to battery power, and quit it when I go back on power adapter power. I know, I could put a shortcut in the Dock and load it manually, or put it in the Login Items thingy, but I'd prefer to not have it taking up a Dock slot when it's not needed.

There are some events that would be useful to have AppleScript handlers for (in a manner similar to Folder Actions): new disk, power change, network connect, etc. would be useful to trigger scripts.

We'll keep this in mind as we progress on OS X. There's still much to do.

Dec 20, 2000, 03:04 AM

The 1750 error is from not following the last line of the man pages. There's a bug in osascript. use the full command line version w/ location to run it.

/usr/bin/osascript

As for why you'd do this, cron is a useful tool. Only problem is that cron seems to be cutting the second event from my script. The script is for Soundjam MP (carbon version). The app keeps crashing when using the internal alarm clock, so I want to switch to applescript. the script when run at a command line is fine; when run in the same form from cron, it only launches Soundjam, and does not play.

Here's the script.
tell application "SoundJam� MP"
launch
play
end tell

The play part isn't working. it seems as if the script either tries to send the play event too soon, or that it doesn't send the play event at all.

I've also tried having the app open already, and then sending a second script with :

tell application "SoundJam� MP"
activate
play
end tell

and another attempt was to remove the activate, and just have the play.

I've tried the first script in both compiled & mac os x applet form. the others i've tried in compiiled form only. All work from the command line directly, with this command line:

/usr/bin/osascript ~mbarr/Play3

In addition, the cron line used was:

59 1 20 12 * /usr/bin/osascript ~mbarr/Play3

I see a surge on the cpu monitor at the appointed minute, so cron seems to be running the command. This seems to be a bug in osascript, or in the way the environment is setup for it by cron. Does anyone else have any similar problems.?

zpincus · Dec 20, 2000, 04:40 AM

Sal,
Thanks for being here.
One thing I would like to see sometime would be more user control
over the services -- which I think are great additions to the OS.
I envision a few things, like a services manager app, but most
important to me would be an easy way to set up an applescript as a
service.
Especially when desktop.app (and other carbon apps) can deal with services,
I would love to be able to hilight a file, and then select my applescript
service to run on that file.

Just a thought for a later release -- certainly not mission critical.
Zach

Sal · Dec 25, 2000, 01:10 PM

One thing I would like to see sometime would be more user control over the services -- which I think are great additions to the OS. I envision a few things, like a services manager app, but most important to me would be an easy way to set up an applescript as a service. Especially when desktop.app (and other carbon apps) can deal with services, I would love to be able to hilight a file, and then select my applescript service to run on that file.

You will get your wish... eventually. There's still more work to do with Services, but AppleScript is a perfect partner for this technology (a la DataDetectors).

Scott_H · Dec 25, 2000, 01:23 PM

That is too

. I always thought AS and services would be a great match.

Sal · Dec 25, 2000, 02:09 PM

The 1750 error is from not following the last line of the man pages. There's a bug in osascript. use the full command line version w/ location to run it.

/usr/bin/osascript

As for why you'd do this, cron is a useful tool. Only problem is that cron seems to be cutting the second event from my script. The script is for Soundjam MP (carbon version). The app keeps crashing when using the internal alarm clock, so I want to switch to applescript. the script when run at a command line is fine; when run in the same form from cron, it only launches Soundjam, and does not play.

Here's the script.

tell application "SoundJam� MP"
launch
play
end tell

The play part isn't working. it seems as if the script either tries to send the play event too soon, or that it doesn't send the play event at all.

I've also tried having the app open already, and then sending a second script with :

tell application "SoundJam� MP"
activate
play
end tell

and another attempt was to remove the activate, and just have the play.

I've tried the first script in both compiled & mac os x applet form. the others i've tried in compiiled form only. All work from the command line directly, with this command line:

/usr/bin/osascript ~mbarr/Play3

In addition, the cron line used was:

59 1 20 12 * /usr/bin/osascript ~mbarr/Play3

I see a surge on the cpu monitor at the appointed minute, so cron seems to be running the command. This seems to be a bug in osascript, or in the way the environment is setup for it by cron. Does anyone else have any similar problems.?

There's a problem with the activate verb and Mac OS X beta. The proper amount of time is applied before returning to the script. We're aware of this one. Thanks.

Sal

Dec 28, 2000, 10:16 AM

Originally posted by Sal:
The above snippet takes the approach of compiling an AppleScript on the fly and executing it: this makes the client code much simpler, but is fairly expensive at run-time, since you have to load and initialize the AppleScript engine. Alternatively, you could compose AppleEvents yourself and send them -- this is more hassle for you, but much cheaper.

I know MacPerl has a package that supports sending AppleEvents, and I believe Late Night Software's JavaScript OSA component supports it as well. I don't know of any language other than AppleScript itself that has direct support for compiling and executing scripts dynamically, but it's less than ten lines of code to do so in C.

MacPerl has a function called MacPerl:

oAppleScript() which simply takes an AppleScript and executes it, returning the result. The Mac::OSA MacPerl module can do all sorts of OSA stuff; with the Mac::OSA::Simple module, you can call functions like applescript() and frontier() which do similarly to DoAppleScript(); they take the text of the script and compile it and execute it with the proper scripting component. As you noted, yes, this is more expensive than doing raw Apple events; although, with Mac::OSA (and Mac::OSA::Simple), you can do neat stuff like:

Code:
use Mac::OSA::Simple;
my $as = compile_applescript('tell application "BBEdit 6.0" to get contents of last word of first window');
while (1) {
    print $as-&gt;execute;
    sleep(10);
}

Although it might be a bit faster and easier to do:

Code:
use Mac::Glue ':all';
my $bb = new Mac::Glue 'BBEdit';
my $text = $bb-&gt;prop(contents =&gt; word =&gt; gLast, window =&gt; gFirst);
while (1) {
    print $bb-&gt;get($text);
    sleep(10);
}

Anyway, the point is that MacPerl can dynamically execute AppleScript, Frontier,or any OSA language dynamically.

Dec 28, 2000, 02:28 PM

Excuse me sal, im leader of mongolian army...and i was wonderin...

how do i change my start-up screen with res-edit? all possibbilities...welll.....err....not work.

Dec 30, 2000, 02:18 AM

Sal,

Thanks for all the info that you've posted, it's all good stuff...

Back in the days of Copland (hehe), I think I remember seeing some screenshots of a cron-like app/control panel that could schedule tasks (hard disk backup being one that comes to mind) or applescripts and set them to run at a specified time/interval. This sort of thing has been included to a degree in Mac OS 9 (iDo, and that Apple already includes scheduling in many of the newer control panels (FBC, Time Synchro, Software Update))

My question is this: are there plans to include a similar scheduling-type control panel/app in OS X?

Thanks again for all your posts thus far,

- honestfred

Sal · Dec 30, 2000, 03:59 AM

My question is this: are there plans to include a similar scheduling-type control panel/app in OS X?

Yes, it is on the list, but not for the initial release.

dogzilla · Dec 30, 2000, 03:18 PM

This post is kinda long - I apologize in advance and ask you to bear with me.

Back in the late 80s, I read a book entitled Media Lab" by Stewart Brand. Among many whizzy things, one item captured my imagination - a description of a "personal secretary in a box". This system was basically what it said: it managed a personal schedule, organized incoming emails in terms of priority, did the sam ewith incoming phone calls, and responded to simple voice commands. It could even deflect unwanted phone calls/emails into a "holding bin" or immediately alert the owner to important or awaited contacts, and was able to do simple monitoring of schedules ("Tomorrow is your anniversary - have you bought a present yet?") and online news sources for items of interest.

Since that time, I have attempted to and been somewhat successful in replicating parts of that system on the Mac using AppleScript and Speech Recognition, and other parts under Linux using PHP and TCL (sans speech capabilities). The big missing pieces were telephony under the Mac (I could get the system to speak over the phone, but only respond to touch tones - this was using the Geoport) and speech capabilities period under Linux (true Speech Recognition as we know it on the Mac is a rare thing under Linux and requires serious knowledge).

With the arrival of MOSX and the integration of AppleScript, my dreams of this system have been reawakened. However, I still see a lack of an important piece: namely recognition-enabled telephony. Without it, the system can't function effectively as a receptionist because it can't answer the phone and take appropriate action. All the other pieces should be doable, especially if I can also draw on the capabilities of Apache/PHP/MySQL, TCL, and assorted GNU utilities from AppleScript.

My goal is the creation of a system that could hold a simple conversation such as the following:

[]"Hello, you have reached the desk of Dogzilla. He is currently unavailable. Please leave your name."
[]"This is John Malkovich calling"
[](Software converts above to text, throws out "This is" and "calling", then hunts through its "Accept Calls" list, finds John Malkovich and switches to an accept call script)
[]"Mr. Malkovich, Dogzilla is awaiting your call. Please hold the line"
[](Software now speaks up and says, via Text-to-speech, "Dogzilla, Malkovich is on the phone. You wanted to talk to him about your script idea. Should I put him through?")
[](I answer "Yes". The call is connected)

Most of this is simpler than it appears, and is doable via the creation of simple scripts. The real tricks are a) good speaker-independent speech recognition, b) conversion of recognized speech to text, and c) speech recognition over a phone line.

So my question (to Sal and any other knowledgable hackers) is this - does anyone know of any product (existing or planned) that will allow for the creation of such an "intelligent answering machine"?

I thank you all in advance.

[This message has been edited by dogzilla (edited 12-30-2000).]

[This message has been edited by dogzilla (edited 12-30-2000).]

[This message has been edited by dogzilla (edited 12-30-2000).]

Sal · Dec 30, 2000, 09:41 PM

I still see a lack of an important piece: namely recognition-enabled telephony.

I've discussed this topic with Kim Silverman of the Apple Speech Group. I can't remember the details but the difficulty had something to do with the sample rate or bit rate used by telephones.

I'll take this up with him and the team when I return to Cupertino after the holidays. I'm a big fan and believer in AppleScript and Speech working together.

The scriptable voice recognition abilities in Mac OS 9 are incredibly powerfull and can be used to have scripts carry on nearly normal conversations. This is documented in an AppleScript Guidebook Module about Speech http://www.apple.com/applescript/help_mods.html

M'barr · Dec 31, 2000, 03:45 AM

Sal, Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate all the time and energy you are putting into this.

In regards to the activate bug, I already worked around that with the launch verb.

My actual problem is with the different treatment of osascript inside cron & on a shell line or a shell script.

There is NO problem running an launch verb, then a play verb in the exact same script from teh command line, or a shell script.

Running the same command line from cron as from either a shell script or line, produces different results.

If I leave out the launch/activate verb, after lauching manually, the script works from the command line.

It doesn't work from cron.

It appears that cron sets up the environment differently from normal.

Basically, this is not a bug with the activate timing. I ran into that, but that's not the bug I'm reporting. This seems to be an environmental
issue based on cron, as far as I can tell.

I've done all the test that I can think of, right now. This might not even be a osascript bug. It could be part of cron's implementation on OS X.

Please feel free to contact me directly for any information that can help you make this better. It seems like an honest bug here. I haven't confirmed that this bug affects anything other than Soundjam at present, but if there is a bug in the interaction of CRON & osascript, this will be a serious problem for server admins in the future.

My email is [email protected]. I will be happy to help in any way I can.

Jan 2, 2001, 03:02 AM

Hey Sal, quick question:

I've noticed that many of the help files on the MacOS are named rtfmhdy.htm(including the Applescript one I downloaded)

Obviously I can take a guess as to what the "rtfm" stands for, and it's quite an appropriate name for those files. But what does the "hdy" stand for? The manual-reading public is dying to know.

Sal · Jan 3, 2001, 01:29 AM

Obviously I can take a guess as to what the "rtfm" stands for, and it's quite an appropriate name for those files. But what does the "hdy" stand for? The manual-reading public is dying to know.

I used to know, but have long since forgotten the cryptic naming scheme. For the AppleScript GuideBooks, I copied some names and made up my own for most of the pages!

BTW, there is an AppleScript GuideBook for making your own GuideBooks! It may have a clue or two scattered throughout.

[email protected] · Jan 11, 2001, 02:45 PM

What kind of suggestions for applescript made it into the build or can you tell us? Now that we have a ship date and all is it just working on the speed improvements or are we finishing features still?

Zoro · Jan 12, 2001, 05:41 AM

Hi Sal,

a quick question about iTunes.
It's obviously a repackaged SoundJam (+ CDMaster...)
SoundJam was scriptable, iTunes doesn't have a dictionnary...
Applescript being a key technologie for Apple (isn't it ?), I quite don't understand that.
Can you comment on this ?
Thanks

------------------
MacTV

Jan 12, 2001, 04:21 PM

Hello, Sal. I just want to know if the Finder will be fully scriptable (as it is now) on launch, and if any of the more core system functions will be moved outside it (since Steve said someday the Finder could be replaced completely, or have several running).

Thanks as always,

- Joshua Ochs

ThisIsTheVince · Jan 15, 2001, 09:21 PM

A question for sal about parrallel processing in AS :

Hi Sal, this is a 9.x issue that extend in the future of AS on X.

Since Mac Os 8.0 you can do that :

tell application "Finder"
ignoring application responses
duplicate file "A" to startup disk
duplicate file "B" to startup disk
duplicate file "C" to startup disk
end ignoring
end tell

The finder wil copy the 3 files simultaneously. BUT THERE'S A BIG ISSUE : the fact that AS ignores the finder responses prevent me to apply some action when a particular copy is done.

For example let's say I want the finder to speak the name of every files when it's copy is done.

So if the copy of A is finished the finder shoul say "the copy of A is finished"

But since AS ignores the finder respose it doesn't know when the copy of a is finished anymore.

So how could we keep the finder response will allowing parrallel copies.

BTW : this is just an example, i'm not interested in a script that would actually do that, I'm interested about keeping track of the end of the copy

In short we need solid parrallel processing support in AS. ESPECIALLY WITH mac os x that support multithreading and smp like a champ (at least we hope so).

Thanks a lot

ThisIsTheVince · Jan 15, 2001, 09:46 PM

Applescript speed :

Sall could you commenty on that concerning 9.1 :

Process Manager The Process manager is now native. According to the release
notes, it speeds up event handling and switching between applications,
especially with AppleEvents. Also improves performance when running on
battery power.

is that true as far as as is concerned ? how to explain this :

I incorrectly reported that the making the process manager native would
speed Apple Event execution but that doesn't seem to be the case. Infact,
while I've noticed some slight speed differences in the various timing
scripts I've run, in some cases 9.1 is slightly slower.

Sal · Jan 16, 2001, 05:50 AM

What kind of suggestions for applescript made it into the build or can you tell us? Now that we have a ship date and all is it just working on the speed improvements or are we finishing features still?

We're still working on the implementation of scriptable OS components. We'll try to get as much in as we can for the release, but there's much to do!

Sal · Jan 16, 2001, 05:55 AM

a quick question about iTunes. It's obviously a repackaged SoundJam (+ CDMaster...) SoundJam was scriptable, iTunes doesn't have a dictionnary... Applescript being a key technologie for Apple (isn't it ?), I quite don't understand that. Can you comment on this ?

The scripting implementation for SoundJam is designed around its interface. With so many differences between iTunes and SoundJam, the dictionary will have to be re-written and is targeted for the next release.

Sal · Jan 16, 2001, 06:08 AM

Hello, Sal. I just want to know if the Finder will be fully scriptable (as it is now) on launch, and if any of the more core system functions will be moved outside it (since Steve said someday the Finder could be replaced completely, or have several running).

We're working very hard to make the OS X Finder as scriptable as possible. Some calls, such as Gestalt, have been moved out of the Finder's space but the standard verbs such as make, move, duplicate, delete and window management routines will remain as before.

[email protected] · Jan 16, 2001, 11:32 AM

Originally posted by Sal:
The scripting implementation for SoundJam is designed around its interface. With so many differences between iTunes and SoundJam, the dictionary will have to be re-written and is targeted for the next release.

I cant wait for the dictionary to be done. One request. Please include the mute function in the dictionary. That way with OS 9.1 I can set up an F-key to a mute script. That way I can mute the volume when a call comes in when I am at work.
That would be cool.

strobe · Jan 16, 2001, 12:42 PM

Originally posted by [email protected]:
I cant wait for the dictionary to be done. One request. Please include the mute function in the dictionary. That way with OS 9.1 I can set up an F-key to a mute script. That way I can mute the volume when a call comes in when I am at work.
That would be cool.

Wouldn't pause be better?