Course Content
- Overview of AppleScript
- Conventions Used in This Guide
- What Is AppleScript?
- What Makes AppleScript Special?
- Who Runs Scripts and Who Writes Them?
- What Applications Are Scriptable?
- What Can You Do With Scripts?
- Automating Activities
- Integrating Applications
- Customizing Applications and Automating Workflows
- How AppleScript Works
- Statements
- Commands and Objects
- Dictionaries
- Values and Constants
- Expressions
- Operations
- Variables
- Script Objects
- Scripting Additions
- Dialects
- Other Features and Language Elements
- Continuation Characters
- Comments
- Identifiers
- Case Sensitivity
- Abbreviations
- Compiling Scripts With the Script Editor
- Debugging Scripts
- Values and Constants
- Using Value Class Definitions
- Literal Expressions
- Properties
- Elements
- Operators
- Commands Handled
- Reference Forms
- Coercions Supported
- Common Value Class Definitions
- Boolean
- Class
- Constant
- Data
- Date
- Integer
- List
- Number
- Real
- Record
- Reference
- String
- Styled Text
- Text
- Unicode Text and International Text
- Unit Type Value Classes
- AppleScript Unit Types by Category
- Working With Unit Type Value Classes
- Other Value Classes
- File Specification
- RGB Color
- Coercing Values
- Constants
- Arithmetic Constants
- Boolean Constants
- Considering and Ignoring Attributes
- Date and Time Constants
- Miscellaneous Script Constants
- Save Option Constants
- String Constants
- Text Style Constants
- Version Constant
- Commands
- Types of Commands
- Application Commands
- AppleScript Commands
- Scripting Addition Commands
- Target
- Name Conflicts
- User-Defined Commands
- Using Command Definitions
- Syntax
- Parameters
- Result
- Examples
- Errors
- Using Parameters
- Coercion of Parameters
- Parameters That Specify Locations
- Raw Data in Parameters
- Using Results
- Viewing a Result in the Script Editors Result Window
- Using the Predefined Result Variable
- Double Angle Brackets in Results and Scripts
- When a Dictionary Is Not Available
- When AppleScript Displays Data in Raw Format
- Entering Script Information in Raw Format
- Sending Raw Apple Events From a Script
- Command Definitions
- Close
- Copy
- Count
- Delete
- Duplicate
- Exists
- Get
- Launch
- Make
- Move
- Open
- Quit
- Reopen
- Run
- Save
- Set
- Objects and References
- Object Class Definitions
- Properties
- Element Classes
- Default Value Class Returned
- References
- Containers
- Complete and Partial References
- Reference Forms
- Arbitrary Element
- Every Element
- Filter
- ID
- Index
- Middle Element
- Name
- Property
- Range
- Relative
- Using the Filter Reference Form
- References to Files and Applications
- References to Files
- Specifying a File by Name or Pathname
- Specifying a File by Reference
- Specifying a File by Alias
- Differences Between Files and Aliases
- Specifying a File by File Specification
- References to Applications
- References to Local Applications
- References to Remote Applications
- Expressions
- Results of Expressions
- Variables
- Creating Variables
- Using Variables
- The A Reference To Operator
- Data Sharing
- Scope of Variables
- Predefined Variables
- Script Properties
- Defining Script Properties
- Using Script Properties
- Scope of Script Properties
- AppleScript Properties
- Reference Expressions
- Operations
- Operators That Handle Operands of Various Classes
- Equal, Is Not Equal To
- Greater Than, Less Than
- Starts With, Ends With
- Contains, Is Contained By
- Concatenation
- Operator Precedence
- Date-Time Arithmetic
- Working With Dates at Century Boundaries
- Control Statements
- Characteristics of Control Statements
- Debugging Control Statements
- Tell Statements
- Nested Tell Statements
- Using it, me, and my in Tell Statements
- Tell (Simple Statement)
- Tell (Compound Statement)
- If Statements
- If (Simple Statement)
- If (Compound Statement)
- Repeat Statements
- Repeat (forever)
- Repeat (number) Times
- Repeat While
- Repeat Until
- Repeat With (loopVariable) From (startValue) To (stopValue)
- Repeat With (loopVariable) In (list)
- Exit
- Try Statements
- Kinds of Errors
- How Errors Are Handled
- Writing a Try Statement
- Try
- Signaling Errors in Scripts
- Error
- Considering and Ignoring Statements
- Considering/Ignoring
- With Timeout Statements
- With Timeout
- With Transaction Statements
- With Transaction
- Handlers
- Script Applications
- About Subroutines
- The Return Statement
- A Sample Subroutine
- Types of Subroutines
- Scope of Subroutine Calls in Tell Statements
- Checking the Classes of Subroutine Parameters
- Recursive Subroutines
- Saving and Loading Libraries of Subroutines
- Defining and Calling Subroutines
- Subroutines With Labeled Parameters
- Defining a Subroutine With Labeled Parameters
- Calling a Subroutine With Labeled Parameters
- Examples of Subroutines With Labeled Parameters
- Subroutines With Positional Parameters
- Defining a Subroutine With Positional Parameters
- Calling a Subroutine With Positional Parameters
- Examples of Subroutines With Positional Parameters
- Command Handlers
- Command Handler Syntax
- Command Handlers for Application Objects
- Command Handlers for Script Applications
- Run Handlers
- Open Handlers
- Handlers for Stay-Open Script Applications
- Idle Handlers
- Quit Handlers
- Interrupting a Script Applications Handlers
- Calling a Script Application From a Script
- Scope of Script Variables and Properties
- Declaring Variables and Properties
- Scope of Properties and Variables Declared at the Top Level of a Script
- Scope of Properties and Variables Declared in a Script Object
- Scope of Variables Declared in a Handler
- Script Objects
- About Script Objects
- Defining Script Objects
- Sending Commands to Script Objects
- Initializing Script Objects
- Inheritance and Delegation
- Defining Inheritance
- How Inheritance Works
- The Continue Statement
- Using Continue Statements to Pass Commands to Applications
- The Parent Property and the Current Application
- Using the Copy and Set Commands With Script Objects
