tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199573357345606334.post4840796114016345699..comments2020-07-31T10:52:03.557-07:00Comments on From a remote village: Heading down the road with Automator and AppleScriptPaul Franceushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11557290901923425436noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199573357345606334.post-7110610835579952232009-03-05T05:49:00.000-08:002009-03-05T05:49:00.000-08:00Hi, I'm new to applescripts... I have also seen th...Hi, I'm new to applescripts... I have also seen the automator... So is there anyway that a automator record can be converted into applescripts?<BR/><BR/>Thanks!!!Elavarasanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17060637247054707463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199573357345606334.post-2836244095366938232007-05-18T13:38:00.000-07:002007-05-18T13:38:00.000-07:00Alex-I am beginning to enjoy the AppleScript progr...Alex-<BR/><BR/>I am beginning to enjoy the AppleScript programming at this point. It took me a long time to start getting my head around it. I remember going to a <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sal_Soghoian" REL="nofollow">Sal Soghoian</A> talk at WWDC and thinking "hey, this isn't so bad." Unfortunately as I walked out the door the reality distortion field lifted and I was back in the dark. I guess I've banged away at it long enough to open a small crack at this point. At some point in this series I'm planning on delving into more Cocoa based actions but I'm going to start out small.<BR/><BR/>Frank-<BR/><BR/>I'm glad you enjoyed the last series. I think that for simple cases AppleScript can be pretty easy - most of my actions at this point have been only a few lines of code. We'll see how well it scales.<BR/><BR/>I guess you could have written an action that accepted and returned file references instead of image data - maybe that might have worked. Have you thought about writing an action that uses your standalone application to process the images the way you wanted?<BR/><BR/>It's not clear to me yet how much effort it's worth putting into an action. In my case, one action that is well used could possibly help a large number of folks do their jobs better - so maybe I can spend a few weeks on each.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comments.<BR/>PaulPaul Franceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11557290901923425436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199573357345606334.post-55945258948207072782007-05-18T10:43:00.000-07:002007-05-18T10:43:00.000-07:00I enjoyed your convolution in Quartz tutorial seri...I enjoyed your convolution in Quartz tutorial series. I also agree with your comments on AppleScript and Automator as low-effort extensions to Cocoa apps, even ones you didn't write yourself, except for the low effort part. You're probably right about the returns being worth it, but there is quite a learning curve in there. <BR/><BR/>For example, a while back I wrote some posts about trying to use Automator to scale and pad some images, but the images had to be padded with a specific color. Apple's scale action doesn't support specifying the padding color. <BR/><BR/>I had a Quartz Composer composition that would do it, so I thought, hey, all I have to do is write an Automator action that wraps any composition with an image input and an image output! Then I noticed Automator doesn't ship with the necessary conversion actions. I downloaded some samples and took a stab at getting those working, but finally decided it was too much trouble and I'd be better off, and learn more, if I just wrote the scale and pad myself in Core Graphics/Core Image, <A HREF="http://auroralux.net/blog/2007/03/08/scaling-padding-cocoa-and-bindings/" REL="nofollow">so I did</A>. <BR/><BR/>I'm looking forward to benefiting from your exploration of AppleScript and Automator because I could see their usefulness in expanding the feature set of my scale and pad app.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199573357345606334.post-48573274054564713932007-05-17T22:45:00.000-07:002007-05-17T22:45:00.000-07:00I have taken an opposite path to you, it seems. I...I have taken an opposite path to you, it seems. I am a programmer who started with AppleScript and graduated to Cocoa when I needed more power and flexibility to develop applications. <BR/>AppleScript is indeed a strange language when you are used to C-like syntax, but it is a very approachable and, dare I say it, fun way to program. The ability to script a huge number of Mac apps alone makes it worth the investment in time for my job, which revolves around workflow efficiency and automation.<BR/>Matt Nueberg's book (The Definitive Guide) is the best resource I have found. He emphasises the trial and error approach to AppleScript, which seems to me the natural way to work with the strange semi-english-like zen of the language.<BR/>Having developed a few Objective-C Automator Actions for clients, I can vouch for the usefulness of this often overlooked functionality of Mac OS X.<BR/>Anyway, I am very much looking forward to reading about your adventures in Automator and AppleScript as you continue down the road.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01828281541489462661noreply@blogger.com