15.1. What Is AppleScript Studio?
Contrary to popular opinion, AppleScript
Studio is not a chic art gallery tucked away in Building 5 of
Apple's campus in Cupertino. Instead,
it's the name Apple gave to the integration of two
programsXcode and Interface Builderwith AppleScript.
When you use AppleScript Studio, you design your
program's look and feel in Interface Builder and
write the AppleScript code that makes the program tick in Xcode. By
the time you're done, you've got a
slick-looking Mac OS X program, coded entirely with AppleScript.
Now, this arrangement might seem pretty ridiculous to a seasoned
programmerafter all, AppleScript is one of the slowest
programming languages around. Still, if you're
coming from the world of simple AppleScripts, there are plenty of
good reasons to write your programs in AppleScript Studio:
You already know the language!
There's no need to spend time learning Cocoa,
Carbon, or any of Apple's other geeky programming
technologies. You can split your code into multiple
scripts. You could have one script that handles button
presses, for example, and a separate script that handles menu clicks.
This arrangement makes it much easier to keep your code organized,
since you can customize each script for a specific task. You have total control of your
program's interface. With normal
AppleScripts, you can display three-button dialog boxesand
that's about it. But when you use AppleScript
Studio, your programs can display all the
interface elements you'd see in a professional
program, including pop-up menus, text boxes, tables, QuickTime
movies, and more. You can mix more advanced programming languages
into your AppleScripts if you have to. That means that,
unlike normal scripts, AppleScript Studio programs can handle complex
networking tasks, display Web pages, and perform other tasks normally
reserved for Java or C++.
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If you want to do advanced programming jobs, you'll
still have to use a more advanced programming
language. The difference, if you use AppleScript Studio, is that you
won't have to write your entire
program in a more complicated language; you can simply write the
tough parts in another language and continue to use AppleScript for
the basic programming jobs.
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It's easy to write working
programs quickly. Since you already know
AppleScriptand you create a program's
interface with drag-and-dropyou can make a simple, working
program in less than an hour. That's why some people
use AppleScript Studio for prototyping their
programscreating programs with AppleScript Studio to prove
that they work, and then reprogramming them in a
more advanced language later to improve their speed.
On the other hand, you don't always
need all the power that AppleScript Studio
offers. For instance, if you just want to create a script that
launches TextEdit, AppleScript Studio is overkill. There are other
disadvantages to AppleScript Studio programs, too:
They take longer to start up than normal
scripts. Since AppleScript Studio projects are
full-fledged programs, Mac OS X has to load all
their interface elements, Dock icons, and menu bar commands before
you can run any of the AppleScript code. (Normal AppleScripts
don't have this problem, because they
can't have interface elements,
Dock icons, or menu bar commands.) Programs you create with AppleScript Studio
can't be used as folder actions
or Mail rules.
Again, that's
because AppleScript Studio creates programs, not scripts.
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You can still use AppleScript Studio
programs in the Script Menu (Section 1.1.16.1).
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AppleScript Studio programs only work in Mac OS
X. In fact, they work only in Mac OS
10.1.2 or later. Linux and Windows fans (and
even people who use earlier versions of the Mac OS) are left out in
the cold. Your code is there for the whole world to
see. Unlike programs written in C, C++, or Java,
AppleScript Studio programs don't hide your code
very well. That means that sneaky Mac fans can crack your program
open, examine your code, and copy it into their own programs, if they
so desire. (This is one of the reasons you won't
find many commercial Mac programs written in AppleScript Studio.)
If, on balance, AppleScript Studio fits your program-writing needs,
read on. Otherwise, see Power Users' Clinic Other Languages for
alternativealbeit more complicatedprogramming tools
that may do what you want.
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