About This Book
Like most software these days, AppleScript doesn't
come with a printed manual. To find your way around,
you're expected to use Apple's Help
Viewer program (in your Applications folder). But as
you'll quickly discover, the help pages are tersely
written, offer very little technical depth, lack useful examples, and
provide no tutorials whatsoever.
The AppleScript Language Guide (http://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppleScript/Conceptual/AppleScriptLangGuide/AppleScriptLanguageGuide.pdf)
is hardly any better. It hasn't been updated since
the days of OS 8.5, and it reads more like an encyclopedia than a
help file. Of course, it's wonderful to have a
complete guide to the language for reference,
but it doesn't help much when
you're learning the language.
The worst part of both documents, however, is that
they're virtual help files: you
can't mark your place, underline important passages,
or read them in the bathroom (unless, of course, you take your laptop
in there with you). And there's no more than a
passing mention of powerful new features like multimedia support
(Chapter 8), GUI Scripting (Chapter 12), or AppleScript Studio (Chapter 15). The purpose of this book, therefore, is to
serve as the AppleScript manual that should have accompanied your
computer.
What You'll Need
This book covers the AppleScript features found in Mac OS 10.3
("Panther"). If you have an earlier
operating system, visit www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/ for information
on how to upgrade.
Furthermore, you may want a copy of these other programs that are
used with some of the scripts in this book:
Adobe Photoshop CS ($650). Photoshop
is the staple of any graphic pro's software library,
and its AppleScript support is nearly unbeatable. If you
don't feel like spending your retirement savings on
software, just use the free 30-day trial version from www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp#product=39. FileMaker Pro 7 ($300). FileMaker is
a powerful database program that can organize virtually
any kind of information. You can download a
30-day trial version from https://www.filemaker.com/downloads/trial_download.html,
and that'll work just as well.
Power Users' Clinic
Other Languages | If AppleScript just doesn't cut it for a certain
task, you have plenty of other options. OS X comes with one of the
most complete sets of languages around, and you can add even more
languages by installing the Xcode Tools (Chapter 14). Here's a look at
alternatives to AppleScript: Perl is famous for its power,
flexibility, and totally alien-looking grammar. Many Web sites use
Perl scripts for processing credit card payments, for
exampleand it works on virtually every operating system
available. If you need to throw together programs that you can run
anywhere, this might be your language. Check out
Programming Perl, Third Edition
(O'Reilly) for details. Python is known for its simplicity
and clever design. Some people use it for whipping up quick
prototypes of future programs, while others use it for making scripts
that run Web sites. You can find out more in a book like
Learning Python, Second Edition
(O'Reilly). Shell scripting is a method of
linking together various Unix commands (Chapter 13). Among Unix hackers, it's a
popular method for automating computer tasks, much as AppleScript is
for Mac fans. You can find numerous examples in a book like
Wicked Cool Shell Scripts (NoStarch Press). Languages like PHP, JavaScript, and
ActionScript are used on numerous
Web pages to control the look of these Web sites. Each language has
specific uses (PHP is often used for managing online databases, for
example) and disadvantages (ActionScript works only if the Flash
plug-in is installed, for example). None of these languages,
unfortunately, can easily work with AppleScript. You can find online
tutorials for all three at www.theopensourcery.com/ostutor.htm. C, C++, and Objective-C are the languages that are used to
create the vast majority of commercial software programs. Microsoft
Word, Adobe Photoshop, TextEdit, Safari, and virtually ever other
program you use daily were written using at least one of these three
languages. These C-based languages are known for being fast,
powerful, and hard to learnand you need the Xcode Tools to use
them. Visit http://cprog.oreilly.com/ for more. Java is intended to let you write a
program on one operating system and have it run on all others.
It's used a lot online (for programs like games and
chat rooms), and it requires that you install the Xcode Tools to
program in it. You can find out more in a book like
Learning Java, Second Edition
(O'Reilly).
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Microsoft Word 2004 ($230). Word is
the time-tested, cross-platform standard for word processing
documents. It's available as part of the Microsoft
Office 2004 suite ($400), which also includes PowerPoint (for
presentations), Excel (for spreadsheets), and Entourage (for emailing
and creating calendars). You can download a free 30-day trial of the
whole package from www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid=office2004td.
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Many of the scripts in this book will work with an earlier
version of these programs, but the scripts may behave somewhat
differently. It's a good idea, therefore, to
download the free trial copies of the newest versions, so you can
follow along easily with the scripts in this book.
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About the Outline
This book is divided into four parts, each containing several
chapters:
Part 1, AppleScript Overview covers
the basics of using AppleScript to control your Mac.
You'll learn how to crack open the scripts that
Apple gives you for freeand how to change what they do. These
three chapters also explain the purpose of the built-in Script Editor
program, and show you how to make the most of your time there. Part 2, Everyday Scripting Tasks
explains how to use AppleScript for automating typical jobs: renaming
files, organizing your iPhoto library, playing music, and so on.
These are also the chapters where you'll learn about
AppleScript's different ways of storing information,
such as lists, numbers, and database records. Part 3, Power-User Features takes
you beyond the basics into truly time-saving territory.
You'll learn how to make the Finder run scripts
whenever you open a folder, and how to work around the scripting
limitations in programs like System Preferences. These chapters also
show you how to mix AppleScript with other powerful tools, to squeeze
the most power possible from your scripts. Part 4, Appendixes offers three
useful references. Appendix A lists the Mac OS X
programs that play best with AppleScript, so you can figure out which
programs to avoid and which ones to use. Appendix B shows you how to move HyperCard stacks into
Mac OS X, using AppleScript to ease the transfer. Finally, Appendix C sends you off into the great universe of
advanced AppleScript books and Web sites.
Along the way, you'll get a lot more out of this
book if you have the free Missing CD, where you'll
find all the scripts from this book prewritten for you. Using that,
you won't have to retype all the long scripts by
hand, and you'll save yourself both time and typos.
Page Chapter 2 has instructions for downloading
the Missing CD.
About 
These
Arrows
Throughout this book, and throughout the Missing Manual series,
you'll find sentences like this one:
"Open the System folder
Libraries
Fonts
folder." That's shorthand for a
much longer instruction that directs you to open three nested folders
in sequence, like this: "On your hard drive,
you'll find a folder called System. Open it. Inside
the System window is a folder called Libraries. Open that. Inside
that folder is yet another one called Fonts.
Double-click to open it, too."
Similarly, this kind of arrow shorthand helps to simplify the
business of choosing commands in menus, such as 
Dock
Position on Left. That
instruction is just another way of saying, "Click
the Apple menu to open it, navigate to the Dock submenu, and then
choose Position on Left."
About MissingManuals.com
At www.missingmanuals.com,
you'll find news, articles, and updates to the books
in this series. But if you click the name of this book and then click
the Errata link, you'll find a unique resource: a
list of corrections and updates that have been made in successive
printings of this book. You can mark important corrections right in
your own copy of the book, if you like.
In fact, the same page offers an invitation for you to submit such
corrections and updates yourself. In an effort to keep the book as
up-to-date and accurate as possible, each time we print more copies
of the book, we'll make any confirmed corrections
you've suggested. Thanks in advance for reporting
any glitches you find!
In the meantime, we'd love to hear your suggestions
for new books in the Missing Manual line. There's a
place for that on the Web site, too, as well as a place to sign up
for free email notification of new titles in the series.
 When you see a Safari® enabled icon on the cover of your favorite technology book, that means it's available online through the O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf.
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The Very Basics
To use this book, and indeed to use a Macintosh computer, you need to
know a few basics. This book assumes that you're
familiar with these terms and concepts (if you're
not, pick up a book like Mac OS X: The Missing
Manual):
Clicking. This book gives you three
kinds of instructions that require you to use the mouse
that's attached to your Mac. To
click means to point the arrow cursor at
something on the screen and thenwithout moving the cursor at
allto press and release the clicker button on the mouse (or
laptop trackpad). To double-click, of course,
means to click twice in rapid succession, again without moving the
cursor at all. And to drag means to move the
cursor while keeping the button held down. When you're told to
 -click
something, you click while pressing the key (which is
next to the Space bar). Such related procedures as
Shift-clicking, Option-clicking, and
Control-clicking work the same wayjust
click while pressing the corresponding key at the bottom of your
keyboard. Menus. The
menus are the words in the lightly striped bar
at the top of your screen. You can either click one of these words to
open a pull-down menu of commands (and then click on a command) or
click and hold the button as you drag down the menu to the desired
command (and release the button to activate the command). Either
method works just as well.
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Apple has officially changed what it calls the little menu that pops
up when you Control-click something on the screen.
It's still a contextual menu, in that the menu
choices depend on the context of what you clickbut now
it's called a shortcut menu.
That term not only matches what it's called in
Windows, but it's more descriptive. Shortcut menu is
the term you'll find in this book.
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If you've mastered this much information, you have
all the technical background you need to enjoy AppleScript:
The Missing Manual.
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