Scripts are written in the Script Editor application, a free utility included with every copy of the Mac OS. The AppleScript language is designed to be easily understandable, and has a syntax or grammatical structure similar to the one we use to create normal sentences. The targeted applications interpret the communicated instructions, and then perform the actions listed in the scripts.ĪppleScript scripts are composed, by motivated users like yourself, in AppleScript, an English-like language containing many of the verbs, nouns, adjectives, articles and other English language elements we use every day. To automate the actions of applications, the computer reads the sequential instructions contained in AppleScript “scripts,” and then communicates those instructions to targeted applications. And best of all, this technology is free and is built into every copy of the Mac OS! How it works. AppleScript is the most powerful, easy-to-use, automation tool available on any platform. Whether a task is as simple as copying a file or as complex as building a real estate catalog, AppleScript can perform the requisite actions for you with “intelligence,” controlling applications and making decisions based on its observations or from information provided by its interaction with the person running the script.Įvery day, businesses and individuals alike use AppleScript to create newspapers and books, manage networks, build DVDs, process images, generate web pages, backup files and folders, make videos, and much more.

What is AppleScript?ĪppleScript is a language used to automate the actions of the Macintosh Operating System and many of its applications. To accomplish this goal, you’ll learn the fundamentals of AppleScript, and then put them to use as we step through the creation of a Finder Toolbar script, that you can use to instantly reset a cluttered desktop window display to a predefined window set.

In 25 minutes you’ll learn what AppleScript is, how it works, and how to write basic, functional AppleScript scripts with confidence. It has been designed to give you a quick but thorough introduction to AppleScript through a short, fun, hands-on tutorial. The First StepĬonsider this chapter a “book within a book.” If you don't read any other chapter, read this one. The following online materials are exerpted from the Apple Training Series book AppleScript 1-2-3.

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