Cincieas da computacao

APPLESCRIPT FOR ABSOLUTE STARTERS

By Bert Altenburg Cover graphics: Peter Fischer

INTRODUCTION
AppleScript is a revolutionary Apple technology that makes communication between computer programs possible. For example, with AppleScript you can - retrieve e-mails from Mail and store them in a database; - tell a picture editing program to change the resolution of a series of pictures, resize them, and send the resulting pictures to another computer or post them on the Web; - and much, much more. An AppleScript, or script for short, is a series of written instructions in a scripting language named AppleScript. This language resembles the English language, making AppleScripts both easy to read, write and understand. Despite its power, AppleScript is heavily used in a couple of fields only. The publishing industry depends on it for workflow automation (PhotoShop, QuarkExpress, InDesign). Filemaker Pro developers use it for creating Mac-based kiosks, which you can find in malls and museums (k-Builder). Apart from the programs mentioned, many more major and minor Macintosh programs like GraphicConverter, BBEdit, and Word are AppleScriptable. That means you can use AppleScript to boss these programs around. Scripting applications is not the focus of this book, however. There are other books on the market that show you how to do that. If these books provide an introduction to AppleScript, it is usually cursory and they quickly dash to the really juicy stuff, which generally requires a modest or good knowledge of the basics of AppleScript. The aim of this book is to provide you just that. It is intended to update and expand this book on a regular basis. So, you may want to check for new versions (see Chapter 15). A second book on scripting various programs is considered. This book is freeware, and you are encouraged to bring it to the attention of other Macintosh users. In this respect, please pay attention to Chapter 0 in this book on how you can promote the Mac. Once