How does applescript work

Drafts has a very useful script reference that has lots of examples showing how you can use little bits of javascript to make Drafts do the things you want it to do. Whatever you choose, pick some little bit of automation you want to accomplish and feel free to ask for help along the way. Great advice from cpac. And plenty of simple examples as existing Drafts.

There are examples of doing things in Applescript on the web. Too few, in my opinion, bu they are there. At least being able to understand them and adapt them would be handy. You have to know what those ideas are to understand the twists.

If you do decide to learn AppleScript, you must get Script Debugger. Trying to use AppleScript without Script Debugger is like trying to walk around in the dark in a furnished room with the lights out.

It has been designed to give you a quick but thorough introduction to AppleScript through a short, fun, hands-on tutorial. AppleScript is a language used to automate the actions of the Macintosh Operating System and many of its applications.

Every 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. AppleScript is the most powerful, easy-to-use, automation tool available on any platform. And best of all, this technology is free and is built into every copy of the Mac OS!

The targeted applications interpret the communicated instructions, and then perform the actions listed in the scripts. AppleScript 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.

Let's look at the beginning syntax of the add - new item alert. This will give an idea of the most fundamental statement in AppleScript: the tell statement.

The purpose of AppleScript is to automate tasks for you by telling apps to perform tasks you don't feel like doing yourself. Therefore, the "tell" command is essential.

You can get far in the AppleScript world with "tell" alone. Comments are essentialnot just for telling other people what your script did, but for reminding yourself. If you have some programming experience and are familiar with concepts like variables, do-while loops , and conditionals, you can get a lot out of AppleScript beyond the scope of this introduction.

For now, we're just going to show you how to create, write, run, and save a basic script:. With this simple syntax down, you can tell nearly any Mac app to do pretty much anything. From there, you can see all the available AppleScript commands. If programming gives you a headache, there are simpler ways to automate your tasks. Automator uses a friendly GUI and a simple interface to turn mind-numbing routines into one-click set-and-forget tasks. Handler Reference shows the syntax for defining and calling handlers and describes other statements you use with handlers.

Folder Actions Reference describes how you can write and attach script handlers to specific folders, such that the handlers are invoked when the folders are modified. The following appendixes provide additional information about the AppleScript language and how to work with errors in scripts:. AppleScript Keywords lists the keywords of the AppleScript language, provides a brief description for each, and points to related information. Error Numbers and Error Messages describes error numbers and error messages you may see in working with AppleScript scripts.

Working with Errors provides detailed examples of handling errors with try Statements and error Statements. Double Angle Brackets describes when you are likely to see double angle brackets or chevrons— «» in scripts and how you can work with them. Libraries using Load Script describes how to save libraries of handlers and access them from other scripts. Unsupported Terms lists terms that are no longer supported in AppleScript. Glossary terms are shown in boldface where they are defined.

Plain computer font indicates an element that you type exactly as shown. Italic text indicates a placeholder that you replace with an appropriate value.

Brackets indicate that the enclosed language element or elements are optional. However, the parentheses shown in Handler Syntax Positional Parameters are part of the syntax.