Ted Leung on the air
Ted Leung on the air: Open Source, Java, Python, and ...
Ted Leung on the air: Open Source, Java, Python, and ...
Fri, 27 Feb 2004
AppleScript: The Definitive Guide
Regular readers will know that I was mumbling about writing an AppleScript to do window position management in order to restore my sanity when attaching/detaching from an external monitor. I used this project (which isn't done yet) as an excuse to read Matt Neuberg's AppleScript: The Definitive Guide.
The good news is that this is definitely the Definitive Guide on the AppleScript language. The author has clearly done his homework, and it shows. He knows and tells more about the guts and vagaries of AppleScript than anybody could possibly want to know.
The bad news has nothing to do with the book. It turns out that AppleScript is a nasty language. It works, but there are special cases or odd behavior. Some of the semantics are just plain odd. And I'm one of those people that finds Lisp programs to be readable and understandable.
If you want to write short scripts, then you can probably tolerate AppleScript. But this book has just convinced me even more that I want to be able to use Python to script my Macintosh applications. Fortunately, there are at least two projects working on this very goal: AppScripting and aeve, so I'll be poking my nose there soon.
In the meantime, I guess I'll probably use AppleScript to try to solve my window management problems.
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1 Comments |
hello.. i was wondering how your applescript is going.. I am looking to switch to a mac and i Linux i currently have the ability to move and size windows around with the keyboard.. I would like to do the same in a mac environment.. have you made any headway with this?..
Thanks
Posted by Quintin Paulson at Tue May 24 18:59:53 2005
Thanks
Posted by Quintin Paulson at Tue May 24 18:59:53 2005
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