Forums | MacLife

That's exactly what it is.  How many average users know how to use Applescript, though?  Not many.  Automator makes it more user-friendly.  After all, that's what Apple is all about, isn't it?

i never got in to recording scripts... seemed like a weird way to do it. i think i tried it once and it didn't work right so now i just type all my scripts... it's much easier that way.

My first and last attempt to do a script was to have something that would automatically renew my iMac's DHCP lease from the router. Can anyone help with this? (Obviously I couldn't get it to work).

its DLANTZ again.... wrote:

Is there anything like this for Windows?



Sorry, hadda ask. Youse guys might wanna rub it in the faces of any wondows users you know......

Oh crap.....here goes another thread into that horrid wasteland.

its DLANTZ again.... wrote:

Is there anything like this for Windows?

Yes but on a service pack that people out there have seen not it yet!!! on variant of operating systems that are not out!!!

I used to record all kinds of usefull scripts under OS 7.5 to OS 9 but I find that under OSX the recorder rarely actually captures events.
Scriptibility was definatly far more pervasive under the old MacOS than it is under OSX so I see automator as being a good thing.

skymt wrote:

Correction: Automator isn't Applescript. They're based on very different technologies. You can write Automator actions in Applescript, but that's as close as they get.
Applescript is a full language. Automator is closer to QuicKeys' multi-step shortcuts.

Thanks for the correction.  Back in my pre-os X days, I used Quickeys ALL-THE-TIME.   I absolutely loved it.  When I upgraded to OS X, I decided not to pay for Quickeys. 

I've blown several days trying to write or record various scripts in OS X.   Every one of them has been a failure, because I haven't found any good, quick resources on how to get things done.   

I thought Automator was just a pretty interface on Applescript... I'm interested to learn that it isn't actually Applescript.

Now I'm wondering if it will be significantly less-powerful than Applescript.  (Except that I never got Applescript to do ANYTHING useful for me, so I suppose that in my case it wasn't powerful at all.)

I've never had any good ideas for AppleScripts, but maybe Automater will inspire me.

I agree--Applescript is the most poorly-documented Mac goodie around. That said, I use it all the time. Mostly just "tell application Finder put document "amazon.txt" in trash end tell" sort of stuff, but it is way useful. I save at least 8-10 minutes of work a day because of it, and I've spent maybe 90-120 minutes learning it.

What I really need is an easy script timer that doesn't rely on iCal triggering. If Automator does this, then I'm in.

NAG wrote:

The recording feature never worked in OS X, and didn't work well at all in OS 9. Apple doesn't have much of a resource besides their email lists for learning Applescript. It is a really good idea on Apple's part to make it more accessible and less of a job. What is the point of a script to save you time if you spend the same amount of time making the script as you would doing the job the script is supposed to do?

For everything I wanted to do with Applescript (not really a lot), the recording worked okay for me. It at least gave me something to work with.

In OS X, I have yet to get it to record anything at all. This is a big disappointment, since OS X has the capability to do a lot cooler stuff with AS than in OS 9 (with the scriptable UI and all).

AppleScript and idiot is redundant....

Um....... I hear it's some language w/ completely illogical syntax that's supposed to make it easier, but only succeeds in complicating it. I also hear that FScript p4wns it bad... AppleScript was never taken as a serious language by anyone worth their salt, so I'm happy that apple's making it available to the masses.

Last edited by assassin_bill (2005-04-14 7:15 am)