Apple AppleScript Language User Manual

AppleScript Language Guide

English Dialect

Apple Computer, Inc.

© 1996 Apple Computer, Inc.
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Contents

Figures and Tables xiii

Preface About This Guide

Audience xv
Organization of This Guide xvi
Sample Applications and Scripts xvii
For More Information xviii

Getting Started xviii
Scripting Additions xviii
Other AppleScript Dialects xviii
Scriptable Applications xviii

Conventions Used in This Guide xix

Part 1 Introducing AppleScript

xv

1

Chapter 1 AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

What Is AppleScript? 3
What Can You Do With Scripts? 5

Automating Activities 5
Integrating Applications 7

Customizing Applications 7
Who Runs Scripts, and Who Writes Them? 9
Special Features of AppleScript 10
What Applications Are Scriptable? 11

3

iii

Chapter 2 Overview of AppleScript

How Does AppleScript Work? 14
Statements 14
Commands and Objects 17
Dictionaries 18
Values 20
Expressions 21

Operations 21

Variables 22
Script Objects 23
Scripting Additions 23
Dialects 24
Other Features and Language Elements 24

Continuation Characters 25

Comments 26

Identifiers 27

Case Sensitivity 28

Abbreviations 29

Compiling Scripts With the Script Editor 30

13

Part 2 AppleScript Language Reference

Chapter 3 Values

Using Value Class Definitions 33

Literal Expressions 36

Properties 36

Elements 37

Operators 37

Commands Handled 37

Reference Forms 38

Coercions Supported 38

iv

33

31

Value Class Definitions 38

Boolean 40
Class 41
Constant 42
Data 43
Date 43
Integer 47
List 48
Number 52
Real 53
Record 54
Reference 57
String 60
Styled Text 64
Text 66

Coercing Values 67

Chapter 4 Commands

Types of Commands 71

Application Commands 72
AppleScript Commands 73
Scripting Addition Commands 74
User-Defined Commands 76

Using Command Definitions 77

Syntax 78
Parameters 78
Result 79
Examples 79
Errors 79

Using Parameters 80

Parameters That Specify Locations 80
Coercion of Parameters 81

Raw Data in Parameters 81
Using Results 82
Double Angle Brackets in Results and Scripts 83

71

v

Command Definitions 84

Close 87
Copy 88
Count 92
Data Size 97
Delete 98
Duplicate 99
Exists 99
Get 100
Launch 103
Make 105
Move 106
Open 107
Print 108
Quit 109
Run 110
Save 112
Set 113

Chapter 5 Objects and References

Using Object Class Definitions 119

Properties 120
Element Classes 120
Commands Handled 120
Default Value Class Returned 122

References 122

Containers 123
Complete and Partial References 124

Reference Forms 125

Arbitrary Element 126
Every Element 127
Filter 129
ID 130
Index 131
Middle Element 133

vi

119

Name 134

Property 135

Range 136

Relative 139
Using the Filter Reference Form 140
References to Files and Applications 143

References to Files 144

References to Applications 146

References to Local Applications 147
References to Remote Applications 148

Chapter 6 Expressions

Results of Expressions 149
Variables 150

Creating Variables 150

Using Variables 152

The “A Reference To” Operator 153

Data Sharing 154

Scope of Variables 155

Predefined Variables 156
Script Properties 156

Defining Script Properties 157

Using Script Properties 157

Scope of Script Properties 158
AppleScript Properties 158

Text Item Delimiters 158
Reference Expressions 160
Operations 161

Operators That Handle Operands of Various Classes 168

Equal, Is Not Equal To 168
Greater Than, Less Than 172
Starts With, Ends With 173
Contains, Is Contained By 175

Concatenation 177
Operator Precedence 178
Date-Time Arithmetic 180

149

vii

Chapter 7 Control Statements

Characteristics of Control Statements 184
Tell Statements 185

Tell (Simple Statement) 188
Tell (Compound Statement) 189

If Statements 190

If (Simple Statement) 192
If (Compound Statement) 193

Repeat Statements 194

Repeat (forever) 197
Repeat (number) Times 198
Repeat While 199
Repeat Until 200
Repeat With (loopVariable) From (startValue) To (stopValue) 201
Repeat With (loopVariable) In (list) 202
Exit 204

Try Statements 204

Kinds of Errors 205
How Errors Are Handled 206
Writing a Try Statement 206

Try 207

Signaling Errors in Scripts 210

Error 210

Considering and Ignoring Statements 213

Considering/Ignoring 214

With Timeout Statements 217

With Timeout 218

With Transaction Statements 219

With Transaction 219

183

Chapter 8 Handlers

Using Subroutines 221

Types of Subroutines 223
Scope of Subroutine Calls in Tell Statements 224
Checking the Classes of Subroutine Parameters 225

viii

221

Recursive Subroutines 225
Saving and Loading Libraries of Subroutines 226

Subroutine Definitions and Calls 228

Subroutines With Labeled Parameters 229

Subroutine Definition, Labeled Parameters 229

Subroutine Call, Labeled Parameters 230

Examples of Subroutines With Labeled Parameters 232
Subroutines With Positional Parameters 235

Subroutine Definition, Positional Parameters 235

Subroutine Call, Positional Parameters 236

Examples of Subroutines With Positional Parameters 238
The Return Statement 239

Return 240

Command Handlers 241

Command Handler Definition 241

Command Handlers for Script Applications 243

Run Handlers 243
Open Handlers 246
Handlers for Stay-Open Script Applications 247

Idle Handlers 248

Quit Handlers 249

Interrupting a Script Application’s Handlers 250
Calling a Script Application 251

Scope of Script Variables and Properties 252

Scope of Properties and Variables Declared at the Top Level

of a Script 254
Scope of Properties and Variables Declared in a Script Object 258
Scope of Variables Declared in a Handler 263

Chapter 9 Script Objects

About Script Objects 265
Defining Script Objects 267
Sending Commands to Script Objects 268
Initializing Script Objects 269
Inheritance and Delegation 271

265

ix

Defining Inheritance 271
How Inheritance Works 272
The Continue Statement 277
Using Continue Statements to Pass Commands to Applications 280
The Parent Property and the Current Application 281

Using the Copy and Set Commands With Script Objects 283

Appendix A The Language at a Glance

Commands 289
References 294
Operators 296
Control Statements 299
Handlers 301
Script Objects 303
Variable and Property Assignments and Declarations 303
Predefined Variables 304
Constants 305
Placeholders 307

289

Appendix B Scriptable Text Editor Dictionary

About Text Objects 313

Elements of Text Objects 314
Special Properties of Scriptable Text Editor Text Objects 314
Text Styles 315
AppleScript and Non-Roman Script Systems 317

Scriptable Text Editor Object Class Definitions 318

Application 318
Character 321
Document/Window 323
File 328
Insertion Point 329
Paragraph 331
Selection 334
Text 336

313

x

Text Item 339
Text Style Info 341
Window 342
Word 342

Scriptable Text Editor Commands 345

Copy 347
Cut 348
Data Size 349
Duplicate 349
Make 350
Move 351
Open 351
Paste 351
Revert 352
Save 353
Select 354

Scriptable Text Editor Errors 355

Appendix C Error Messages

Operating System Errors 358
Apple Event Errors 359
Apple Event Registry Errors 361
AppleScript Errors 362

Glossary

Index

363

371

357

xi

Figures and Tables

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

Figure 1-1 Changing text style with the mouse and with a script 4
Figure 1-2 A script that performs a repetitive action 6
Figure 1-3 A script that copies information from one application to another 8
Figure 1-4 Different ways to run a script 9

Overview of AppleScript

Figure 2-1 How AppleScript works 15
Figure 2-2 How AppleScript gets the Scriptable Text Editor dictionary 20

13

3

Values 33

Figure 3-1 Value class definition for lists 34
Figure 3-2 Coercions supported by AppleScript 69

Table 3-1 AppleScript value class identifiers 39

Commands

Figure 4-1 Command definition for the Move command 77
Figure 4-2 The Scriptable Text Editor document “simple” 95

71

Chapter 5

Table 4-1 Standard application commands defined in this chapter 85
Table 4-2 AppleScript commands defined in this chapter 86

Objects and References

Figure 5-1 The Scriptable Text Editor’s object class definition for

paragraph objects 121

Figure 5-2 The Scriptable Text Editor document “simple” 137

Table 5-1 Reference forms 126
Table 5-2 Boolean expressions and tests in Filter references 142

119

xiii

Chapter 6

Expressions

Table 6-1 AppleScript operators 163
Table 6-2 Operator precedence 179

149

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Appendix A

Handlers

Figure 8-1 Scope of property and variable declarations at the top level

Figure 8-2 Scope of property and variable declarations at the top level

Figure 8-3 Scope of variable declarations within a handler 263

Script Objects

Figure 9-1 Relationship between a simple child script and its parent 273
Figure 9-2 Another child-parent relationship 273
Figure 9-3 A more complicated child-parent relationship 274

The Language at a Glance

Table A-1 Command syntax 290
Table A-2 Reference form syntax 294
Table A-3 Container notation in references 296
Table A-4 Operators 297
Table A-5 Control statements 300
Table A-6 Handler definitions and calls 302
Table A-7 Script objects 303
Table A-8 Assignments and declarations 304
Table A-9 Predefined variables 305
Table A-10 Constants defined by AppleScript 305
Table A-11 Placeholders used in syntax descriptions 308

221

of a script 254

of a script object 258

265

289

Appendix B

xiv

Scriptable Text Editor Dictionary

Figure B-1 Bounds and Position properties of a Scriptable Text Editor

window 327

Table B-1 Variations from standard behavior in Scriptable Text Editor versions

of standard application commands 345

Table B-2 Other Scriptable Text Editor commands 347

313

P R E F A C E

About This Guide

The AppleScript Language Guide: English Dialect is a complete guide to the
English dialect of the AppleScript language. AppleScript allows you to create
sets of written instructions—known as scripts—to automate and customize
your applications.

Audience 0

This guide is for anyone who wants to write new scripts or modify
existing scripts.

Before using this guide, you should read Getting Started With AppleScript to
learn what hardware and software you need to use AppleScript; how to install
AppleScript; and how to run, record, and edit scripts.

To make best use of this guide, you should already be familiar with at least one
of the following:

■

another scripting language (such as HyperTalk, the scripting language for
HyperCard, or a scripting language for a specific application)

■

a computer programming language (such as BASIC, Pascal, or C)

■

a macro language (such as a language used to manipulate spreadsheets)

If you’re not already familiar with the basics of scripting and programming
(such as variables, subroutines, and conditional statements such as If-Then),
you may want additional information to help you get started. You can find a
variety of introductory books on scripting and programming—including books
specifically about AppleScript—in many bookstores.

Macintosh software developers who want to create scriptable and recordable
applications should refer to Inside Macintosh: Interapplication Communication.

xv

P R E F A C E

Organization of This Guide 0

This guide is divided into two parts:

■

Part 1, “Introducing AppleScript,” provides an overview of the AppleScript
language and the tasks you can perform with it.

■ Part 2, “AppleScript Language Reference,” provides reference descriptions

of all of the features of the AppleScript language.

Part 1 contains these chapters:

■ Chapter 1, “AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications,” introduces

AppleScript and its capabilities.

■ Chapter 2, “Overview of AppleScript,” provides an overview of the

elements of the AppleScript language.

Part 2 contains the following chapters:

xvi

■ Chapter 3, “Values,” describes the classes of data that can be stored and

manipulated in scripts and the coercions you can use to change a value
from one class to another.

■ Chapter 4, “Commands,” describes the types of commands available in

AppleScript, including application commands, AppleScript commands,
scripting addition commands, and user-defined commands. It also includes
descriptions of all AppleScript commands and standard application
commands.

■ Chapter 5, “Objects and References,” describes objects and their

characteristics and explains how to refer to objects in scripts.

■ Chapter 6, “Expressions,” describes types of expressions in AppleScript,

how AppleScript evaluates expressions, and operators you use to
manipulate values.

P R E F A C E

■ Chapter 7, “Control Statements,” describes statements that control when and

how other statements are executed. It includes information about Tell, If,
and Repeat statements.

■ Chapter 8, “Handlers,” describes subroutines, command handlers, error

handlers, and the scope of variables and properties in handlers and
elsewhere in a script. It includes the syntax for defining and calling
subroutines and error handlers.

■ Chapter 9, “Script Objects,” describes how to define and use script objects. It

includes information about object-oriented programming techniques such as
using inheritance and delegation to define groups of related objects.

At the end of the guide are three appendixes, a glossary of AppleScript terms,
and an index.

■ Appendix A, “The Language at a Glance,” is a collection of tables that

summarize the features of the AppleScript language. It is especially useful
for experienced programmers who want a quick overview of the language.

■ Appendix B, “Scriptable Text Editor Dictionary,” defines the words in the

AppleScript language that are understood by the Scriptable Text Editor
sample application.

■ Appendix C, “Error Messages,” lists the error messages returned

by AppleScript.

Sample Applications and Scripts 0

A sample application, the Scriptable Text Editor, is included with AppleScript.
The Scriptable Text Editor is scriptable; that is, it understands scripts written in
the AppleScript language. It also supports recording of scripts: when you use
the Record button in the Script Editor (the application you use to write and
modify scripts), the actions you perform in the Scriptable Text Editor generate
AppleScript statements for performing those actions. Scripts for performing
tasks in the Scriptable Text Editor are used as examples throughout this guide.

xvii

P R E F A C E

For More Information 0

Getting Started 0

See the companion book Getting Started With AppleScript to learn what
hardware and software you need to use AppleScript; how to install
AppleScript; and how to run, record, and edit scripts.

Scripting Additions 0

Scripting additions are files that provide additional commands you can use in
scripts. A standard set of scripting additions comes with AppleScript. Scripting
additions are also sold commercially, included with applications, and
distributed through electronic bulletin boards and user groups.

For information about using the scripting additions that come with AppleScript,
see the companion book AppleScript Scripting Additions Guide: English Dialect.

xviii

Other AppleScript Dialects 0

A dialect is a version of the AppleScript language that resembles a particular
language. This guide describes the English dialect of AppleScript (also
called AppleScript English). This dialect uses words taken from the English
language and has an English-like syntax. Other dialects can use words from
other human languages, such as Japanese, and have a syntax that resembles
a specific human language or programming language.

For information about a specific dialect, see the version of the AppleScript
Language Guide for that dialect.

Scriptable Applications 0

Not all applications are scriptable. The advertising and packaging for an
application usually mention if it is scriptable. The documentation for a
scriptable application typically lists the AppleScript words that the application
understands.

P R E F A C E

Conventions Used in This Guide 0

Words and sample scripts in monospaced font are AppleScript language
elements that must be typed exactly as shown. Terms are shown in boldface
where they are defined. You can also find these definitions in the glossary.

Here are some additional conventions used in syntax descriptions:

language element

Plain computer font indicates an element that you
must type exactly as shown. If there are special symbols
(for example, + or &), you must also type them exactly
as shown.

placeholder Italic text indicates a placeholder that you must replace

with an appropriate value. (In some programming
languages, placeholders are called nonterminals.)

[optional] Brackets indicate that the enclosed language element or

elements are optional.

(a group) Parentheses group together elements. If parentheses are

part of the syntax, they are shown in bold.

[optional]... Three ellipsis points (. . .) after a group defined by

brackets indicate that you can repeat the group of
elements within brackets 0 or more times.

(a group). . . Three ellipsis points (. . .) after a group defined by

parentheses indicate that you can repeat the group
of elements within parentheses one or more times.

a|b|cVertical bars separate elements in a group from which

you must choose a single element. The elements are
often grouped within parentheses or brackets.

xix

P A R T ONE

Introducing AppleScript 1

CHAPTER 1

Figure 1-0
Listing 1-0
Table 1-0

AppleScript, Scripts, and
Scriptable Applications 1

This chapter introduces the AppleScript scripting language. It answers
these questions:

■ What is AppleScript?

■ What are scripts?

■ Who runs scripts, and who writes them?

■ How is AppleScript different from other scripting mechanisms?

■ What can you do with scripts?

■ What applications are scriptable?

What Is AppleScript? 1

AppleScript is a scripting language that allows you to control Macintosh
computers without using the keyboard or mouse. AppleScript lets you use
series of written instructions, known as scripts, to control applications and the
desktop. Figure 1-1 shows the difference between changing the text style of a
paragraph with the mouse and performing the same task with a script.

What Is AppleScript? 3

CHAPTER 1

AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

Figure 1-1 Changing text style with the mouse and with a script

Changing the style of text with the mouse

Changing the style of text with a script

4 What Is AppleScript?

CHAPTER 1

AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

The script shown at the bottom of Figure 1-1 is written in AppleScript English,
which is a dialect of the AppleScript scripting language that resembles English.
This guide describes AppleScript English and how you can use it to write
scripts. Other dialects, such as AppleScript Japanese and AppleScript French,
are designed to resemble other human languages. Still others, such as the
Programmer’s Dialect, resemble other programming languages. For informa­tion about dialects other than AppleScript English, see the guide for the dialect
you want to use. For information about installing dialects, see Getting Started

With AppleScript.

All AppleScript dialects share many features with other scripting, programming,
and macro languages. If you’ve used any of these languages, you’ll find
AppleScript dialects very easy to learn and use.

AppleScript comes with an application called Script Editor that you can use to
create and modify scripts. You can also use Script Editor to translate scripts
from one AppleScript dialect to another.

What Can You Do With Scripts? 1

AppleScript lets you automate, integrate, and customize applications. The
following sections provide examples.

Automating Activities 1

Scripts make it easy to perform repetitive tasks. For example, if you want
to change the style of the word “AppleScript” to bold throughout a document
named Introduction, you can write a script that does the job instead of
searching for each occurrence of the word, selecting it, and changing it from
the Style menu.

Figure 1-2 shows the script and what happens when you run it.

What Can You Do With Scripts? 5

CHAPTER 1

AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

Figure 1-2 A script that performs a repetitive action

Introduction before running script

Make AppleScript Bold script

Introduction after running script

6 What Can You Do With Scripts?

CHAPTER 1

AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

Integrating Applications 1

Scripts are ideal for performing tasks that involve more than one application.
A script can send instructions to one application, get the resulting data, and
then pass the data on to one or more additional applications. For example, a
script can collect information from a database application and copy it to a
spreadsheet application. Figure 1-3 shows a simple script that gets a value
from the Count cell of an inventory database and copies it to the Inventory
column of a spreadsheet.

In the same way, a script can use one application to perform an action on data
from another application. For example, suppose a word-processing application
includes a spelling checker and also supports an AppleScript command to
check spelling. You can check the spelling of a block of text from any other
application by writing a script that sends the AppleScript command and the
text to be checked to the word-processing application, which returns the results
to the application that runs the script.

If an action performed by an application can be controlled by a script, that
action can be also performed from the Script Editor or from any other
application that can run scripts. Every scriptable application is potentially a
toolkit of useful utilities that can be selectively combined with utilities from
other scriptable applications to perform highly specialized tasks.

Customizing Applications 1

Scripts can add new features to applications. To customize an application, you
add a script that is triggered by a particular action within the application, such
as choosing a menu item or clicking a button. Whether you can add scripts to
applications is up to each application, as are the ways you associate scripts
with specific actions.

What Can You Do With Scripts? 7

CHAPTER 1

AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

Figure 1-3 A script that copies information from one application to another

8 What Can You Do With Scripts?

CHAPTER 1

AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

Who Runs Scripts, and Who Writes Them? 1

To run a script is to cause the actions the script describes to be performed.
Everyone who uses a Macintosh computer can run scripts. Figure 1-4 illustrates
two ways to run a script.

Figure 1-4 Different ways to run a script

Double-clicking a script application’s icon

Clicking the Run button

If the script is a script application on the desktop, you can run it by double­clicking its icon. You can also run any script by clicking the Run button in the
Script Editor window for that script.

Who Runs Scripts, and Who Writes Them? 9

CHAPTER 1

AppleScript, Scripts, and Scriptable Applications

Although everyone can run scripts, not everyone needs to write them. One
person who is familiar with a scripting language can create sophisticated
scripts that many people can use. For example, management information
specialists in a business can write scripts for everyone in the business to use.
Scripts are also sold commercially, included with applications, and distributed
through electronic bulletin boards and user groups.

Special Features of AppleScript 1

AppleScript has a number of features that set it apart from both macro
programs and scripting languages that control a single program:

■ AppleScript makes it easy to refer to data within applications. Scripts can

use familiar names to refer to familiar objects. For example, a script can refer
to paragraph, word, and character objects in a word-processing document
and to row, column, and cell objects in a spreadsheet.

■ You can control several applications from a single script. Although many

applications include built-in scripting or macro languages, most of these
languages work for only one application. In contrast, you can use AppleScript
to control any of the applications that support it. You don’t have to learn a
new language for each application.

■ You can write scripts that control applications on more than one computer. A

single script can control any number of applications, and the applications
can be on any computer on a given network.

■ You can create scripts by recording. The Script Editor application includes a

recording mechanism that takes much of the work out of creating scripts.
When recording is turned on, you can perform actions in a recordable
application and the Script Editor creates corresponding instructions in the
AppleScript language. To learn how to turn recording on and off, refer to
Getting Started With AppleScript.

■ AppleScript supports multiple dialects, or representations of the AppleScript

language that resemble various human languages and programming
languages. This guide describes the AppleScript English dialect. You can use
Script Editor to convert a script from one dialect to another without
changing what happens when you run the script.

10 Special Features of AppleScript