Search Results for: actions

TUAW Post > Tips for Troubleshooting Automator Workflows

troubleshoot_automatorAutomator's great for streamlining time consuming and repetitive tasks on your Mac. It's easy. Just launch it, find a few actions, and string them together to form a workflow. Then, run your workflow anytime you want to perform that series of tasks again.

What happens if your workflow doesn't run as you expect, though? Finding and solving problems in Automator is often easier said than done. Suddenly, the simple tool that's supposed to make your life easier has become a real pain in the neck. This week's post covers some things you can do to troubleshoot a finicky Automator workflow, track down the problem, and hopefully solve it, so you can get back to work.

[Read more on TUAW...]

TUAW Post > Where Automator Actions and Workflows Live

Automator's great for streamlining some of the repetitive things you do each day on your Mac. With Automator, you can create your own custom plugins for the Services menu, Folder Action workflows that run when files are placed into a folder, add-ons for the print window's PDF menu, and more. In most cases, when you save a workflow, Automator puts it where it needs to go automatically. But, where do your workflows actually live? If you want to remove or edit one, you'll need to know. In this post, we'll take a look at the various places workflows are found on your Mac.

[Read more on TUAW...]

FileMaker Pro Automator Actions Released in the Mac App Store

I'm pleased to announce that my FMP Automator Action Pack, which includes 18 actions for interacting with FileMaker Pro in OS X Lion and Mountain Lion, has been released in the Mac App Store. It can be found here.

Information about my other Lion and Mountain Lion action packs can be found here.

-Ben

Text Automator Action Pack Updated to 4.0.5

The Text Automator Action Pack has been updated to version 4.0.5. Changes include:

  • Read Text File Action - Updated to include a popup menu to specify the encoding type of file to be read. Options include Plain Text, Unicode (UTF-8), and Unicode (UTF-16).

This action pack extends the power of Automator with 30 actions for performing text manipulation functions in Mac OS X.

The new version is available in the Mac App Store.

Display Notification Center Alert Automator Action 1.0.0

I've written a new Automator action for displaying a notification center alert in Mountain Lion.  You can use it to display a notification when a workflow is complete, to remind you to buy your wife flowers, or anything else that might require a custom alert. I hope you find it useful.

-Ben

P.S. If you like this, please check out my other Automator actions.

Configuring the action for use. You can specify a title, subtitle, and message

A Notification Center alert displayed by the action

A Notification Center message displayed by the action

 Display Notification Center Alert 1.0.1

 

Version History

2012-08-26 - Version 1.0.0
2012-08-29 - Version 1.0.1 - Added support for international and unicode text

Text Automator Action Pack Updated to 4.0.4

The Text Automator Action Pack has been updated to version 4.0.4. Changes include:

  • Find and Replace in Text Action - Updated to support finding/replacing certain unicode characters
  • Remove Duplicate Paragraphs From Text Action - Added an option to ignore empty paragraphs

This action pack extends the power of Automator with 30 actions for performing text manipulation functions in Mac OS X.

The new version is available in the Mac App Store.

Adobe InDesign Automator Actions Released in the Mac App Store

I'm pleased to announce that my ID Automator Action Pack, which includes 20 actions for interacting with Adobe InDesign in Mac OS X Lion and Snow Leopard, has been released in the Mac App Store. It can be found here.

Information about my other Lion action packs can be found here.

-Ben

Text Automator Action Pack Updated to 4.0.3 – Includes 2 New Actions

The Text Automator Action Pack has been updated to version 4.0.3. Changes include:

  • Added a new 'Add Prefix to Text' action
  • Added a new 'Add Suffix to Text' action

This action pack extends the power of Automator with 30 actions for performing text manipulation functions in Mac OS X.

The new version is available in the Mac App Store.

File and Folder Automator Action Pack Updated to 4.0.1

The File and Folder Automator Action Pack, which includes 21 actions for interacting with files and folders in the Finder, has been updated to version 4.0.1. Changes include:

  • Fixed a bug in Filter Finder Items by Size action
  • Fixed a bug in Unlock Finder Items action

The new version is available in the Mac App Store.

Now Available: New Mac Automation Made Simple Videos!

Peachpit has bundled a new series of my Mac Automation Made Simple videos on Automator.  They're now available for purchase as DRM-Free downloads, so you can play them on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad.  Topics in this 8-part series include:

  • Automate generating job folders - If you use job folders for multiple projects to keep organized, learn how to save time and reduce errors by building workflows in Automator to create job folders consistently and quickly. You'll also learn the basics of actions and variables in Automator.
  • Batch-create folders from an Excel list - If your workflow ever requires you to create a large number of folders or sets of subfolders with specific naming conventions, Excel and Automator can work together to eliminate the manual creation of folders. By using the powerful features in Excel to build lists of file names in large numbers and use Automator to process those lists into hundreds of folders in minutes.
  • Display Growl notifications for new content - File sharing over a network is great for larger files that you wouldn't send via email, but how can you be sure that you're always notified when a new file lands in your folder? Learn how to team Automator with the popular notification software Growl to build a great workflow that eliminates the need for you to get an email or phone call notifying you of new files.
  • Schedule backups via a network - Do you manually back up your Mac to a server? If so, you've probably had to set up calendar reminders and run through the process on a regular basis or risk losing your data. In this lesson, learn how to make that process automatic and painless with Automator and iCal.
  • Share files via Dropbox - Take the powerful PDF tools offered in OS X a step further by building your own Print Plugin with Automator. You'll learn how to set up a Print Plugin that automatically posts any document you print to PDF to the online file sharing tool Dropbox. You'll also learn the basics of setting up actions to rename files to be friendly for upload tools by removing offending characters.
  • Batch-convert image files to PDF - If you've ever had the daunting task of scanning a book or a box of images with a flat bed scanner, you know that it isn't easy to combine all those files into a single PDF without some heavy-hitting applications like Photoshop and Acrobat Pro. But what if you don't have those applications or are just looking for an easier way? Learn how to set up a quick and easy way to combine multiple images into a single PDF without the hassle.
  • Batch-process images for iPhoto - If you're like most people with a smart phone, an amature photographer or have a large photo digitizing project on your plate, you'll import, manipulate and save hundreds to thousands of images a year. In this lesson, you'll learn how to unleash the power of Automator and free third-party tool to streamline your workflow and make importing images to your iPhoto library a snap.
  • Batch-process multiple InDesign files to PDF - Exporting multiple InDesign files to PDF can be as quick and easy as dragging and dropping your files. You'll learn how to create a drag-and-drop application with AppleScript and Automator that opens, exports, names, and saves PDFs from InDesign. You'll be able to use the same custom application for both InDesign CS4 and CS5.

Sold as a set, or individually, you can find them on Peachpit's website.