Let’s say you’ve got a really cool Automator workflow that saves you tons of time but takes a while to run. Do you really have to sit around, twiddling your thumbs while waiting for it to finish? Wouldn’t it be nicer if you could go get a latte instead and get an alert on your iPhone when the workflow is finished? That’s just one example of the kind of thing possible with the latest version of If This Then That (IFTTT). [Read more on Macworld.com...]
MacVoices Interview > Ben Waldie Clarifies the Situation with AppleScript and Mavericks
Ben Waldie helps cut through the controversy surrounding OS X Mavericks, the iWork suite and get to just the facts. There has been concern about the current lack of support in Mavericks, and also in Numbers, Pages and Keynote. Ben calms the waters a bit, explaining what is missing, what still works, and what his expectations are for scripting in both Mavericks and iOS 7 going forward.
Automation Changes in Mavericks – Official Tech Links
Lots of AppleScript and Automator changes were introduced with OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Here are links to official Apple technical resources that discuss some of them...
- AppleScript Release Notes (Updated for OS X 10.9 Mavericks)
- AppleScript Language Guide (Updated for OS X 10.9 Mavericks)
- Technical Q&A QA1802 (Adopting Scripting Targets for Composing Mail)
- OS X: Using AppleScript with Accessibility and Security features in Mavericks
- WWDC 2013: Session 416: Introducing AppleScript Libraries
- WWDC 2013: Session 417: Automation Update
For a general overview of the automation changes in Mavericks, visit macosxautomation.com (not hosted by Apple Inc.).
Macworld Article > 5 Automator workflows everyone should have
I meet a lot of people with Automator anxiety: they think using OS X’s built-in workflow-maker is a lot more complex than it really is. The truth is that Automator workflows are (a) pretty simple to assemble and (b) great for simple but repetitive tasks that you do all the time anyway.
To show you what I mean here are five workflows that I think pretty much every Mac user should have. They do things we all need to do: Wrap text in quotation marks, for example, or count the number of words in a selection of text. There might be other ways of doing the same things, but Automator is built into your Mac and you can implement them yourself for free in a couple of minutes.
[Read more on Macworld.com...]
TUAW Post > AppleScripting Email > Developing a Quoted Reply Service
A reader recently wrote to me with a problem. Apparently, Microsoft Outlook no longer contains the ability to create quote level chunks of text when replying to messages in plain text format. Why this functionality was removed, I can't say. But, with a little help from AppleScript and Automator, I was able to help the reader to add this functionality back via a Service. Better yet, the Service can be set up to work in any email client, or even systemwide in any app. Here's how you can do it...
[Read more on TUAW...]
TUAW Post > Triggering AppleScripts from Calendar Alerts in Mountain Lion
AppleScript's are great tools for increasing your daily productivity. They're even better when they can be set to run unattended, at night, on weekends, or during downtime. In Lion, iCal included a handy option for attaching a script to a calendar event. Just create an event, add a Run Script alarm, point it to the desired script and you're good to go. Things changed in Mountain Lion, though. Presumably for security reasons, the Run Script alarm option was removed from the Calendar app. Despite its removal, however, there are still some ways you can trigger scripts from Calendar events.
[Read more on TUAW...]
Macworld Article > 100 More Things Every Mac User Should Know > Five Useful Automator Workflows
The April 2013 issue of Macworld magazine includes a special feature - 100 More Things Every Mac User Should Know: Essential Knowledge for Anyone Who Wants to be Savvy. I wrote the Automator section. It includes the following 5 useful workflows:
- Wrap selected text in quotes
- Get a word count of selected text
- Create a subfolder in the Finder
- Add dates to files in the Finder
- Toggle hidden Finder files on/off
Hope you find it useful. This issue is available in print and in the iBookstore.
-Ben