AppleScript Programming/Introduction

AppleScript is an object-oriented scripting language, spesifically designed to work with inter-application communication facilitating Apple Events. An object is an instance of a predefined class with shared characteristics.

The objects one may work with using the AppleScript language may be defined within three different sources: Within the AppleScript Language itself, within macOS scriptable applications, or within third party applications. All classes and commands from these sources should be documented in the Scripting dictionaries available from the menu of the Script Editor application.

Classes of AppleScript

{alias, application, boolean, class, constant, date, file, integer, list, number, POSIX file, real, record, reference, RGB color, script, text, string, Unicode text}

{centimeters, feet, inches, kilometers, meters, miles, yards, square feet, square kilometers, square meters, square miles, square yards, cubic centimeters, cubic feet, cubic inches, cubic meters, cubic meters, cubic yards, gallons, liters, liters, quarts, grams, kilograms, ounces, pounds, degrees Celsius, degrees Fahrenheit, degrees Kelvin}

Commands

Working with AppleScript one might come across AppleScript commands, scripting addition commands, user-defined commands and application commands.

The standard additions to AppleScript contains a range of commands available to all scripts. The commands are:

• activate
• ASCII character
• ASCII number
• beep
• choose application
• choose color
• choose file
• choose file name
• choose folder
• choose from list
• choose remote application
• choose URL
• clipboard info
• close access
• copy
• count
• current date
• delay
• display alert
• display dialog
• display notification
• do shell script
• get
• get eof
• get volume settings
• info for
• launch
• list disks
• list folder
• load script
• localized string
• log
• mount volume
• offset
• open for access
• open location
• path to (application)
• path to (folder)
• path to resource
• random number
• read
• round
• run
• run script
• say
• scripting components
• set
• set eof
• set the clipboard to
• set volume
• store script
• summarize
• system attribute
• system info
• the clipboard
• time to GMT
• write

Comments

To document comments a programmer usually writes some comments along the way. Single line comments are written after # or --. Multi line comments are wrapped in (* *).

#  This is a single line comment
-- This is a single line comment
(* This is a 
   multi line 
   comment *)