Danny Goodman's
AppleScript Handbook
Mac OS X Edition

The essential AppleScript book!

Printed: 9x7 softcover, 405 pages, ISBN 0-9744344-9-3
eBook: PDF, 388 pages, ISBN 0-9744344-2-6

Finally here, by popular demand! One of the most recommended AppleScript books ever published, this definitive guide has been completely rewritten for Mac OS X by scripting guru Danny Goodman, whose best-selling books have helped educate legions of AppleScript developers world-wide. Don't settle for an old, out-of-print edition. The wait is over! This super-sized, Third Edition includes all new Mac OS X examples!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Tools You Need Are Free Where Stuff Is AppleScript Studio The Script Menu and Scripts Folders Chapter 2: How to Learn AppleScript Gradus ad Scriptum If You've Never Programmed Before If You've Done a Little Programming Before If You've Programmed a Lot Before If You've Programmed in HyperTalk Before Chapter 3: Your First AppleScript Script Scriptable Applications Recordable Applications Attachable Applications Script Editor Deciding What To Script Recording Your First Script Chapter 4: Writing AppleScript Scripts - An Overview Script Editor - The Bottom Pane Additional Script Editor Windows Script Editor Advanced Features Compiling (Checking Syntax) Making a Statement Commandments Telling an Object What To Do Common Actions Where the Wording Comes From Chapter 5: A Crash Course in Programming Fundamentals Statements Commands and Objects Working with Information Variables Expressions and Evaluation Operators Chapter 6: Issuing Commands and Getting Results Commands Provoke Action from Something Where the Words Are More About Parameters Getting Results "Built-in" Commands Traditional AppleScript Commands Chapter 7: Scripting Addition Commands and Dictionaries System Commands Finder Commands String Commands Numeric Commands Script Commands User-Interface Commands File Commands Debug Commands Date/Time Commands Clipboard Commands Folder Action Commands Internet Commands Understanding Application Dictionaries Chapter 8: Describing Objects - References and Properties Objects In Real Life... ...Translated to Computer References Container Syntax Default Object References Object Properties Object Reference Syntax Chapter 9: Working with Data - Values, Variables, and Expressions Kinds of Values Variables and Value Classes Coercing Value Classes Coercion Caveats Value Class Details Boolean Class Class Class Constant Class Data Class Date Class Working with Dates and Times File Specification Class Integer Class International Text Class List Class Number Class Real Class Record Class Reference Class RGB Color Class String Class Styled Clipboard Text Class Styled Text Class Text Class & Unicode Text Class Unit Type Classes

Chapter 10: Going with the Flow (or Not): Control Structures Shop Til You Drop AppleScript Flow Control Tell Statements If-Then Constructions Repeat Statements Timeout Flow Control Other Control Statements Chapter 11: AppleScript Operators Four Operator Types Integers, Reals, and Operators Strings and Operators Lists and Operators Records and Operators Booleans and Operators Coercing Values - the As Operator String Comparison Aids Operator (and Reference) Precedence Chapter 12: Error Checking in Scripts Why We Forget to Error Check Anticipating Errors AppleScript Errors Trapping Cancel Buttons Purposely Generating Errors Error Numbers and Messages Chapter 13: Debugging Scripts Script Editor Setup Compile and Execution Errors Using The Result Pane Display Dialog Event Log Pane Aural Clues: Beeps and Speech Try Statements "Commenting Out" Lines A Debugging Demonstration Chapter 14: Using Subroutines, Handlers, and Script Libraries Subroutines and Scripts Subroutine Concerns Subroutine Scope Subroutine Definitions - Two Types Subroutine Parameters - By Value and By Reference Subroutine Variables Recursion Turning Subroutines into Libraries Storing Libraries Handlers in Attachable Applications Chapter 15: Script Properties, Objects, and "Agents" Script Properties Script Objects Advanced Object-Oriented Techniques Delegation Creating Droplets Agents Chapter 16: Scripting Third-Party Applications Knowing the Program Approaching a New Program Appendix A: AppleScript Quick Reference Appendix B: ASCII Table

About the Author

Danny Goodman is the author of numerous critically acclaimed and best-selling books, including Mac OS X Technology Guide to Dashboard, Danny Goodman's AppleScript Handbook (Mac OS X Edition), The Complete HyperCard Handbook, JavaScript Bible, Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference, JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook, and Spam Wars. He is a renowned authority and expert teacher of computer scripting languages and has been deciphering high-tech for non-geeks since the late 1970s.

More Spiderworks Books from Danny Goodman...