I've seen a few questions dealing with this issue but nothing recently. I'm not sure if El Capitan (10.11) is breaking something, and I'm an AppleScript (and Automator) newbie.
I just want to have the basic functionality where a keyboard shortcut opens a new terminal window in the space I'm in. After doing the following things, absolutely nothing happens when I trigger the keyboard shortcut
1. Create an Automator Service
Open Automator and choose Service for my document type.
Set Service recieves selected to no input
Drag a Run AppleScriptaction into my workflow.
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Terminal"
do script ""
activate
end tell
return input
end run
(At this point, running the workflow from automator by pressing Play opens a new terminal window correctly).
Save the service as Launch New Terminal Window
2. Assign a Keyboard Shortcut
Open System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Services
Assign Shift Command T to Launch New Terminal Window
When I try my new command, nothing happens.
Note, I tried to delete the service and retrace my steps. When I recreated a new service with the same name, the keyboard shortcut was remembered by the system. Does anyone know which .plist/where these keyboard shortcuts are saved?
If anyone can help me out, that would be great. A 30 second project has turned into 30 minutes of hair pulling.
I also encountered a similar problem. The issue is that, most probably some other application is using the key combination that you tried. You can check by using a bizarre key combination and check whether it works and then modify it. Try using something like Shift + alt + command + G. Or something like this ( use at least 4 keys ). It worked for me. Hope it helps you.
For future reference, since it seems a very common question, I think the only reason why a shortcut won't work is that it's being used by other application, as 2XSamurai said.
You can have quick feedback if the shortcut is going to work or not by navigating to Finder and then Services.
If your brand new shortcut is showing next to the service you created, that means is going to work, otherwise, it won't.
No need to perform other actions, you just need to pick a good shortcut. Somewhere on the web, you may also read that you must include the command key to make your shortcut work. That's also not necessary (see the screenshot with just ctrl + T combination working just fine).
PS I can't post pictures on answers yet so StackOverflow generated links to the images instead, but this caused the answer to broke (I was getting a message error stating there was code in my answer (??), so no screenshots, sorry, I hope the answer is clear enough even without them :)
I did exactly what you've described (Automator Service, no entry, only one Applescript Action, and assign the Automator Service to short cut key (in my case command shift Y).
All is working OK on my ElCapitain with bellow script in Automator action : (I mean the short cut opens a new Terminal window as expected)
tell application "Terminal" to activate
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Terminal"
keystroke "n" using {command down}
end tell
end tell
But I still ask myself the basic question : what do you really want to achieve ? usually the bash instruction could be done in do shell script command...no need for Terminal window... may be you have an other constraint.
I had the same problem before, solved it somehow, forgot about it and ran into it again when setting up a new MacBook today.
This solution works for me on several Macs:
Instead of using System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Services (screenshot 1 - for some reason I'm not allowed to insert pictures directly into posts) you can use
System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> App Shortcuts (screenshot 2).
There you have to spell out the name of your service.
There are some issues with the App Shortcuts menu as well. For example a shortcut for the "Tags..." menu in Finder simply won't work but for services it works for me.
Related
I am trying to make a keyboard shortcut to launch terminal in OS X Mountain Lion.
After some research I found out that I can use Automator to achieve this:
http://mac.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tips-shortcuts/how-to-launch-any-app-with-a-keyboard-shortcut/
It works, but I noticed that whenever I launch a terminal using this method, a process called WorkFlowServiceRunner starts and never terminates. To make matters worse when I launch more terminals (or launch different applications using shortcuts, again, through Automator) multiple WorkFlowServiceRunner processes start and quickly eat up the memory.
I've also tried writing my own applescripts but the problem does not go away. This clearly looks like a memory leak. Is this a bug in OS X Automator? Is there a way to write an applescript so that the WorkFlowServiceRunner terminates after doing its job (e.g. launch a terminal)? Automator seems to be the most "native" way of getting this done and I do not want to use any 3rd party apps.
I have noticed this from time to time.
One way around it would be to make your own service apps with a Cocoa-AppleScript Applet.
It is not very hard to do. And I will try and guide you through it. It should only take you a couple of minutes.
Step 1.
Open your Application Applescript Editor. And go to the "File" Menu -> "New from Template" -> Cocoa-AppleScript Applet.app
Step 2,
Paste this code into the new documents.
property NSWorkspace : class "NSWorkspace"
tell current application's NSApp to setServicesProvider_(me)
NSUpdateDynamicServices()
my runAService()
on runAService()
NSWorkspace's sharedWorkspace()'s launchAppWithBundleIdentifier_options_additionalEventParamDescriptor_launchIdentifier_("com.apple.Terminal", current application's NSWorkspaceLaunchDefault, missing value, missing value)
tell me to quit
end runAService
Step 3,
Compile
(click this to compile)
and Save the app.
*Make sure the show startup screen is unchecked in the Save dialogue.
Giving the app a name like LaunchTerminal.app
Step 4,
Click the "Bundle Contents" button on the top right hand side of the document.
This will open the applications contents view.
Click the Action button and then "Reveal in finder" sub menu.
step 5,
In the contents folder that opens in the finder you will see a file name "info.plist"
Open Terminal.app and type and run this code using the path to this file:
BUT make sure you do not include the ".plist" part of the name when entering it in Terminal.app
/usr/bin/defaults write /Users/YourUserNameHere/myServiceApps/LaunchTerminal.app/Contents/Info NSServices -array-add '{NSMenuItem={default="Launch Terminal";}; NSMessage="runAService"; NSSendTypes=();}'
( You can drag n drop the file into terminal to get the posix path string )
The path part looks like this: /Users/YourUserNameHere/myServiceApps/LaunchTerminal.app/Contents/Info
This code should add an array to the plist file which is part of the apps way of broadcasting it has a service.
step 6,
Compile and Save the App again.
Just to make sure it picks up the changes. ( I found I had to do this even though I should not have to)
step 7,
Double click the app to run it for the first time.
The App will quit straight away. But the first run should have broadcast that it has a service that should be registered with the system
step 8,
Open system Preferences and go to Services -> General (section)
And you will see the "Launch Terminal" service.
Set up your short cut as normal.
Hope this helps..
UPDATE :
I noticed that the tell application "Terminal" to activate. Would not open my default Window groups if I had closed them all and quit Terminal before. The normal behaviour if I have done this is for my default window group to open. ( I have two Tabs open at startup each cd'd to a different path).
So I have change the open application to a cocoa way of doing it.
A do shell script with open the/application/path/. will work also.
Try using Butler or QuicKeys. They both have endless "Trial periods."
No-one has been able to answer this question.
It would seem to be impossible to have XCode open this way.
However Youssef provided the most useful answer - so Youssef gets the points, thank you Youssef.
Note for future readers .. the mac utility Moom is excellent for some, but not all, problems of this nature. Again it is not a total solution.
Using the current up-to-date XCode,
Whenever I OPEN a project in XCode (or start a new project),
it looks like this:
However, I want it to look like this:
Again that's when I OPEN a project.
Is there any way to achieve this? Thanks.
Go to Xcode (in the top menu bar) --> Preferences...
Switch to the Behaviors tab and modify what you want in the Running section
You'll get something like this:
You can choose to show/hide what you need, and specify the default behavior
Cheers
EDIT:
After understanding what you need, I will modify my answer.
There is no way to force XCode to automatically enter a behavior at startup.
The best you can do is to create a custom behavior and give it a keyboard shortcut. And when you start XCode just use the keyboard shortcut to enter the desired behavior.
This is how it is done:
In the behaviors tab (above) click on the + sign at the bottom
Then enter the desired name of this behavior (Maybe StartupBehavior)
Click on the left button to modify the shortcut key. My preferred shortcut key is Command + ` (the button to the left of the '1' key). This is because it will not override any other command and it is easy to click.
Note: you can specify any shortcut you like and dont be afraid to override one that already exists if you don't use it.
Now you need to configure your behavior the way you like it
Close the preference windows.
Now everytime you start XCode just use the shortcut key you specified (Command + ` in my case) to quickly load your behavior
Note:
If you dont like keyboard shortcuts you can also load your behavior by going to Xcode (menu bar) --> Behaviors --> Select your behavior
That is the quickest way you can achieve what you want. I dont think you will be able to force Xcode to run your behavior automatically on startup.
Hope it helped.
Cheers
(not really default layout, you have to hit at least 2 keys simultaneously once XCode is open) You could set up a behavior for "Build->Starts" and hit "CMD + B"
after opening XCode / any Project. This way it will 1. change to your
Layout even if there are any errors and Build fails and 2. you don't
have to Stop it again.
As already said, it's not a default layout, but I like to let the compiler run through projects of other people at the beginning anyway.
You could search for some Keys in XCodes preference file in
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Xcode.plist as already suggested in
my comment, I'm not experienced enough to know which are the right
ones, sorry.
Wrap the .xcodeproj File opening in an application. E.g. in no way "clean", but anyway:
Set up an XCode behavior like in option 1
Open Automator, choose Application, drag "open Finder Items" and "run AppleScript" inside.
on run {input, parameters}
set frontmostAppName to name of (info for (path to frontmost application))
repeat while frontmostAppName is not "XCode.app"
set frontmostAppName to name of (info for (path to frontmost application))
delay 0.5
end repeat
try
tell application "System Events" to keystroke "b" using {command down} --simulates CMD + B
end try
return input
end run
Insert some applescript like the above and save the Automator application.
RightClick -> getInfo on any .xcodeproj File in Finder/on Desktop, in "open with" select your new Automator app, click add and back in the info panel -> check "Change All"
You can obviously create a new Behavior instead of using Build->starts, assign a different Hotkey in XCode and script e.g. tell application "System Events" to keystroke "i" using {command down, control down, shift down, alt down} , optimize the applescript somehow or do everything via a real cocoa app if you want
Well, you may be able to approach it using preconfigured xcuserstate files nested in your project templates' default workspace directory, but that is going to be a pain to tweak and maintain. I'm not even sure it would work.
I would personally just approach it by using Behaviors.
So:
1) create a Behavior
2) Give it a convenient key binding
3) Then define the Behavior. For example:
ASCII Behavior Editor:
...
√ Show *Debugger* with *Console View*
√ *Hide* utilities
...
That should do it. Just hit the assigned key command when you want to restore that display state, regardless of its initial state.
Of course, you can do a few other things or all sorts of arbitrary stuff by running an external AppleScript (triggered with a Behavior's run script facility).
I know nothing about AppleScript, but I wonder if it could make my life easier: is there a way to write an AppleScript that tells Safari / Firefox / Chrome to refresh the current tab when I save a document in another application, say TextWrangler? Essentially, I want to map the Command+S keyboard shortcut to do two things at once in two separate applications.
If that’s not possible, can you script one application so that saving one file executes a command in another window in that same application?
There are different possible approaches to implement this, but the most straightforward would probably be to create a script that executes all steps you need (i.e. save the document and refresh the window) and bind that to the Cmd+S keyboard combo in the triggering application.
What you need for this approach to work, is, in order:
a method to bind a key combo to a script effective only in a specific application. OS X’ Automator Services fit that bill: their scope can be restricted to a single application (select it in the “only in” drop down at the top of the workflow actions), and they can be assigned a shortcut in the Keyboard preference pane of System Preferences.
a way to relay your commands to the applications they target. AppleScript can help you in two different ways, depending on the fact if your applications are scriptable, i.e. if they have a scripting dictionary you can inspect in the AppleScript editor:
if they do, and their terminology includes the saving action for the editor on one side (most scriptable document based apps do so in the form save <document>), the page refreshing for the browser(s) on the other (Chrome has reload <tab>, Safari gets the same result via a JavaScript detour, i.e. do JavaScript "window.location.reload()" in <document> – I don’t use Firefox), you are set.
if they do not, GUI Scripting might help, i.e. simulating a click on the right UI element (menu or toolbar) via tell application "System Events" to tell process <your process> to click item x of menu y.
That script can then be embedded into the Automator workflow (in an “Run AppleScript” action, to be precise).
As you can see, a lot depends on the exact software you are using. if you are new to AppleScript and the above baffles you, I’d suggest spending a bit of time on the AppleScript pages of Mac OS X Automation (where you’ll also find example scripts which will kick start you into things like GUI Scripting).
One final note: as of this writing, sandboxed applications do not honor key combos assigned to them in the Keyboard Preference pane (they do honor global key combos set there – just not those specifically targeting them). This means you cannot, for instance, currently override TextEdit’s Cmd+S shortcut for saving in Lion. As long as your editor is not sandboxed (easily checked in Activity Monitor), you should have no issue with this.
One solution would be to create a folder action to refresh the current tab when a new file is saved in the folder.
on adding folder items to theFolder after receiving theFiles
tell application "Google Chrome"
activate
tell window 1 to tell active tab
set URL to (get URL)
end tell
end tell
end adding folder items to
I'm using a Mac, OSX 10.6 and I have a function in a desktop application that I want to automate. Manually I press Command+R wait for the application to read some data form a physical device for 1 minute, then press command+R again to take another reading (at this point it asks me if I want to save the data, so I press tab, tab and then space bar to select to save the data. I do this 3 times in total, so I want to automate the 3 times, so I can walk away from the computer and it will read 3 times automatically.
Is automator the best way to do this?
I've tried to do this already in automator by using the 'watch me do' function. This starts with the 'bring window Untitled to the front', and then the second command is press command+R. I then found a little piece of apple script to wait 1 minute and I plug the first action into that for the wait function.
However, when I click run or step, instead of going and opening up the correct window ("Untitled"), the cursor moves to the Media button in automator, and clicks that instead! But the application is definitely listed as the correct one.
Any help appreciated, but maybe automator is the wrong way to go?
Apple Script is the best way to go for things that don't require any "special processing" that would need to be done by a chain of different applications.
1) uging the AppleScript Utility
make sure that you have GUI scripting enabled in the "AppleScript Utility"
2) using the Script Editor choose File>Open Library and see if your application has any scriptable functions ... these may be a better way to go.
3) Create a new script and put in something like this ...
tell application "Firefox"
activate
delay 1 -- give it time to react
repeat 3 times
-- this gives us the keyboard
tell application "System Events"
keystroke "r" using {command down}
end tell
delay 6
end repeat
end tell
I used Firefox to test it .... should work for you ....
Once you've got the script you can use the save as to make it into an app or save it as a script in your ~/Library/Scripts folder or paste it into an automator workflow and schedule it with iCal.
I don't think automator is the way to go. You could use applescript, but you should take a look at sikuli. You will need to write the Sikuli script yourself, but what you describe shouldn't be difficult
Specifically,
In OSX 10.6 from a system call, I want to open a file for editing with VIM in a preexisting terminal (i.e. Terminal.app) by opening a new tab.
Of course I can open a new instance of terminal
/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/MacOS/Terminal -e vim MyFile
And, of course I can figure out the PID of the running instance of Terminal but I don't know how to pass a command into that running program. Or, if Terminal supports receiving commands and if it will open a new tab.
If someone knows how to do this with a similar system (e.g. linux and xterm) it could help me figure it out with OSX and Terminal - or, is there some other technique to prevent opening so many terminals instances?
EDIT: CHEAP SOLUTION
I created an AppleAcript script
on run app_arg
tell application "System Events"
tell application process "Terminal"
key code {55, 36}
set frontmost to true
key code {55, 17}
keystroke item 1 of app_arg
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
end run
and run it via the system call like so
/usr/bin/osascript NEWSCRIPT.scpt "args"
It's dirty but it gets the job done - thanks!
The way to accomplish the is with applescript. You can send applescript to things in OS X with the osascript command. I wasn't able to find anything quickly that directly shows how to open a new tab with a command running in it, but I was able to find a couple of references to automating Terminal.app in various other ways with applescript, and I think they may point you in the right direction.
Various random Terminal.app applescript hacks mostly centered around changing colors.
An applescript hack that opens a new terminal window without creating a new Terminal process.
A nice StackOverflow question about how to query an application to discover what applescript it supports (stolen from a comment on your question by #dmckee)
And this nice StackOverflow question concerning Terminal.app's applescript specifically (again stolen from a comment by #dmckee)
An even better exploration of the Leopard Terminal.app's applescript from Ruby no less
And from that last link, it looks like the only way to do it is to use applescript to send the Command-T keystroke to the terminal. That's ugly, but it'll work. And then you can send the command you want to execute. :-)
There are three ways to do this:
Use popen
Use system
Use exec family