AppleScript how to write a file path to a text file - applescript

Question

I'm at near the end of building a new feature for my AppleScript.
I'm looking to be able to prompt the user to select an Excel file and then process that Excel File.
The new feature is that I want to store the file path of the file the user last selected so that the next time the script is executed the dialog box opens to the same folder.
I've got my dialog box working and I also have the file write piece working.
My issue is that I want to be able to write the file path to the text file and I don't know how.
Consider the following code:
set theFile to choose file with prompt "Please choose a file:" of type {"XLSX", "APPL"}
display dialog (theFile as string)
set outputFile to (("Macintosh HD:Users:lowken:Documents:") & "LaunchAgent_Alert.txt")
try
set fileReference to open for access file outputFile with write permission
write theFile to fileReference
close access fileReference
on error
try
close access file outputFile
end try
end try
The code works, however I'm getting garbage in the output file:
>Macintosh HDÀ·q†H+÷œMiamieMasterMind.xlsxó∑èœÇäRXLSXXCELˇˇˇˇI À·©‡œÇ¬í,MiamieMasterMind.xlsxMacintosh HD*Users/lowken/Dropbox/MiamieMasterMind.xlsx/
ˇˇ
My guess is that either I have a file encoding issue or I need to output the file path from theFile.
Your help is appreciated.

Answer 1

Usage of property explained by Craig is the easiest solution.
The property values will be reset in case you recompile the script.
However, if you really need to store the path value in txt file for use by other scripts, you just need to write the file, not as alias, but as string :
write (theFile as string) to fileReference
Of course, when reading the text file later, remember it is a string and not an alias !

Answer 2

Try using a property, and the script will do all the work for you:
property theContainer : null
property theFile : null
set theFile to choose file with prompt "Please choose a file:" of type {"XLSX", "APPL"}
tell application "Finder" to set theContainer to theFile's container
From the AppleScript Language Guide:
The value of a property persists after the script in which the
property is defined has been run. Thus, the value of currentCount is 0
the first time this script is run, 1 the next time it is run, and so
on. The property’s current value is saved with the script object and
is not reset to 0 until the script is recompiled—that is, modified and
then run again, saved, or checked for syntax.

Answer 3

You can save an appleScript’s class and read it as (the type class).
Examples
write theFile to fileReference — theFile is an appleScript’s alias
read it like this —> set theFile to read file "Macintosh
HD:Users:lowken:Documents:LaunchAgent_Alert.txt" as alias
If you save a list:
write myList to fileReference — myList is an
appleScript’s list
read it like this —> set myList to read file "Macintosh
HD:Users:lowken:Documents:LaunchAgent_Alert.txt" as list
If you save a record —> {b: "15", c:"éèà"} :
write myRecord to fileReference — myRecord is an appleScript’s
record
read it like this —> set myRecord to read file "Macintosh
HD:Users:lowken:Documents:LaunchAgent_Alert.txt" as record
If you save a real —> 200.123 :
write floatNumber to fileReference — floatNumber is an appleScript’s
number
read it like this —> set floatNumber to read file "Macintosh
HD:Users:lowken:Documents:LaunchAgent_Alert.txt" as real
If you save an integer —> 20099 :
write xNum to fileReference — xNum is an appleScript’s integer
read it like this —> set xNum to read file "Macintosh
HD:Users:lowken:Documents:LaunchAgent_Alert.txt" as integer
If you save a string —> "éèà:376rrrr" :
write t to fileReference — t is an appleScript’s string
read it like this —> set t to read file "Macintosh
HD:Users:lowken:Documents:LaunchAgent_Alert.txt" as string
Important : set eof to 0 before writing a new contents to an existing file
set fileReference to open for access file outputFile with write permission
set eof fileReference to 0
write something to fileReference
close access fileReference