How to get filename to activated application within applescript? - macos

I am creating an applescript that opens terminal, I am dragging a file onto the script (using automater) and want the directory/name of file to be fed into my terminal application
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Terminal"
activate
do script with command "qpdf --qdf arg1 output.pdf"
end tell
end run

You don't need to use Automator. Save this script as an application instead...
on open of droppedItems
tell application "Terminal"
if not (exists window 1) then reopen
activate
end tell
repeat with anItem in droppedItems
set itemPath to POSIX path of anItem
tell application "Terminal"
do script "qpdf --qdf " & quoted form of itemPath & " output.pdf" in window 1
-- do script "echo " & quoted form of itemPath in window 1
end tell
end repeat
end open

Related

Run emacs using applescript and open file

What I would like to do is have an automator script open a file in emacs when I drag a file onto it, and bring terminal to the front.
Right now, when I try to do this with input set to ~/Desktop/test.txt, it either opens up the main page, or it ends up with ~/Desktop/testtxt. Am I doing this wrong? Is there a better way to do this?
This is what I have right now:
set thePath to POSIX path of input
tell application "Terminal" to do script "emacs"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Terminal"
activate
delay 2
keystroke "x" using control down
delay 1
keystroke "f" using control down
delay 1
keystroke thePath
delay 1
keystroke return
delay 1
end tell
end tell
return input
end run
Use the file path as an argument to emacs
on run {input}
tell application "Terminal"
repeat with i in input
do script "emacs " & quoted form of POSIX path of i
end repeat
activate
end tell
return input
end run

Applescript to open terminal, run command, and show - Not working

I´m trying to create a keyshortcut to open terminal in current folder. Looking around, I found this code to create a service (the part of adding the shortcut to this service is solved), only added things are the "; clear" and some of the "activate" so it shows
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Finder"
activate
set myWin to window 1
set theWin to (quoted form of POSIX path of (target of myWin as alias))
tell application "Terminal"
activate
tell window 1
activate
do script "cd " & theWin & ";clear"
end tell
end tell
end tell
return input
end run
It is not working as i would like.
troubles:
it opens two windows in terminal, have no idea why. It has nothing to
do with the added "activate"… it has always donde that
if I select an item on finder ( a folder ) it opens its parent directory and i would
like it to open the selected folder
this is my very first try with Applescript so if the error is obvious i just can't see it
Thanks in advance
The do script command already opens a window in Terminal. Try it this way:
tell application "Finder" to set theSel to selection
tell application "Terminal"
set theFol to POSIX path of ((item 1 of theSel) as text)
if (count of windows) is not 0 then
do script "cd " & quoted form of theFol & ";clear" in window 1
else
do script "cd " & quoted form of theFol & ";clear"
end if
activate
end tell
I like the reopen approach better...
tell application "Finder" to set currentFolder to target of front Finder window as text
set theWin to currentFolder's POSIX path
tell application "Terminal"
if not (exists window 1) then reopen
activate
do script "cd " & quoted form of theWin & ";clear" in window 1
end tell

applescript to close pdf window

I have an applescript that looks like this:
repeat
tell application "Adobe Reader"
open "filepath/name.pdf"
end tell
delay (60)
tell application "Adobe Reader"
open "filepath/name1.pdf"
end tell
delay (60)
tell application "Adobe Reader"
open "filepath/name2.pdf"
end tell
delay (60)
end repeat
I want to be able to close pdf windows after they have been opened. The issue is that these pdfs reside on a share and users have the ability to update them. The script will only display the updated pdf if it is stopped and restarted. I do not want to have to do this manually. How can I do this?
Here's a solution, which makes Preview scriptable and then continues to open and close a file of your choice.
-- http://www.macworld.com/article/1053391/previewscript.html
on addAppleScriptFeatures()
try
tell application "Finder"
set the Preview_app to (application file id "com.apple.Preview") as alias
end tell
set the plist_filepath to the quoted form of ¬
((POSIX path of the Preview_app) & "Contents/Info")
do shell script "defaults write " & the plist_filepath & space ¬
& "NSAppleScriptEnabled -bool YES" with administrator privileges
do shell script "chmod -R 755 " & the quoted form of (POSIX path of the Preview_app) with administrator privileges
return true
on error myErr number MyNr
display dialog myErr & " (" & MyNr & ")." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK" with icon 0
return false
end try
end addAppleScriptFeatures
if addAppleScriptFeatures() then
set f to choose file
tell application "Preview"
activate
open f
delay 5 -- short for testing
close window 2
end tell
end if

AppleScript Focus / Rename File (and clicking anywhere)

on run {input}
set filepath to POSIX path of input
do shell script "touch " & quoted form of filepath & "untitled"
return input
end run
Is what I have so far, and it works, but is there a way to then focus on the file then trigger a rename? I dont want the rename to be automatic, just trigger the event (like pressing "return" while you have a file selected). And I dont want to use any sort of modal...
Quick Side question: is there a way to set this so that i dont have to select a folder or file directly, but can do it by, lets say, clicking in a white space in a folder as long as it's in Finder? Right now I have my "Service receives selected" to "files or folders" in Finder.app.
== UPDATED CODE ==
on run {input}
set filepath to POSIX path of input
do shell script "touch " & quoted form of filepath & "untitled"
tell application "Finder"
activate
set target of Finder window 1 to POSIX file "/Users/oscargodson/Documents/designs/untitled"
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
return input
end run
If i hardcode the path it works! But how do I get it as a var that works?
Here's one way. I think a modal window where you ask for the name would be better but you can try this. Notice you do not use "POSIX path" in this code. Applescript doesn't use POSIX paths. Also {input}, as indicated by the brackets around it, is a list of items. Therefore you act on the items of the list, and in this case we act on the first item.
set filepath to item 1 of input
tell application "Finder"
activate
reveal filepath
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
EDIT: With your updated code, here's a working script...
on run {input}
if (class of input) is not list then set input to {input}
set theFolder to (item 1 of input) as text
try
alias theFolder
tell application "Finder"
if (class of item theFolder) is not folder then error "input is not a folder."
activate
set theFile to make new file at folder theFolder with properties {name:"untitled"}
reveal theFile
end tell
delay 0.2
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
on error theError number errorNumber
tell me
activate
display dialog "There was an error: " & (errorNumber as text) & return & return & theError buttons {"OK"} default button 1 with icon stop
return
end tell
end try
return input
end run
tell application "Finder"
activate
reopen -- in case there are no open windows
set target of Finder window 1 to POSIX file "/Applications/Safari.app"
end tell
reveal and select always open a new window, set target and set selection don't.
I don't know why, but when set selection it used in column view, you can only select items in the entire contents of the target of the front window. The same thing doesn't happen in other views, so it seems like a bug.
Fix for the code in the edited question:
on go(input)
set p to POSIX path of (input as text)
set p2 to p & "untitled"
do shell script "touch " & p2
tell application "Finder"
reopen
activate
set target of Finder window 1 to POSIX file p2
end tell
delay 0.3 -- time to release modifier keys
tell application "System Events" to keystroke return
end go
tell application "Finder"
set fold to folder (path to documents folder)
end tell
go(fold)
(That on go and the last lines are just for testing.)
I've created an AppleScript based on the #regulus6633's one, but with some improvements.
Note: This answer was originally posted as an AskDifferent answer. I'm copy/pasting here for convenience.
The idea is to create an Automator workflow and assigning a shortcut to it using the following steps:
Open Automator and create a Service;
Set the input to no input, and the application to Finder.app;
Drag and Drop the Run AppleScript workflow element onto the grey space;
Put the contents of this AppleScript in the textbox;
Save the workflow with a reasonable name (like New File);
Go to Settings -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Services and assign a shortcut to it.
Now, let's show the AppleScript:
set file_name to "untitled"
set file_ext to ".txt"
set is_desktop to false
-- get folder path and if we are in desktop (no folder opened)
try
tell application "Finder"
set this_folder to (folder of the front Finder window) as alias
end tell
on error
-- no open folder windows
set this_folder to path to desktop folder as alias
set is_desktop to true
end try
-- get the new file name (do not override an already existing file)
tell application "System Events"
set file_list to get the name of every disk item of this_folder
end tell
set new_file to file_name & file_ext
set x to 1
repeat
if new_file is in file_list then
set new_file to file_name & " " & x & file_ext
set x to x + 1
else
exit repeat
end if
end repeat
-- create and select the new file
tell application "Finder"
activate
set the_file to make new file at folder this_folder with properties {name:new_file}
if is_desktop is false then
reveal the_file
else
select window of desktop
set selection to the_file
delay 0.1
end if
end tell
-- press enter (rename)
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
For convenience, I'm putting this AppleScript in this GitHub Gist.

Applescript to make new folder

I Want to make a new Folder command in apple script
Why dosent this script work?
tell application "Finder"
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
tell menu bar 1
tell menu bar item "File"
tell menu "File"
click menu item "New folder"
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
You can do it more directly with AppleScript:
tell application "Finder"
set p to path to desktop -- Or whatever path you want
make new folder at p with properties {name:"New Folder"}
end tell
I don't know if running bash commands within AppleScript is cheating, but you can also do:
do shell script "mkdir ~'/Desktop/New Folder'"
Which is useful when you need to create sub folders on-the-fly when they don't exist yet:
do shell script "mkdir -p ~'/Desktop/New Folder/Bleep/Bloop'"
tell application "Finder"
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
tell menu bar 1
tell menu bar item "File"
tell menu "File"
click menu item "new folder"
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
--you capitalize the N in new folder the new folder button is not capped.
NOTE: This can fail for two reasons;
(1) '~' trapped in singlequote won't parse.
(2) space in '/New Folder/' will break the path.
do shell script "mkdir -p '~/Desktop/New Folder/Bleep/Bloop'"
SOLVED:
do shell script "mkdir -p ~/Desktop/" & quoted form of "New Folder/Bleep/Bloop"
You can directly with an applescript script by simulating keystroke on ("N" and command and shift) this will create a new folder on the desktop or in the open Finder window.
Below the script, you can test it in the script editor
tell application "System Events" to tell process "Finder"
set frontmost to true
keystroke "N" using {command down, shift down}
end tell
Your script works if you add under "tell process" Finder "
"set frontmost to true"
Which give
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Finder"
set frontmost to true
tell menu bar 1
tell menu bar item "File"
tell menu "File"
click menu item "New folder"
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
tell application "Finder"
set thepath to alias "Macintosh HD:Users:JasonMagnuson:Documents:" as text
make new folder at thepath with properties {name:"nov_archive"}
end tell

Resources