I'm working on an applescript that clicks menu items in an application menu bar. I'd like to run this script without it displaying the whole process of clicking the target menu item. For example, here's some code below to click the disable for an hour menu item in the menu bar for the F.lux application
ignoring application responses
tell application "System Events" to tell process "Flux"
click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
end tell
end ignoring
do shell script "killall System\\ Events"
delay 0.1
tell application "System Events" to tell process "Flux"
tell menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
click menu item "Disable for an hour" of menu 1
end tell
end tell
How do I go about preventing the display of the gui manipulation when running the this script?
You cannot do this. For AppleScript GUI scripting to work the UI elements must be front and key as they would be for the human.
Related
System
M1 MacBook Pro
MacOS Big Sur
Problem
I like the default Mac touchbar layout for everyday use, but I prefer the F1-F12 keys at my fingertips when programming. I also don't like holding down the fn key. That's why I wrote two AppleScripts to switch the layouts (included below).
The scripts work, but they are buggy. This is because they rely on opening the System Preferences app and navigating through the menus. I made a couple "apps" with Automator
that simply run the scripts and then assigned them to keyboard shortcuts.
This is an ok solution, but I'd like to do something more elegant. Ideally, my script should run behind the scenes and instantly change the touchbar layout instead of opening System Preferences, selecting items from drop-down-lists, and then finally closing System Preferences.
I messed around with the shell for quite awhile with no success before resorting to using Automator. Any suggestions from those who are more savvy with sort of thing?
Code
This one makes the F1-F12 keys the default touchbar layout:
tell application "System Preferences"
set the current pane to pane id "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
delay 0.25
reveal anchor "keyboardTab" of pane "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click pop up button 2 of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click menu item "F1, F2, etc. Keys" of menu 1 of pop up button 2 of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click pop up button 4 of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click menu item "Show App Controls" of menu 1 of pop up button 4 of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"
end tell
end tell
quit application "System Preferences"
And this one does the reverse (makes app controls the default touchbar layout):
tell application "System Preferences"
set the current pane to pane id "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
delay 0.25
reveal anchor "keyboardTab" of pane "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click pop up button 2 of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click menu item "App Controls" of menu 1 of pop up button 2 of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click pop up button 4 of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click menu item "Show F1, F2, etc. Keys" of menu 1 of pop up button 4 of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"
end tell
end tell
quit application "System Preferences"
On macOS Catalina when toggling the target setting it changes the value of the PresentationModeGlobal key in ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.touchbar.agent.plist from appWithControlStrip to functionKeys or vise versa for those two choices. However, toggling it programmatically using the defaults command while it changes it in the UI it does not change it on the Touch Bar without also restarting the ControlStrip process.
The following example shell script code is what I use with a single keyboard shortcut to toggle between between Show App Controls and F1, F2, etc. Keys as that is what they are set to respectively in System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard on my system.
Example shell script code:
#!/bin/zsh
pmg="$(defaults read com.apple.touchbar.agent 'PresentationModeGlobal')"
if [[ $pmg == "appWithControlStrip" ]]; then
defaults write com.apple.touchbar.agent 'PresentationModeGlobal' 'functionKeys'
killall "ControlStrip"
else
defaults write com.apple.touchbar.agent 'PresentationModeGlobal' 'appWithControlStrip'
killall 'ControlStrip'
fi
Notes:
Other versions of macOS may require additional settings to be changed and or additional processes to be restarted, e.g., pkill 'Touch Bar agent' if applicable.
In Terminal you can use the read verb of the defaults command to examine changes to com.apple.touchbar.agent.plist as you make them in the UI to see if the value for additional keys needs to be changed too.
Side Note
As to your AppleScript code, here is how I'd do it based on your code as a single script to toggle between the two choices.
You didn't say what version of macOS are you running and since I do not have a pop up button 4 I cannot test the example AppleScript code shown below, however, this should eliminate having two separate scripts and it just toggles between the two with a single keyboard shortcut.
Example AppleScript code:
tell application "System Preferences"
set the current pane to pane id "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
delay 0.25
reveal anchor "keyboardTab" of pane "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell tab group 1 of window 1 of process "System Preferences"
if value of pop up button 2 is "Show App Controls" then
click pop up button 2
click menu item "F1, F2, etc. Keys" of menu 1 of pop up button 2
click pop up button 4
click menu item "Show App Controls" of menu 1 of pop up button 4
else
click pop up button 2
click menu item "Show App Controls" of menu 1 of pop up button 2
click pop up button 4
click menu item "F1, F2, etc. Keys" of menu 1 of pop up button 4
end if
end tell
end tell
quit application "System Preferences"
Note: The example AppleScript code is just that and sans any included error handling does not contain any additional error handling as may be appropriate. The onus is upon the user to add any error handling as may be appropriate, needed or wanted. Have a look at the try statement and error statement in the AppleScript Language Guide. See also, Working with Errors. Additionally, the use of the delay command may be necessary between events where appropriate, e.g. delay 0.5, with the value of the delay set appropriately.
I'm trying to open a messaging application (it does not have an Apple Script Dictionary (command + shift + o)), click on text, and type into the text box, and hit send.
Pop up: Script Error - Telegram got an error: Can't continue click after the application becomes active.
Result Tab: error "Telegram got an error: Can’t continue click." number -1708
P.S., The messaging application is Telegram.
Apple Script:
tell application "Telegram"
activate
delay 1
click on text "chat name"
keystroke "some text"
//assuming this works because text box is the first responder when the chat opens.
click on text "Send"
end tell
If an application lacks an AppleScript dictionary, any command except the standard commands launch, activate, open, reopen and quit will throw an error.
The solution is GUI scripting: The built-in application System Events is the bridge to send mouse clicks and keyboard events to the target application.
I don't know the application Telegram at all, so this code might fail, but it might also be a starting point
activate application "Telegram"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Telegram"
tell window 1
keystroke "some text"
click button "Send"
end tell
end tell
end tell
You have two choices for a 3rd party app that lacks an AppleScript dictionary.
Option 1:
Use System Events as described above to perform an action on an element, e.g. click a button, keystroke text into a field, etc. The trick is to identify the element in syntax that is recognized by Applescript. Besides UIElementInspector mentioned above, which can be confusing and occasionally wrong/incomplete, you can also run the following commands in a separate Applescript Editor. For example, to get all UI elements for the active window (window 1) in Telegram:
tell application "System Events" to tell application process "Telegram" to tell window 1
UI elements
end tell
To get all UI elements for the main menu bar in Telegram:
tell application "System Events" to tell application process "Telegram" to tell menu bar 1
UI elements
end tell
In each case the Result pane will display a comma delimited list of all available UI elements in that window or menu bar. Moreover, the syntax as listed is guaranteed to be recognizable by Applescript. Just identify the correct element and tell System Events to tell it what to do.
For example if you want to click the Menu item "Format" In TextEdit first run the following:
tell application "System Events" to tell application process "TextEdit" to tell menu bar 1
UI elements
end tell
Among the results in the Result pane will be the following:
menu bar item "Format" of menu bar 1 of application process "TextEdit" of application "System Events"
Convert that to Applescript, run the script and it will click the "Format" Menu:
tell application "TextEdit" to activate --you need TexEdit up and running to click its menu bar
tell application "System Events" to click menu bar item "Format" of menu bar 1 of application process "TextEdit"
For submenus, etc. you just iterate the process asking for UI elements for the submenu. GUI scripting is iterative and empirical.
Option 2:
Download the free Terminal/Command Line app cliclick which allows you to click on any point in the screen. The screen coordinates you want to click can be manually identified with your cursor by holding down command + shift + 4.
I have an OS X application that runs as a status bar app. I am trying to do a test automation. Is there a way to click the status bar app using Apple Script?
The script given below works only on native apps.
tell application "System Events" to tell process "SystemUIServer" to click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 1
I am looking for a similar functionality on custom apps.
Not all Menu Bar Extras (or status icons) can be accessed through UI Scripting. You have to experiment with whether they can be called through a unique description or other value.
Play with code like this to see if you can figure it out:
tell application "System Events" to tell process "SystemUIServer"
tell (menu bar item 1 of menu bar 1 where description is "clock")
click
click menu item "Open Date & Time Preferences…" of menu 1
end tell
end tell
If you can't find it there, you can try menu bar 2 for Status items.
I'd like to AppleScript to click a menu bar icon (not a system process) and then click on one of the menu items. I'm using OS X 10.10.
I've read that I can use the Accessibility Inspector to find the AXDescription of the item, however, I can't find it anywhere in the inspector (in fact none of the items I inspected seemed to have this property).
I also tried the method described here but get an error on line 10:
ignoring application responses
tell application "System Events" to tell process "Webcam Settings"
click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
end tell
end ignoring
do shell script "killall System\\ Events"
delay 0.1
tell application "System Events" to tell process "Webcam Settings"
tell menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
click menu item "Show Webcam Settings Panel" of menu 1
end tell
end tell
System Events got an error: Can’t get menu 1 of menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 of process "Webcam Settings". Invalid index.
There are some menu bar apps which you can click and show menu with applescript regardless of if they appear in dock.
But I am afraid you can’t access the menubar of “Webcam Settings” with applescript.
Because there isn’t key named “isAccessbiliyFocused” in the attributes.
Menu bar apps you can show their menu with applescript have that key and its value is “Yes”.
I am not quite sure about my answer but as far as I investigate this issue, my answer is probably right.
Sometimes I use PdaNet to tether using my iPhone. The desktop client for OSX is not as rich as the one for windows. One of the chief differences is, that the OSX does not allow to automatically connect to iPhone as soon as the latter is plugged in.
Would you know of a way using Applescript to click on the PdaNet icon on the Menu Bar and then select and click the 'Connect' option on it ?
Here is what the 'PdaNetMac' application's menu bar icon looks like:
I have looked at the following questions but am an applescript newbie and am not sure how to search for PdaNet's icon on the menu bar:
Click menu item on Mac OSX Lion using AppleScript
Applescript: on clicking Menu Bar item via gui script
Accessing dock icon right-click menu items with AppleScript
I have confirmed that 'Enable Access for assistive devices' is enabled.
Based on the second question above, Here is my current attempt at doing this:
ignoring application responses
tell application "System Events" to tell process "PdaNet"
click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
end tell
end ignoring
do shell script "killall System\\ Events"
delay 0.1
tell application "System Events" to tell process "PdaNet"
tell menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
click menu item "Connect" of menu 1
end tell
end tell
Interestingly, the above script works for me fine when I change PdaNet to Flux.
Thanks!!
You were very close !!
I just downloaded the PdaNet application to test this, and the only edit I had to make to your script was change PdaNet to 'PdaNetMac` ( I was thinking that this is the Process Name and so used the process name displayed in Activity Monitor).
So this works for me:
ignoring application responses
tell application "System Events" to tell process "PdaNetMac"
click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
end tell
end ignoring
do shell script "killall System\\ Events"
delay 0.1
tell application "System Events" to tell process "PdaNetMac"
tell menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
click menu item "Connect" of menu 1
end tell
end tell
Hope this works for you too !!
(Very useful script, btw. Cheers !)