Applescript - Bring window to foreground - macos

I have an application with several windows opened at the same time.
I'd like to bring a specific window to foreground (I know its title).
At the moment I'm using a combination of keys to achieve this task but I'd like to try something different since I'm experiencing some problems with this approach.
tell application "System Events"
set frontmost of process "appIT" to true
keystroke "1" using command down
delay 0.2
end tell

This is possible by using the "AXRaise" action, except on certain window (applications that use X11 for example).
Try this.
set theTitle to "some title"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "appIT"
set frontmost to true
perform action "AXRaise" of (windows whose title is theTitle)
end tell
end tell

If your application is scriptable and allows setting the index of a window, you can do the following (based on an answer in How do I make a Safari window active using AppleScript (elegantly)?)
to raiseWindow of theApplicationName for theName
tell the application named theApplicationName
activate
set theWindow to the first item of ¬
(get the windows whose name is theName)
if index of theWindow is not 1 then
set index to 1
set visible to false
set visible to true
end if
end tell
end raiseWindow
The toggling of the visibility is necessary to deal with some weirdness that occurs with switching applications. If you don't toggle the visibility, the window won't be the first when you switch away from and back to the application. Unfortunately, this toggling shrinks the window to the dock then restores it, a very dramatic UI disruption.
Here's another way I've found to deal with the weirdness:
to raiseWindow2 of theApplicationName for theName
tell the application named theApplicationName
activate
set theWindow to the first item of ¬
(get the windows whose name is theName)
if the index of theWindow is not 1 then
set the index of theWindow to 2
tell application "System Events" to ¬
tell application process theApplicationName to ¬
keystroke "`" using command down
end if
end tell
end raiseWindow2

I don't think System Events can change the front window of a process. Of course you can close the front window until the window you want is on top. That's not really a solution though as you probably don't want to close windows. Really though the only way you could achieve this is if the application itself is apple-scriptable and allows you to do this.

Related

How «Wait until application launch» applescript?

How to write the code correctly?
I run the application Photoshop in the automator
I'm waiting for it to fully load
Then I press 10 times Tab and press Enter.
I've tried that:
enter image description here
Looks like that part doesn't work. Because Tab starts to click before the application is fully loaded. What's wrong? Thanks!
repeat until application launch
delay 0.5 end repeat delay 0.5
Most likely, the OP does not understand the main thing: GUI scripting (in this case, sending 10 tabs, and then Enter, that is, keystroke tab and keystroke return in AppleScript language) only works with the frontmost window. And the launch command launches an application without bringing its window to the front.
The correct approach is 1) use the activate application "Photoshop" command 2) use the make new document command, 3) check if the new window exists, 4) send keystroke commands. In the Automator, the Run AppleScript action should be something like this:
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Photoshop"
activate
make new document with properties {name:"myNewDocument"}
repeat until window "myNewDocument" exists
delay 0.1
end repeat
end tell
tell application "System Events"
repeat 10 times
delay 0.1
keystroke tab
end repeat
keystroke return
end tell
return input
end run
NOTE: not tested, because PhotoShop.app is not installed on my Mac. I am ready to correct my script, if needed. In general, the question is not quite clear.
I don't know much about Photoshop, but I know that it has a loading screen. I tried the following code in Affinity Photo which is a similar product to Photoshop.
tell application "Photoshop"
launch
set theBool to false
repeat until theBool
tell application "System Events" to ¬
if menu item "Close" of ¬
menu 1 of ¬
menu bar item "File" of ¬
menu bar 1 of ¬
application process "Photoshop" exists then ¬
set theBool to true
delay 0.2
end repeat
end tell
The repeat until theBool checks if the loading screen is over by checking if some menu item exists which isn't available when the loading screen is open. If the "Close" and the "File" don't work in Photoshop, you may choose something else.
This is the answer:
tell application "Your app"
launch
activate
end tell

AppleScript to focus on a window in Preview app

Im trying to do some manipulation with preview using Automator. I have several windows open in preview, two of which are of interest. One is named "Markup Badges.png" one is called "Screenshot.png"
I want to set the focus to "Screenshot.png", copy the image and close the window, then I want to close the "Markup Badges.png" window.
I am having a lot of trouble getting this to work.
As part of my experimenting I have created two scripts trying to get the windows in focus, so I can then perform additional actions on them
Script 1:
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Preview"
set visible of every window whose visible is true to false
end tel
tell application "Preview"
try
set theWindow to 1st window whose name begins with "Screenshot.png"
set index of theWindow to 1
activate
end try
end tell
-- stuff
delay 1
tell application "Preview"
set visible of every window whose visible is false to true
end tell
return input
end run
Script 2:
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Preview"
set visible of every window whose visible is true to false
end tell
tell application "Preview"
try
set theWindow to 1st window whose name begins with "Markup Badges.png"
set index of theWindow to 1
activate
end try
end tell
-- stuff
delay 1
tell application "Preview"
set visible of every window whose visible is false to true
end tell
return input
end run
If I run Script 1 on its own, it does what I expect, Screenshot.png window is shown and has focus.
If I run Script 2 on its own, it does what I expect, Markup Badges.png window is shown and has focus.
If I run both scripts (play button in automator, Script 1 runs, followed by script 2) then script 2 does not work as it does on its own. The window is shown, but it does not have focus meaning I cannot send any keypresses to the window.
Any help appreciated
I found changing the code to the below fixed the problem.
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Preview"
set visible of every window whose visible is true to false
end tell
tell application "Preview"
try
set theWindow to 1st window whose name begins with "Markup Badges.png"
set index of theWindow to 1
activate
tell application "System Events" to tell process "Preview" to perform action "AXRaise" of window 1
end try
end tell
-- stuff
delay 1
tell application "Preview"
set visible of every window whose visible is false to true
end tell
return input
end run

How to set a window's index to last (furthest back) in applescript

I've seen a lot of posts for how to send a window to the front in applescript, but I want to be able to send it to the back. How do I write an applescript that will do this?
Maybe you don't actually need to move any windows. Maybe you can just hide your application so your window isn't showing. Since you don't want your window on the top then it's probably OK to just hide your application. It continues running and does its thing but its window doesn't cover any other windows.
Just change "Safari" to the name of your application.
set myAppName to "Safari"
tell application myAppName to activate
tell application "System Events"
-- wait until your application comes forward and then hide it
repeat
set p to first process whose frontmost is true
if name of p is myAppName then
set visible of p to false -- hide your application
exit repeat
end if
delay 0.2
end repeat
end tell
EDIT: if hiding your app doesn't work then you could just keystroke command-tab which is the application switcher command. Basically your app will come to the front and then the keystroke will make the previously frontmost application come to the front. So your window won't go all the way back but it won't be in the front. Maybe that will work.
set myAppName to "Safari"
tell application myAppName to activate
tell application "System Events"
-- wait until your application comes forward
repeat
set p to first process whose frontmost is true
if name of p is myAppName then exit repeat
delay 0.2
end repeat
-- use the application switcher to bring the previously frontmost application forward
keystroke tab using command down
end tell
Something like set index to 999 doesn't seem to work, but set index to (count windows) does:
tell application "TextEdit"
set index of window 1 to (count windows)
end tell
You might also raise all other windows:
tell application "System Events" to tell process "TextEdit"
repeat with w in windows 2 thru -1
perform action "AXRaise" of w
end repeat
end tell
This will move the front finder window to the back...
tell application "Finder" to set index of front Finder window to (count Finder windows)
I have not used "openFrameWorks" so I am not sure of how it works…
But rather than reinvent the wheel with Applescript.
Can you not set the window level in "openFrameWorks"
In xcode/Objective - c I would use the NSWindow Window Levels constants.
To set a normal window:
[awindow setLevel: NSNormalWindowLevel];
But set a window below other normal windows:
[awindow setLevel: NSNormalWindowLevel - 1000];
This will insure the window is always below any normal applications windows. Even when I click on it or drag it. It stays behind other windows.

Listing all windows of all applications

I am trying to write an applescript script that resizes all open windows. In order to make sure that I'm getting to all the windows, I'm making my script say the name of the application as well as the number of open windows of that application.
Interestingly, while I hear the names of all my open applications, my script says that they all have 0 windows open. How can I fix this issue?
Here's my code:
tell application "System Events"
repeat with theProcess in (every process)
if background only of theProcess is false then
if name of theProcess is not "Finder" then
if name of theProcess is "Google Chrome" then
say "Chrome woo hoo"
say (count windows as string)
else
say name of theProcess as string
say (count windows as string)
tell theProcess
repeat with theWindow in windows
say "found a window of"
say (name of theProcess) as string
tell theWindow
click button 2
end tell
end repeat
end tell
end if
end if
end if
end repeat
end tell
I'm on Mac OS X 10.7.5, using automator 2.2.4 to write/run this applescript
You have to tell the process to count windows. After all it's the process that knows about its windows, not system events.
You have told the process to say its name e.g. "say name of theProcess as string" however you only use "say (count windows as string)"... no process is tied to that. Try "count windows of theProcess". Basically you have lines where sometimes you tell the process, other times you don't, and other times where you tell the process even though you've already told the process, so you do it twice. That's where you have "say (name of theProcess) as string" but that code is inside a "tell theProcess" block so it's already being told to theProcess.
Really you need to go through your code and be more precise. A tip... if you want to click a button in a window then the window must be frontmost on the screen otherwise you can't click it. Another tip... "name" is already a string so you don't need to coerce that to a string.
By the way, I agree with Michael Dautermann's comment to your post... there will be processes where you won't get access. But you'll find that out as you progress.
Here's how I would write your code. Basically I would get all of the variables at the beginning using a "tell theProcess" block. Then I can do stuff with those variables. I hope that helps. Notice that I only made the process frontmost which means if it has multiple windows open it will only click a button on the front window. You'll have to add code to make each window come to the front before you can click its button. Good luck.
tell application "System Events"
repeat with theProcess in processes
if not background only of theProcess then
tell theProcess
set processName to name
set theWindows to windows
end tell
set windowsCount to count of theWindows
if processName is "Google Chrome" then
say "Chrome woo hoo"
say windowsCount as text
else if processName is not "Finder" then
say processName
say windowsCount as text
if windowsCount is greater than 0 then
repeat with theWindow in theWindows
say "found a window of " & processName
tell theProcess
set frontmost to true
tell theWindow
click button 2
end tell
end tell
end repeat
end if
end if
end if
end repeat
end tell
I create a list of all open windows of visible applications on Mavericks like this:
tell application "System Events"
set this_info to {}
repeat with theProcess in (application processes where visible is true)
set this_info to this_info & (value of (first attribute whose name is "AXWindows") of theProcess)
end repeat
this_info -- display list in results window of AppleScript Editor
end tell
You need to allow any app using this to access the interface under Accessibility.

Applescript check if window is one screen

I have written this script function
on GetWindowLocation()
set front_app to (path to frontmost application as Unicode text)
tell application front_app
item 1 of (get bounds of front window)
end tell
end GetWindowLocation
on GetDockStatus()
tell application "System Events" to get the autohide of the dock preferences
end GetDockStatus
if I am on the desktop with no windows up it errors.
How can I check if a window is on screen, so I can put an if statement to not
run it if a window is not on the screen.
Probably the easiest fix here would be to simply catch the error:
tell application front_app
try
return item 1 of (get bounds of front window)
on error
-- do something here to handle there being no front window
end try
end tell
You could also try checking the count of windows before trying to reference the front window, but that's somewhat more prone to errors (as the window may disappear before you grab its bounds).

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