AppleScript inserts string into application inbetween double quotes - applescript

I just purchased Alfred App for my Mac and I want to use this script I found online:
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--Modified by: Pontus Sundén, http://psu.se
--Icon from: http://findicons.com/pack/1362/private_eye_act_1
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on alfred_script(strQuery)
--Get the parameters passed to the script - this is the search query
set strSearchCriteria to SpaceList(strQuery)
--Try to populated an existing window with the search query
tell application "Evernote"
try
set query string of window 1 to strSearchCriteria
on error
--No existing window, open an new one
open collection window with query string strSearchCriteria
end try
end tell
tell application "System Events" to set frontmost of process "Evernote" to true
end alfred_script
--Take a list of text items and retrun them as a string with a space between each item
on SpaceList(astrItems)
--Store what the current list delimiter is
set tmpDelimiters to AppleScript's text item delimiters
--Set the list delimiter to a space and build the string we want to pass back
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to " "
set strReturn to astrItems as string
--Set the list delimiter back to what it was previously
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to tmpDelimiters
--Return the string we built
return strReturn
end SpaceList
which should open up evernote and search for something. It works fine, but instead of searching for, say the word boat, it will search for "boat" with the double quotes and obviously this yields no matches.

Your script is perfectly correct – the spurious quoting of search terms passed via AppleScript is a known Evernote bug in version 3 of the client (well, “known” as in “I opened a support ticket for it a while ago, and Evernote acknowledged it”; I’d add a link to the ticket, but these are private to the user who opened it … will update on progress, though).
Until they get around to fix it, you will have to either use the suggested GUI Scripting solution as a workaround, or correct the search strings manually.

You can use UI scripting to populate the search field like this:
set xxx to "boat"
activate application "Evernote"
tell application "System Events" to tell process "Evernote"
set value of text field 1 of group 4 of tool bar 1 of window 1 to xxx
end tell

Related

AppleScript: How to extract numbers from a string?

I am writing a script to go to the NYT website on Corona, get the US data, extract numbers (total, death), and to send me a notification. I am close, but when I extract numbers and display them, they are put together (ie 700021 instead of 7000,21). My question is:
How do I extract the numbers so that they are delineated?
Here is the code:
set theURL to "https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-coronavirus&variant=show&region=TOP_BANNER&context=storyline_menu"
tell application "Safari" to make new document with properties {URL:theURL}
tell application "System Events"
repeat until exists (UI elements of groups of toolbar 1 of window 1 of application process "Safari" whose name = "Reload this page")
delay 0.5
end repeat
end tell
to getInputByClass(theClass, num)
tell application "Safari"
set input to do JavaScript "
document.getElementsByClassName('" & theClass & "')[" & num & "].innerText;" in document 1
end tell
return input
end getInputByClass
set myVar to getInputByClass("g-body ", 5)
on returnNumbersInString(inputString)
set s to quoted form of inputString
do shell script "sed s/[a-zA-Z\\']//g <<< " & s
set dx to the result
set numlist to {}
repeat with i from 1 to count of words in dx
set this_item to word i of dx
try
set this_item to this_item as number
set the end of numlist to this_item
end try
end repeat
return numlist
end returnNumbersInString
set theNums to returnNumbersInString(myVar) as text
display notification "COVID-19 UPDATE" subtitle theNums sound name "glass"
tell application "Safari"
close its front window
end tell
You are getting a list of numbers from the returnNumbersInString handler, but just coercing the list to text doesn't normally provide any kind of formatting. One solution would be to use text item delimiters to specify the text to use when joining the list items. For example, when converting to text for the notification you could do something like:
set tempTID to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ", "
set theNums to returnNumbersInString(myVar) as text
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to tempTID
Similar to your other question I helped you with, the target data is already in a table and as such I'd use the table data to get the information as its structure layout is not likely to change where target 'g-body ' of 5 may not always be the United States.
I get my data a little different way:
set theURL to "https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/coronavirus-maps.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-coronavirus&variant=show&region=TOP_BANNER&context=storyline_menu"
tell application "Safari" to make new document with properties {URL:theURL}
tell application "System Events"
repeat until exists ¬
(UI elements of groups of toolbar 1 of window 1 of ¬
application process "Safari" whose name = "Reload this page")
delay 0.5
end repeat
end tell
tell application "Safari" to tell document 1 to set CountriesTable to ¬
do JavaScript "document.getElementsByClassName('svelte-f9sygj')[0].innerText;"
tell application "Safari" to close its front window
set awkCommand to ¬
"awk '/United States/{print $3,\"Cases &\",$4,\"Deaths\"}'"
set notificationMessage to ¬
do shell script awkCommand & "<<<" & CountriesTable's quoted form
display notification notificationMessage subtitle "US COVID-19 UPDATE" sound name "glass"
NOTE: The code used to determine when the page in Safari has finished loading works in macOS Mojave and later, however, for macOS High Sierra and some earlier versions, add the words buttons of in front of UI elements ... in the repeat until exists ¬ ... code.
Note: The example AppleScript code is just that and does not contain any 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.

Removing a word from a variable in Applescript

I'm pretty newbie at Applescript and I can't work out how to remove a word from a variable if the word contains a “#” in it.
My script gets this error -> "Can’t make word into type integer." number -1700 from word to integer
Here's my script so far:
activate application "Grids"
delay 2
tell application "System Events"
keystroke "a" using command down
delay 0.25
keystroke "c" using command down
delay 0.25
set Description to the clipboard
if any word in Description contains "#" then delete that word
return Description
end tell
Any pointers?
Cheers,
Chris
To get text out of the clipboard, use (clipboard as text). The clipboard can contain almost anything, even multiple objects, in multiple formats, so as text gives you a string to work with.
And watch out: 'Description' appears to be part of some existing appleScript 'terminology', at least on the Mac I have right here, so I am changing your identifier to desc here:
activate application "Grids"
delay 2
tell application "System Events"
keystroke "a" using command down
delay 0.25
keystroke "c" using command down
delay 0.25
set desc to the clipboard as text
end tell
set out to {}
set tids to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to " "
repeat with anItem in (text items of desc)
set str to (anItem as string)
if (str does not contain "#") then
set end of out to str
end if
end repeat
set outStr to out as string
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to tids
return outStr
This code just returns the text you are looking for. It does not re-insert the groomed string, or do anything else interesting.
I assume you're going to tell System Events to paste it via cmd-v. (Remember to set the clipboard to outStr before you paste!)
AppleScript's text item delimiters allows the string to be split and reassembled using a space (or any other token you wish). For code hygiene reasons, it's wise practice to store it before changing it, then reset it to its original value afterwards, as shown here, otherwise odd things might happen in scripts which expect it to have the default value.

Change the color of text by using applescript

I am writing some text in to word file i want to change the color of that text any one can help on that one plz.
I want to print the 'message' from following script in red color.
Here is the Script:
set message to "mostly these windows are popup in application"
on ResultCreationFuction(message)
try
set text_to_save to message as text
tell application "System Events"
tell application "Finder"
set sortedList to sort (get files of folder "SofTestAutomationResult" of desktop) by modification date
set FileCount to get count of sortedList
set theFile to (item FileCount of sortedList) as alias
end tell
set file_ref to open for access theFile with write permission
write (text_to_save & return) to the file_ref starting at eof
close access file_ref
delay 2
end tell
end try
end ResultCreationFuction
Some Details:
The file is word which is all ready present on above location having name "10.012.2014_17_4_20.doc" (the name of .doc file is not fix)
What you are attempting is the wrong way to do it.
To manipulate content like that, including formatted text (not plain
text), you need to work within, ideally, a well-scriptable app, like
Pages (or Word, perhaps, but I don't have that on the machine I'm
writing this from).
Don't use System Events if you don't need to. Use the apps with the appropriate AppleEvents/dictionary, etc. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to take advantage of the infinite resource known as the web.
"Fuction" is just bad form.
I would suggest doing a lot more reading up on how AppleScript works (or scripting in general), but to start you out, here is a script I just wrote in pages which sets the color of a specific word of the open document after putting text in there:
tell application "Pages"
set body text of document 1 to "hello there mister fancy pants"
set color of word 3 of body text of page 1 of document 1 to {64614, 0, 111}
end tell
If you have Pages, try this by starting with a blank page and running this script. Obviously, you could get rid of "word 3 of" in the 2nd line, and the whole body text will be red.
I hope this makes sense and is of help.
[edit]
I should mention that even TextEdit is scriptable and can open Word documents. Here's an example using TextEdit:
tell application "TextEdit"
set text of document 1 to "hello mister fancy pants"
set color of words 2 thru 3 of text of document 1 to {65535, 0, 0}
end tell
There is a little danger of non-Word apps losing formatting of Word files. But it just seems you are attempting something very simple, and I'm not sure if Word is really necessary here.
You can't add color using the write to eof. You should open the document in Word and then insert the line and add the color. Here's a script that should demonstrate how:
set text_to_add to "mostly these windows are popup in application"
set theFile to ((path to desktop folder) & "10.012.2014_17_4_20.doc") as string
tell application "Microsoft Word"
set theFile to theFile as string -- assuming theFile is an alias or :: path
open file theFile
tell active document
set endOfDoc to end of content of text object -- insert the text to end of document
set theRange to create range start (endOfDoc - 1) end endOfDoc
insert text text_to_add at theRange
set myRange to create range start endOfDoc end (endOfDoc + (length of text_to_add))
set color index of font object of myRange to red
save
end tell
end tell

AppleScript to get the active list in Reminders?

Can anyone help me to get the active list on display in the Reminders app on OS X?
According to the applescript dictionary for reminders, the application has a "default list" property which is "the list currently active in the Reminders application."
However, this property always seems to return the first list in order in the lists sidebar, not the list which is actually being displayed and is active. I have found that if I rearrange the order of the lists in the sidebar, I will always get whichever I have made the first list, regardless of which is actually being viewed and worked with.
My application is to create a Keyboard Maestro trigger to run an AppleScript to print the list I am currently working on, but it does not appear that the Reminders app functions as is documented in its dictionary. (I have temporarily used a workaround of having the script pop up a chooser listing all the lists so I can select the one i want to print, but that's inefficient and inelegant).
Thanks!
Yes, you can, but you will have to use the bad GUI scripting. And in a bad way. Look:
--Do some GUI scripting to get the decription of a specific group
tell application "Reminders" to activate
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Reminders"
tell window "Reminders"
tell splitter group 1
tell group 1
set des to get description
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
--This description is in the format "Viewing MyList, 1 reminder" so get the part to the "," from des.
set text item delimiters to ","
set texitems to text items of des
set firstPart to get text item 1 of texitems
--Setting the delimiters back
set text item delimiters to ""
--Jump to charcter 9 of firstPart then converting to text
set listname to characters 9 thru end of firstPart as text
--Now we know the name of the current list, so do whatever you want:
tell application "Reminders" to get list listname
This works. But only if Reminders is open. And if Apple changes Reminders structure...

Get message in compose window from Mail.app

I am trying to make a script that will get the contents of an email message that I'm composing in Mail, do something with the data, and then send the message. I know how to make and send a new message from scratch with AppleScript, but I can't find a way to get a message that I'm already writing. I don't care what language is used, and I would be open to trying a different email client. Thanks for your help!
Mail has huge limitations with regards to Applescript and dealing with its content area is a major one. The best bet is to use GUI scripting to tab to the content area, type cmd-C, and then work off the data in the clipboard.
Sadly from what I can see Applescript has not been improved at all in Lion.
It's actually pretty easy to do what you need.
If you want to run some kind of an inline processing (assigned to, say, a hotkey (in Mail, e.g. Cmd+D is not occupied), or "just" listed in the Services menu, accessible after selecting something), you can simply use Automator. A demo Automator script reading the current selection, making some changes (here, converting some ASCII char+number combinations to some accented characters) and, finally, returning the modified text is as follows:
on run {input, parameters}
set myText to replaceText("a1", "á", (input as text))
set myText to replaceText("e1", "é", myText)
set myText to replaceText("i1", "í", myText)
return myText
end run
on replaceText(find, replace, someText)
set prevTIDs to text item delimiters of AppleScript
set text item delimiters of AppleScript to find
set someText to text items of someText
set text item delimiters of AppleScript to replace
set someText to "" & someText
set text item delimiters of AppleScript to prevTIDs
return someText
end replaceText
Make sure you enable the "Replaces selected text", should you want to overwrite the original content with the returned one.
if you want to write an external script not invoked from the local Services menu (or via a hotkey), you'll also need to add clipboard handling. A solution similar to the above with additional clipboard copy/paste:
on replaceText(find, replace, someText)
set prevTIDs to text item delimiters of AppleScript
set text item delimiters of AppleScript to find
set someText to text items of someText
set text item delimiters of AppleScript to replace
set someText to "" & someText
set text item delimiters of AppleScript to prevTIDs
return someText
end replaceText
tell application "Mail"
activate
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Mail"
click menu item "Select All" of menu "Edit" of menu bar 1
click menu item "Copy" of menu "Edit" of menu bar 1
end tell
end tell
end tell
tell application "Mail"
set textclip to (the clipboard)
end tell
set myText to replaceText("a1", "á", textclip)
set myText to replaceText("e1", "é", myText)
set myText to replaceText("i1", "í", myText)
set the clipboard to myText
tell application "Mail"
activate
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Mail"
click menu item "Paste" of menu "Edit" of menu bar 1
end tell
end tell
end tell
Note that the latter script selects (and, then, overwrites) the entire window contents. It should be easy to work on the current selection only.
It's possible, but painful. Painful enough that I'm still trying to work out exactly how to do something similar but in Safari. I've gotten to the point where I can find the textarea, but the documentation I've found for getting the content isn't working. (Unfortunately, that's pretty much par for the course for AppleScript; every program does stuff just a little bit differently from the next program.)
EDIT: ok, have some horrible evil which hopefully can be adapted to work with Mail: http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~allbery/edit_textarea.script
This is striaghtforward if we make two reasonably weak assumptions: that the message you're working on is frontmost, and that the subject of all draft messages is unique. Then, before running the script, save the message you're working on; this will place it in the drafts mailbox. Then, since the subject of the message is the name of the window, we can easily access it; and since we can easily access the drafts mailbox, we can combine the two. This gives us:
tell application "Mail"
set msgs to messages of drafts mailbox ¬
whose subject is (name of window 1 as string)
if (count of msgs) = 1 then
-- Do whatever
else
-- Error, disambiguate, whatever
end if
end tell
It's probably possible to make the script save the frontmost window, and it wouldn't surprise me if a freshly-saved message is always the first item of the drafts mailbox, but these are left as an exercise for the reader :-)
So I came across this in 2020 and with this Apple Script it is (now?) possible (whenever its still a bit hacky since I have to use the clipboard for this):
activate application "Mail"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Mail"
set initialClipboardContent to (the clipboard as text)
set composeWindow to (first window whose title does not contain "Inbox")
set value of attribute "AXFocused" of UI element 1 of scroll area 1 of composeWindow to true
delay 0.05
# CMD + A
key code 0 using command down
delay 0.1
# CMD + C
key code 8 using command down
delay 0.1
set message to (the clipboard as text) as string
log message
set the clipboard to initialClipboardContent
end tell
end tell
Here a proof of concept:

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