AppleScript Word Count Service - applescript

Question

I am trying to create a service in OSX leopard that counts the number of words of selected text. I have automator set to run an applescript, with the following put in it:
on run {input, parameters}
count words of input
display alert "Words: " & input
return input
end run
When I compile the script, it says it cannot count every word. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks for the help,
Elliott

Answer 1

First of all, I presume you are testing this in Automator, and that's where the error is taking place? If so, the likely problem is that there is no input—so it can't count the words of nothing. In order to test it successfully, you need to temporarily add a "Get Specified Text" action before the Run AppleScript action, and enter some test text into that field. You'll have to remove the Get Specified Text action before using it as an actual service.
Secondly, you need to use
count words of (input as string)
in order to get a proper count, otherwise it'll return zero.

Answer 2

I made one here, on Github:
https://gist.github.com/1616556
The current source is:
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "System Events"
set _appname to name of first process whose frontmost is true
end tell
set word_count to count words of (input as string)
set character_count to count characters of (input as string)
tell application _appname
display alert "" & word_count & " words, " & character_count & " characters"
end tell
return input
end run
Use Automator.app to create a new service, and then select the Run AppleScript action. Paste this code in to the text box, and save as Word and Character Count. Now switch to a new app, select some text, and open the context menu to find the new option.