Applescript Studio Programming For The Absolute Beginner

by Ford,Jr., Jerry Lee

• ISBN13: 9781598633030
• ISBN10: 1598633031
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-27
• Publisher: Cengage Learning PTR

Summary

This book focuses on teaching the reader how to program using AppleScript, the language that controls and automates applications on Mac OS X. Unlike other books on AppleScript, AppleScript Studio Programming for the Absolute Beginner focuses on AppleScript's role in supporting the development of AppleScript Studio applications. AppleScript Studio comes free with Mac OS X and provides the framework and integrated development environment for creating applications that include fully functional graphical user interfaces. Throughout the book, users will learn the key functionality of both the AppleScript language and the AppleScript Studio application development framework by developing graphical game-based applications that are actually fun to create. Topics covered include values, variables, classes, conditional logic, loop building, strings, lists, records, handlers, and much more. Although intended for readers new to programming, there is also additional coverage of more advanced topics; users will learn to work with drives, files and folders, how to control applications, and how to debug programs and handle errors. The companion CD-ROM includes all of the source code from the book.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xii
Why AppleScript Studio?	xiii
Who Should Read This Book?	xiv
What You Need to Begin	xv
How This Book Is Organized	xvi
Conventions Used in This Book	xix
Part I INTRODUCING APPLESCRIPT STUDIO	1	(106)
AppleScript Studio Basics	3	(28)
Project Preview: The Knock-Knock Application	4	(2)
Introducing AppleScript Studio	6	(2)
A Little AppleScript Studio History	6	(1)
A Quick Overview of AppleScript Studio Components	6	(2)
A Few Words About Object-Oriented Programming	8	(1)
AppleScript: AppleScript Studio's Programming Language	9	(8)
When to Write AppleScript	11	(1)
When to Develop AppleScript Studio Applications	11	(1)
Working with the Script Editor	12	(3)
Accessing Application Dictionaries	15	(2)
Back to the Knock-Knock Application	17	(13)
Designing the Game	18	(1)
Step 1: Creating a New AppleScript Studio Application	19	(2)
Step 2: Creating a Graphical User Interface	21	(4)
Step 3: Modifying Control Attributes and Attaching Controls to Event Handlers	25	(3)
Step 4: Editing Your AppleScript	28	(2)
Step 5: Building and Running Your Mac OS X Application	30	(1)
Summary	30	(1)
The AppleScript Studio Application Development Environment	31	(28)
Project Preview: The AppleScript Studio Fortune Teller Game	32	(1)
Project Templates	33	(3)
Setting Xcode Preferences	36	(1)
Working with the Xcode Project Window	37	(11)
The Project Window Toolbar	38	(1)
Groups & Files	38	(2)
The Project Windows Detail View	40	(1)
The Editor Window	41	(5)
The Info Window	46	(2)
Integration with the Interface Builder	48	(1)
The Terminology Browser	48	(1)
Debugging Capabilities	49	(1)
The Apple Developer Reference Library	50	(1)
Back to the AppleScript Studio Fortune Teller Game	51	(7)
Designing the AppleScript Studio Fortune Teller Game	51	(1)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	52	(1)
Step 2: Creating the User Interface	52	(3)
Step 3: Attaching Controls to Event Handlers	55	(1)
Step 4: Adding a Little Programming Logic	56	(1)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of the AppleScript Studio Fortune Teller Application	57	(1)
Summary	58	(1)
Building a Graphical User Interface	59	(48)
Project Preview: The Typo-Matic Typing Test Game	60	(3)
Create Graphical User Interfaces	63	(5)
Cocoa Controls	65	(2)
MainMenu.nib	67	(1)
MainMenu.nib -- MainMenu	67	(1)
Window	68	(1)
Cocoa Interface Elements	68	(27)
Cocoa Menus	68	(6)
Cocoa Controls and Indicators	74	(6)
Cocoa Text Controls	80	(3)
Cocoa Windows	83	(10)
Cocoa Data Views	93	(1)
Cocoa Container Views	94	(1)
Back to the Typo-Matic Typing Test Game	95	(10)
Designing the Game	95	(1)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	96	(1)
Step 2: Creating the User Interface	96	(1)
Step 3: Customizing Menus and Control Attributes, and Associating Controls with Event Handlers	97	(3)
Step 4: Adding a Little Programming Logic	100	(4)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of the Typo-matic Typing Test Game Application	104	(1)
Summary	105	(2)
Part II LEARNING HOW TO WRITE APPLESCRIPTS	107	(116)
Working with Values, Variables, and Classes	109	(36)
Project Preview: The Star Trek Trivia Game	109	(3)
AppleScript--The Technology	112	(1)
AppleScript--The Scripting Language	112	(4)
Language Extensibility	112	(1)
Language Features	113	(3)
Managing Data Using Variables	116	(2)
Storing Values in Variables	116	(1)
Retrieving Variable Values	117	(1)
Naming Variables	118	(3)
Case Sensitivity	119	(1)
Undefined Variables	120	(1)
Working with Different Variable Classes	121	(3)
The String Class	121	(1)
The Real Class	121	(1)
The Integer Class	121	(1)
The Date Class	122	(2)
The Boolean Class	124	(1)
Back to the Star Trek Trivia Game	124	(18)
Designing the Game	124	(1)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	125	(1)
Step 2: Creating the User Interface	125	(3)
Step 3: Customizing Control Properties	128	(1)
Step 4: Adding a Little Programming Logic	129	(9)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of the Star Trek Trivia Game	138	(1)
Application Code Review	139	(3)
Summary	142	(3)
Applying Conditional Logic and Building Loops	145	(28)
Project Preview: The Guess a Number Game	146	(3)
Implementing Conditional Logic	149	(4)
The if Statement	149	(1)
The if...else Statement	150	(1)
The if...else if Statement	151	(1)
Nested if Statements	152	(1)
Different Types of Comparisons	153	(1)
Building Compound Tests	154	(1)
Iterative Processing	155	(5)
Creating an Endless Loop	156	(1)
Iterating a Set Number of Times	157	(1)
Looping While a Condition Proves true	157	(1)
Looping Until a Condition Proves false	158	(1)
Controlling Loop Execution with a Counter	159	(1)
Processing List Contents	159	(1)
Back to the Guess a Number Game	160	(11)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	160	(1)
Step 2: Creating the User Interface	161	(2)
Step 3: Customizing Control Properties	163	(2)
Step 4: Adding a Little Programming Logic	165	(6)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of the Guess a Number Game	171	(1)
Summary	171	(2)
Working with Strings, Lists, and Records	173	(24)
Project Preview: Alexander's Tall Tale	174	(2)
Manipulating Strings	176	(5)
Assigning Strings to Variables	176	(1)
Getting Information About a String	176	(1)
Concatenating Strings	177	(1)
Controlling String Format	177	(1)
Advanced Comparisons	178	(2)
Working with Characters, Words, and Paragraphs	180	(1)
Defining and Accessing Lists	181	(3)
Working with Lists	181	(1)
Retrieving Elements from a List	182	(1)
Making Changes to Lists	183	(1)
Storing and Retrieving Data Using Records	184	(2)
Creating and Accessing Records	184	(1)
Modifying Record Property Values	185	(1)
Working with a List of Records	185	(1)
Back to Alexander's Tall Tale	186	(9)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	187	(1)
Step 2: Creating the User Interface	187	(1)
Step 3: Customizing Control Properties	188	(3)
Step 4: Adding a Little Program Code	191	(4)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of Alexander's Tall Tale Game	195	(1)
Summary	195	(2)
Organizing Scripts with Handlers	197	(26)
Project Preview: The Rock, Paper, Scissors Game	198	(2)
Working with Event Handlers	200	(5)
Creating Custom Event Handlers	201	(1)
Defining and Calling Handlers	201	(1)
Passing Arguments to Handlers	202	(2)
Returning a Result from an Event Handler	204	(1)
Understanding Scope	205	(3)
Local Scope	205	(1)
Global Scope	206	(2)
Back to the Rock, Paper, Scissors Game	208	(13)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	209	(1)
Step 2: Creating the User Interface	209	(2)
Step 3: Customizing Control Properties	211	(1)
Step 4: Adding a Little Programming Logic	212	(8)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of the Rock, Paper, Scissors Game	220	(1)
Summary	221	(2)
Part III ADVANCED TOPICS	223	(100)
Working with Files and Folders	225	(30)
Project Preview: The Slot Machine Game	225	(3)
Mac and POSIX Paths	228	(2)
Full and Relative Paths	230	(1)
Establishing a File Reference	231	(2)
Working with Text Files	233	(5)
Accessing Files and Folders	233	(1)
Reading from and Writing to Files	234	(4)
Creating Small Database Files	238	(4)
Creating and Saving the Database File	238	(1)
Retrieving and Accessing Database Records	239	(3)
Back to the Slot Machine Game	242	(11)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	243	(1)
Step 2: Creating the User Interface	243	(1)
Step 3: Customizing Control Properties	244	(1)
Step 4: Adding a Little Programming Logic	245	(8)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of the Slot Machine Game	253	(1)
Summary	253	(2)
Controlling Other Applications	255	(30)
Project Preview: The Tic-Tac-Toe Game	256	(2)
Automating Mac OS X Applications	258	(1)
Accessing Application Terminology	258	(3)
Application Dictionaries	259	(2)
Using tell to Direct Messages to Application Targets	261	(1)
Automating Mac OS X Applications	261	(7)
TextEdit	261	(2)
Finder	263	(1)
iTunes	263	(1)
Terminal	264	(1)
DVD	264	(1)
Address Book	265	(1)
Safari	265	(1)
Mail	266	(1)
System Events	266	(1)
Help Viewer	267	(1)
Back to the Tic-Tac-Toe Game	268	(15)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	268	(1)
Step 2: Creating the User Interface	268	(1)
Step 3: Customizing Control Properties	269	(4)
Step 4: Adding a Little Programming Logic	273	(10)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of the Tic-Tac-Toe Game	283	(1)
Summary	283	(2)
Debugging and Error Handling	285	(38)
Project Preview: The Poker Dice Game	286	(3)
Finding Ways of Handling Errors	289	(1)
Different Types of Errors	290	(2)
Syntax Errors	290	(1)
Logical Errors	291	(1)
Runtime Errors	291	(1)
Handling Errors	292	(4)
Using the try Statement to Catch Errors	292	(3)
Catching Specific Types of Errors	295	(1)
Keeping a Watchful Eye on Your AppleScript Studio Applications	296	(4)
Writing Output to the Log	296	(1)
Displaying Useful Information in Popup Dialogs	297	(1)
Using Sound to Indicate When Key Events Occur	298	(1)
Reviewing Error Messages	298	(2)
Debugging Your AppleScript Studio Applications	300	(4)
Running Your AppleScript Studio Applications in the Debugger	300	(2)
Setting Breakpoints	302	(1)
Controlling Statement Execution	303	(1)
Back to the Poker Dice Game	304	(17)
Step 1: Creating a New Project	304	(1)
Step 2: Creating the Game's Windows	304	(3)
Step 3: Customizing Control Properties	307	(4)
Step 4: Adding a Little Programming Logic	311	(10)
Step 5: Testing the Execution of the Poker Dice Game	321	(1)
Summary	321	(2)
Part IV APPENDICES	323	(2)
Appendix A What's on the Companion Website?	325	(2)
The Book's Source Code	326	(1)
Appendix B What Next?	327	(14)
Recommended Reading	327	(2)
Locating AppleScript Studio Resources Online	329	(4)
Apple's AppleScript Studio Web Pages	329	(1)
Apple's AppleScript Web Pages	330	(1)
MacScripter.net	331	(1)
Cocoa Dev Central	332	(1)
AppleScript Studio Mailing Lists	333	(8)
Apple's Applescript-Studio Mailing List	333	(1)
Apple's Applescript-implementors Mailing List	334	(1)
Apple's Applescript-users Mailing List	335	(1)
MacScripter's AppleScript Studio and Xcode Mailing List	336	(1)
Yahoo! Groups: AppleScript Mailing List	337	(1)
The AppleScript Studio -- How to Mailing List	338	(3)
Glossary	341	(10)
Index	351