Re: AppleScript seems to be Unique...
Re: AppleScript seems to be Unique...
- Subject: Re: AppleScript seems to be Unique...
- From: Brennan Young <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 19:35:16 +0200
- Organization: Magic Lantern
Alexander Schrieken <email@hidden>
>
The key to this feature seems to be the fact that
>
Apple provides a common scripting language for all
>
applications -- or at least the basis of it.
Yes, Apple Events are used by most serious applications, but sadly, many
large applications, even those made by Apple, have poor, or patchy
Applescript support, so while Applescript might be unique, it has yet to
come into full flower.
In my experience there are maybe a dozen or so applications which really
seem to have 'got it' as far as Applescriptability goes. Some of these are
shareware, so making a decent scriptable app is certainly not reserved for
the big boys. I'm disgusted that Adobe and Macromedia don't make more of an
effort. I dream of being able to script apps like Flash and Director (whose
own scripting languages fall rather short when it comes to more meta-aspects
of authoring, like actually publishing files for the web.).
Microsoft seems to have taken Applescript to heart, just check the
dictionaries in Office, and there's even a whole website devoted to scripts
for entourage. For this they deserve credit, IE's dictionary is not too bad
either, but we still lack a really thoroughly scriptable web browser from
any vendor. (I haven't checked Opera yet).
It's a chicken/egg situation. People will remain ignorant of Applescript and
its capabilities as long as the software makers don't push it. OSX will make
or break Applescript, as a flood of more geeky users from the *n*x community
come aboard. Maybe the command line and various shells will make Applescript
obsolete, maybe the geeks will put wind in Applescript's sails. It's going
to be interesting.
>
I
>
suspect developers of Windows-applications don't
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have this luxury, and must create some proprietory
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macro-system if they want to offer the user the
>
ability to automate the program. Developers might
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use the same macro-system in all of their
>
products, but that won't do much for integration
>
with other applications -- unless they're called
>
MicroSoft maybe.
>
>
Am I wrong?
No, that's about right, and MS *do* have visualBasic, which is exactly this.
--
_____________
Brennan Young
Artist, Composer and Multimedia programmer
mailto:email@hidden
In software, the chain isn't as strong as the weakest link; it's as weak as
all the weak links multiplied together.
-Steve McConnell