Re: Is there really *nothing* like AS on Windows??
Re: Is there really *nothing* like AS on Windows??
- Subject: Re: Is there really *nothing* like AS on Windows??
- From: Jon Pugh <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 08:23:51 -0700
At 1:23 PM +0200 9/26/2001, Helmut Fuchs wrote:
>
AFAIK inter-application scripting under Windows is only possible within the MS suite of products. Or am I wrong?
You are, unfortunately, wrong.
InDesign, for example, is completely scriptable from AppleScript and VBA. The important distinction is between VB and VBA, Visual Basic for Applications. Basically, VBA allows VB to call applications via OLE Automation, Microsoft's RPC mechanism. It works quite well. One of our QA guys has built some pretty amazing apps from VB.
Of course, it looks like BASIC and has lots of weirdnesses, so it's no panacea. It appears to have as many, if not more, quirks than AppleScript, but it also has a phalanx of programmers working on it and an entire industry built around it. Just look at the number of VB magazines. Compare that to the number of AppleScript magazines.
So, while AppleScript *is* unique, there's still a corresponding technology for Windows. Luckily most Windows users won't ever know it's there. ;)
Jon