Re: Open source movement for osax writers? (was Re: Scripting Additions: Embracing the Horror of Unix
Re: Open source movement for osax writers? (was Re: Scripting Additions: Embracing the Horror of Unix
- Subject: Re: Open source movement for osax writers? (was Re: Scripting Additions: Embracing the Horror of Unix
- From: "Neal A. Crocker" <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 22:20:05 -0800
Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2002 14:34:54 -0800
Subject: Re: Open source movement for osax writers? (was Re: Scripting
Additions: Embracing the Horror of Unix)
From: Ed Stockly <email@hidden>
To: <email@hidden>
on 2/2/02 8:56 AM, email@hidden at
email@hidden wrote:
> Any chance you might make the osax open source? Maybe you could
> launch an open source movement among osax developers.
You know a lot of the work is already done. There's already tons of
open-source code that runs in Unix and would run in OS X as Osax if it were
simply repackaged. In many cases simply attaching an scripting interface
with an AETE resource is all that's needed.
Even the idea of using shell commands to replace Osax could be rethought...
since unix shell commands are actually calls to applications (mostly open
source) why not take the code from the shell applications themselves and
slap AETE resources on them and save them as Osax?
You don't really need the Shell application to get the functionality. The
shell is really just the Unix version of a user Interface. Rather than have
an AppleScript interface call another interface wouldn't it make sense to
simply build osaxen with the same source code?
ES
The way that information is passed to and from osax handler routines
is very different from the way info is passed to an from a unix
command line program, so some non-trivial coding would be required to
put an osax event handler interface on each unix command line
program. Depending on how its done, the coding done for one unix
propram might be partially or completely resuable for anohter. Even
so, it probably doesn't require heroic effort to put such an
interface on any given unix progam.
Back to my original point: to the best of my knowledge, there is no
open source effort for developing osaxen. Your idea of wrapping up
unix programs as osaxen would probably be a natural part of such an
effort. It remains to be seen, however, whether anyone would be
willing to contribute. In particular, is there anyone or any
combination of people out there with the experience in both
organizing open source efforts and developing osaxen to get such an
effort started? Even applescripters who are familiar with unix
programs but not with development of osaxen could contribute by
helping to define sensible applescript terminology for interfacing
with unix programs.
Neal