Apple

I have a script, written primarily for Leopard, that contains the following code for backward compatibility with Tiger 10.4.11 ...

if sysIsTiger then

try

run script "tell application \"AppleScript Utility\" to activate"

on error

error "The Script menu is not available because the application AppleScriptUtility cannot be found."

end try

activate me

"The \"Show Script menu in menu bar\" box" & return & "must be checked in AppleScript Utility." & return ¬

& "Check it now, if necessary," & return & "then close AppleScript Utility."

tell me to display dialog the result with title shortTitle buttons {"OK"} default button 1

end if

Leopard's AppleScript Utility is scriptable, but Tiger's is not, so my script has to activate it, then instruct the user. If AppleScript Utility is installed somewhere (and it probably is), the script works perfectly.

But, what if AppleScript Utility is not available? 'run script ...' should simply return an error ... but it doesn't !!!! Instead it asks the user to choose any application to be used instead of AppleScript Utility. If the user chooses, for example, "Calculator", then on EVERY subsequent run of this script, Calculator is activated and the user is instructed ...

The "Show Script menu in menu bar" box

must be checked in AppleScript Utility.

Check it now, if necessary,

then close AppleScript Utility.

An AppleScripter will see what is happening, and choose "Cancel" every time.

But my user's (and yours) have probably never heard of AppleScript and will simply be very confused. They will invariably, at some point, choose any old application from the list.

The "Where is ... ?" dialog opens the inner workings of an AppleScript-ed application to permanent damage. In BOTH Tiger and Leopard. It's just that in Leopard, I can avoid the dialog by using 'application id'.

THE "Where is ... ?" DIALOG MUST BE AVOIDED. BETTER YET, IT SHOULD NOT EVEN BE PRESENT IN THE NEXT VERSION OF APPLESCRIPT. IT'S DANGEROUS.

But, how can I avoid the "Where is ... ?" dialog in Tiger? I don't think I can.

(But, perhaps someone knows more about this?)

I will probably have to simply present the dialog ...

If the Script menu is not visible in the menu bar,

launch AppleScript Utility, in the AppleScript folder

in the Applications folder, then check the box

"Show Script menu in menu bar".

Some will read and comply, others will just not get it.

If you want to experiment with this in Leopard, use this ...

try

run script "tell application \"AppleScript Utility\" to activate"

-- replace "AppleScript Utility" with "anynonsense" to test non-existence

-- DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT remove the AppleScript Utility application

on error errText number errNr

activate me

tell me to display dialog "Application does not exist." buttons {"OK"} default button 1

return

end try

activate me

tell me to display dialog "Go!"

And READ THE WARNING. I first tried removing AppleScript Utility just to see what would happen. And what happens is that ALL YOUR EDITABLE SCRIPT DOCUMENTS BECOME UN-EDITABLE until AppleScript Utility is restored.