rdar://23966614 Pretty please with sugar on top, add a Standard
Library to AppleScript already.
19-Dec-2015 07:25 PM
Status: Open
Summary:
AppleScript gained a shiny new library loader in 10.9. As of 10.11,
there still isn't a single standard library included in it.
Even the ancient C language has the good manners to ship with a sack
of knackers it calls a stdlib so that its users can get the everyday
basics of writing ostensibly useful programs done. This is why C
language is popular. AppleScript's library system, meanwhile, is
doing an excellent impersonation of a bicycle waiting for a fish to
come ride it. Given that most AppleScripters have never graduated
beyond the art of copypasta, and have thus far been provided zero
concrete reason for doing so, it may be waiting quite some time.
For additional background, please see the "Re: AS Library Question"
thread on the AppleScript-users mailing list for December 2015,
wherein I repeatedly try to make the point to Chris Page (nice guy,
bit cloth-eared) that AppleScript users should not have to beg Apple
in writing for something that should've been part of the original
work order instead of faffing about inventing ingenious new ways to
potentially break the parser.
Admittedly, it would've taken me less time to write a standard
library for AppleScript myself (I've done it before, after all),
have fellow users kick the tar our of it to ensure it's production
quality before it's distributed, and finally give it to Apple - as a
public service to what's left of its AppleScript-using customer base
- to ship in OS X should it wish at no cost to itself beyond the
obligatory code audit. But last time I made that offer - working on
the fairly simple logic that if the Automation team can't figure out
for itself what basic everyday features its users need and simply
provide them, then it'd be quicker and easier just for the community
to fill in the gaps itself and then give the resulting code to Apple
once we *know it meets our needs* - I didn't even get a response.
So eh, give the job to the Automation team, and let's see what they
make of it. (I'm not overly optimistic - I've used their other work
- but other ASers may be more easily pleased.) To get the ball
rolling, I recommend developing five libraries for inclusion in
10.12, because let's not get too carried away here, targeting five
23-year-old bugbears: crap Text processing, crap Math processing,
crap Date processing, crap List processing, and a better File I/O
API that doesn't leave open file handles dangling everywhere. I
mean, just waking up one day and discovering "find/replace text" and
"sort list" handlers are now included in OS X as standard would make
every jobbing AppleScripter squee with delight.
If the AS team are feeling *very* adventurous, perhaps they might
even negotiate with the powers that be to make like the Swift team
and do this work in public: a public github repo here, a public
ticket list there, maybe even - gosh - an openness to considering
third-party patches and contributions, would not only help get the
job done, but even make it genuinely good and useful software that
makes even their most frustrated, disillusioned, and critical user
think that they are still worth their salaries after all.
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Apply head to desk firmly.
2. Goto 1.
Expected Results:
Not a headache.
Actual Results:
AppleScript.
Version:
OS X 10.11
Notes:
I am not usually this sarcastic in bug tickets, but for the
Automation team I will make an exception, in genuine hope that when
10.12 ships they will make me eat my words for a pleasant change.
-------
Update to rdar://23966614
19-Dec-2015 07:44 PM
Correction: The Expected Result section should read "A headache."
The Actual Result is still "AppleScript", of course.
-------
Have a great Christmas, all!
|