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Postscript, and one for the annals of "Be careful what you wish for..."
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Postscript, and one for the annals of "Be careful what you wish for..."


  • Subject: Postscript, and one for the annals of "Be careful what you wish for..."
  • From: has <email@hidden>
  • Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2015 19:51:39 +0000

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!

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