AppleScript_ The Definitive Guide - Matt Neuburg [199]
Example
choose color default color {9000, 10000, 50000} -- {50000, 9000, 10000}
Name
beep
Synopsis
beep
beep
Plays the system beep sound. Optionally takes an integer saying how many times to beep.
Example
beep
Name
get volume settings
Synopsis
sound loudness report
sound loudness report
Reports the loudness of sound output, input, and alert volume, as a record.
Example
alert volume of (get volume settings) -- 75
Name
set volume
Synopsis
sound loudness setting
sound loudness setting
Sets the loudness of sound output, input, and alert volume.
Example
set volume output volume 100 alert volume 100
beep
Name
say
Synopsis
text-to-speech
text-to-speech
Reads text aloud, either in real time or saving the synthesized speech as a sound file. Can also be used in conjunction with speech recognition to determine what text appears below the microphone window .
Example
tell application "SpeechRecognitionServer"
set s to listen for {"yes", "no"} with prompt "Would you like me to beep?" ¬
giving up after 10
end tell
if s is "yes" then
say "Okay, I will beep now." displaying "Okay."
beep
else
say "Okay, then I won't." displaying "Okay."
end if
Name
system info
Synopsis
system information
system information
Returns a record of basic system information, such as the computer name , CPU speed and type, Ethernet address, and so forth (new in Tiger). If the desired information is not part of this record, use the more general (but harder to use) system attribute command.
Example
set v to system version of (system info)
display dialog "You are running system " & v & "!"
Name
system attribute
Synopsis
gestalt and environment variables
gestalt and environment variables
Returns the value of gestalt selectors (see http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Carbon/Reference/Gestalt_Manager/index.html ).
Example
set n to system attribute "sysv"
set s to "print sprintf \"%lx\", " & n
set v to do shell script "perl -e " & quoted form of s
set L to characters of v
set v to "." & item -1 of L
set v to "." & item -2 of L & v
set v to ((items 1 thru -3 of L) as string) & v
display dialog "You are running system " & v & "!"
Also returns the value of user environment variables (see Chapter 25 for an example ). To find out what they are, issue the system attribute command with no parameters.
Example
system attribute "SHELL" -- "/bin/bash"
Name
path to
Synopsis
standard folder location
standard folder location
Locates various standard folders, such as the system folder. If the designated folder is legal but doesn't exist, the path to command silently creates it unless you specify without folder creation, in which case an error is returned if the folder doesn't exist. If a standard folder isn't listed as an enumerator, you can use its four-letter code (see http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Carbon/Reference/Folder_Manager/index.html ). Returns an alias, or a string, if desired (or Unicode text—the dictionary fails to document this fact).
Example
path to desktop -- alias "feathers:Users:mattneub:Desktop:"
path to "cmnu" -- alias "feathers:Library:Contextual Menu Items:"
Name
path to
Synopsis
application and script file location
application and script file location
Locates an application by name, including the current application (the host application). Launches the application if it uses Cocoa scripting (I regard this as a bug). The special phrase path to me is supposed to give the alias of the current compiled script file, but in the past this has been unreliable; it is somewhat better in Tiger, though it can still go wrong depending on the script runner environment and the script file format (script bundles are problematic), and it doesn't work in Script Editor (works fine in Script Debugger).
Example
path to application "Finder"
-- alias "feathers:System:Library:CoreServices:Finder.app:"
Name
path to resource
Synopsis
bundle