AppleScript in a Nutshell

Chapter 16. Network Setup Scripting

Open Transport is the Apple technology under Mac OS 9 that allows programmers and users to send and receive bytes across networks using TCP/IP, AppleTalk, Infrared, or Remote Access methods. When you can mount network volumes on your desktop over an Ethernet network, you are using Open Transport. When you log on to the Web using an analog modem, cable modem, digital subscriber line (DSL), or some other method, you are also calling on various Open Transport protocols. You specifically use Remote Access and TCP/IP to make most connections to the Web using a Mac. For example, I connect to the Web using a Local Area Network (LAN) connection to a proxy server and cable modem, and thus rely on my Mac’s TCP/IP configuration to access the Internet. My father, on the other hand, uses a 56K modem and dial-up connection in a remote part of Maine. His Mac system uses Remote Access and TCP/IP configurations to connect over a phone line to his Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Tip

Network Setup Scripting Version 1.1.1 and Open Transport Version 2.6.1 are used for the examples in this chapter.

Configurations are collections of settings for various network methods, like AppleTalk, TCP/IP, or Remote Access. Open Transport stores these settings in a database system called the Open Transport configurations database. AppleScripts can access this database and all the various network configurations that you may want to script via the Network Setup Scripting ...