AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Assignment of Multiple Attributes

Recall from Chapter 7 that it is possible to assign multiple values in a single command by using a list:

set {x, y, z} to {1, 2, 3}

You can use this syntax to fetch multiple attributes , using either tell or of:

tell application "Finder"
    set {x, y} to {name, comment} of folder 1
end tell
{x, y} -- {"Mannie", "howdy"}

That code fetches name of folder 1 and comment of folder 1 from the Finder in a single command.

You can use this construct to set multiple properties as well, but only in a tell block (trying to do it with of will cause a runtime error):

tell application "Finder"
    tell folder "Mannie"
        set {comment, name} to {"zowie", "Jack"}
    end tell
end tell

Be careful of the order in which you list the properties when assigning to them. The values are assigned from left to right. This wouldn't have worked:

tell application "Finder"
    tell folder "Mannie"
        set {name, comment} to {"Jack", "zowie"} -- error
    end tell
end tell

That code sets the name first, and afterwards there is no longer a folder "Mannie" to set the comment of, so the attempt to set the comment of folder "Mannie" causes a runtime error.