AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Raw Four-Letter Codes

When AppleScript compiles a script, it uses the dictionary to translate your English-like terminology into Apple events. When AppleScript decompiles a compiled script, it uses the dictionary to translate Apple events to English-like terminology.

It is possible to do AppleScript's job for it and type a raw Apple event directly into a script. There is then no translation to be performed, and no dictionary is needed. Apple events, as we observed in Chapter 3, are constructed of four-letter codes. The notation is a keyword stating what "part of speech" this four-letter code is (such as constant, property, class or event), followed by a space, followed by the four letters (or, in the case of an event, eight letters). The entire thing is wrapped in guillemets, also called chevrons («»). On the U.S. keyboard layout, these are typed using Option-\ and Shift-Option-\ (backslash).

Using raw Apple events, we can target an application using its own terminology but without a tell block and without AppleScript's making any use of the application's dictionary. For example:

get name of «class cdis» 1 of application "Finder" -- "feathers"

The term name is defined by AppleScript, but the term disk is not. Yet we can use the term disk outside a tell block by entering it in its raw form.

There are not many situations where this sort of thing is necessary, but it can be a useful strategy to know about. There are times when it can be a way of resolving a terminology conflict . Recall ...