AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Some Scriptable Applications

As part of the default Tiger installation, Apple ships a number of applications with varying degrees of useful scriptability . Some of these are in places where you might think to look, but a number of them are not, so here's a quick survey of the scriptable applications you'll find on your computer. (Third-party applications, which are often the most important scriptable applications in a workflow, are not discussed here.)

iApps and Utilities

Of the applications in your /Applications directory, quite a number are usefully scriptable. iTunes is probably the most popular target; it is, perhaps, the only one of the iApps whose powers emerge to their fullest extent only in the presence of AppleScript. Address Book and iCal are essentially databases, and provide scriptable access to their data. Mail is scriptable, though there are many bugs and functionality holes.

Safari , aside from control over its preferences and interface, responds to just one important command, do JavaScript, but this command should not be underestimated, as it opens the door to some powerful capabilities. System Profiler is another one-trick pony: you can retrieve an XML version of its report, from which you can retrieve any desired information. Script Editor is scriptable enough to allow insertion of templated control structures through its contextual menu. If you see the Internet via modem or PPPoE, Internet Connect is a good way to query and manipulate your connection; you can connect ...