iPod and iTunes Hacks

Tame iTunes with AppleScript

Whether you need an AppleScript refresher or you are a willing AppleScript newbie, this hack provides the AppleScript basics you’ll need to understand the rest of the scripts in this chapter.

AppleScript is a simple but powerful programming language that lets you control applications on your computer and automate the tasks that they perform. Basically, an AppleScript script is a list of instructions. When you activate the script, the instructions are carried out. Additionally, a script is able to perform computations that allow it to make decisions about how its instructions are executed.

You write, test, and save AppleScript scripts with Script Editor an application that comes installed with your Macintosh operating system. Scripts are saved as files and can be run like applications or, even simpler, like menu commands. As you will see, the language used to write AppleScript is much more English-like than other programming languages, which makes AppleScript relatively easy to learn and use.

Tip

Unlike scripts written in other scripting languages (such as Perl or JavaScript) that can be written and saved using any text editor and can run on other computer platforms, AppleScript scripts can be written only with an AppleScript editor and can be used only on a Mac. Apple provides Script Editor as part of the operating system, but there are a couple other script ...