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Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	1	<!doctype HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
				2	<html><head><title>Using the Open Scripting Architecture from Python</title></head>
				3	<body>
				4	<h1>Using the Open Scripting Architecture from Python</h1>
				5	<hr>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	6
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	7	<p>OSA support in Python is still not 100% complete, but
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	8	there is already enough in place to allow you to do some nifty things
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	9	with other programs from your python program. </p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	10
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	11
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	12	<p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	13	In this example, we will look at a scriptable application, extract its
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	14	“AppleScript Dictionary,” generate a Python interface package from
				15	the dictionary, and use that package to control the application.
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	16	The application we are going to script is Disk Copy, Apple's standard
				17	utility for making copies of floppies, creating files that are mountable
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	18	as disk images, etc.
				19	Because we want
				20	to concentrate on the OSA details, we won’t bother with a real
				21	user-interface for our application. </p>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	22
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	23
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	24	<p>
				25	<em>When we say “AppleScript” in this document we actually mean
				26	“the Open Scripting Architecture.” There is nothing
				27	AppleScript-specific in the Python implementation. Most of this document
				28	focuses on the classic Mac OS; <a href="#osx">Mac OS X</a> users have some
				29	additional tools.</em>
				30	</p>
				31
				32	<h2>Python OSA architecture</h2>
				33
				34	<p>Open Scripting suites and inheritance can be modelled rather nicely
				35	with Python packages, so we generate
				36	a package for each application we want to script. Each suite defined in
				37	the application becomes a module in the
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	38	package, and the package main module imports everything from all the
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	39	submodules and glues together all the classes (in Python terminology—
				40	events in OSA terminology or verbs in AppleScript terminology). </p>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	41
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	42	<p>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	43	A suite in an OSA application can extend the functionality of a standard
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	44	suite. This is implemented in Python by importing everything from the
				45	module that implements the standard suites and overriding anything that has
				46	been extended. The standard suites live in the StdSuite package. </p>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	47
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	48	<p>
				49	This all sounds complicated, but the good news is that basic
				50	scripting is actually pretty simple. You can do strange and wondrous things
				51	with OSA scripting once you fully understand it. </p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	52
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	53	<h2>Creating the Python interface package</h2>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	54
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	55
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	56	<p>There is a tool in the standard distribution that can automatically
				57	generate the interface packages. This tool is called
				58	<code>gensuitemodule.py</code>, and lives in <code>Mac:scripts</code>.
				59	It looks through a file
				60	for an ‘AETE’ or ‘AEUT’ resource,
				61	the internal representation of the
				62	AppleScript dictionary, and parses the resource to generate the suite
				63	modules.
				64	When we start <code>gensuitemodule</code>, it asks us for an input file;
				65	for our example,
				66	we point it to the Disk Copy executable. </p>
				67
				68	<p>
				69	Next, <code>gensuitemodule</code> wants a folder where it will store the
				70	package it is going to generate.
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	71	Note that this is the package folder, not the parent folder, so we
				72	navigate to <code>Python:Mac:Demo:applescript</code>, create a folder
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	73	<code>Disk_Copy</code>, and select that. </p>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	74
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	75	<p>
				76	We next specify the folder from which <code>gensuitemodule</code>
				77	should import the standard suites. Here,
				78	we always select <code>Python:Mac:Lib:lib-scriptpackages:StdSuites</code>. (There is
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	79	one exception to this rule: when you are generating <code>StdSuites</code> itself
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	80	you select <code>_builtinSuites</code>.)
				81	</p>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	82
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	83	<p>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	84	It starts parsing the AETE resource, and for
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	85	each AppleEvent suite it finds, <code>gensuitemodule.py</code>
				86	prompts us for the filename of the
Jack Jansen	f10786b	1997-08-19 14:00:56 +0000	[diff] [blame]	87	resulting python module. Remember to change folders for the first
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	88	module—you don't want to clutter up, say, the
Jack Jansen	9051ad1	2002-01-25 15:28:39 +0000	[diff] [blame^]	89	Disk Copy folder
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	90	with your python
				91	interfaces. If you want to skip a suite, press <code>cancel</code> and the process
				92	continues with the next suite. </p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	93
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	94	<h3>Summary</h3>
				95
				96	<ol>
				97
				98	<li>Run <code>gensuitemodule</code>.</li>
				99
				100	<li>Select the application (or OSAX) for which you would like a Python interface.</li>
				101
				102	<li>Select the package folder where the interface modules should be
				103	stored.</li>
				104
				105	<li>Specify the folder <code>Python:Mac:Lib:lib-scriptpackages:StdSuites</code>
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	106	to import the standard suites (or <code>_builtinSuites</code> if you are
				107	generating <code>StdSuites</code> itself). </li>
				108
				109	<li>Save the generated suites (use <code>cancel</code> to skip a suite).</li>
				110
				111
				112	</ol>
				113
				114
				115	<h3>Notes</h3>
				116
				117
				118	<ul>
				119
Jack Jansen	9051ad1	2002-01-25 15:28:39 +0000	[diff] [blame^]	120	<li>The interface package may occasionally need some editing by hand. For example,
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	121	<code>gensuitemodule</code> does not handle all Python reserved words, so
				122	if
				123	one of the AppleScript verbs is a Python reserved word, a <code>SyntaxError</code>
				124	may be raised when the package is imported.
				125	Simply rename the class into something acceptable, if this happens;
				126	take a look at how the
				127	<code>print</code> verb is handled (automatically by <code>gensuitemodule</code>)
Jack Jansen	9051ad1	2002-01-25 15:28:39 +0000	[diff] [blame^]	128	in the standard suites. But: f you need to edit your package this should be considered a
				129	bug in gensuitemodule, so please report it so it can be fixed in future releases.
				130	</li>
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	131
				132
				133	<li>If you want to re-create the StdSuite modules,
				134	you should look in one of two places. With versions of AppleScript older than 1.4.0
				135	(which first shipped with OS 9.0), you will find the
				136	AEUT resources in <code>System Folder:Extensions:Scripting
				137	Additions:Dialects:English Dialect</code>. For newer versions, you will
				138	find them in <code>System Folder:Extensions:Applescript</code>.
				139	</li>
				140
				141	<li>Since MacPython 2.0, this new structure, with packages
				142	per application and submodules per suite, is used. Older MacPythons had a
				143	single level of modules, with uncertain semantics. With the new structure,
				144	it is possible for programs to override standard suites, as programs often do.
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	145
				146	</li>
				147
				148	<li><code>Gensuitemodule.py</code> may ask you questions
				149	like “Where is enum 'xyz ' declared?”.
				150	This is either due to a misunderstanding on my part or (rather too commonly)
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	151	bugs in the AETE resources. Pressing <code>cancel</code> is usually the
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	152	right choice: it will cause the specific enum not to be treated as an enum
				153	but as a “normal” type. As things like fsspecs and TEXT strings clearly are
				154	not enumerators, this is correct. If someone understands what is really going on
				155	here, please let me know.</li>
Jack Jansen	f10786b	1997-08-19 14:00:56 +0000	[diff] [blame]	156
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	157	</ul>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	158
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	159
				160
				161	<h2>The Python interface package contents</h2>
				162
				163	<p>
				164	Let’s glance at the
				165	<a href="applescript/Disk_Copy">Disk_Copy</a> package just created. You
				166	may want to open Script Editor alongside to see how it
				167	interprets the dictionary.
				168	</p>
				169
				170
				171	<p>
				172	The main package module is in <code>__init__.py</code>.
				173	The only interesting bit is the <code>Disk_Copy</code> class, which
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	174	includes the event handling classes from the individual suites. It also
				175	inherits <code>aetools.TalkTo</code>, which is a base class that handles all
				176	details on how to start the program and talk to it, and a class variable
				177	<code>_signature</code> which is the default application this class will talk
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	178	to (you can override this in various ways when you instantiate your class, see
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	179	<code>aetools.py</code> for details).
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	180	</p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	181
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	182	<p>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	183	The <a href="applescript/Disk_Copy/Special_Events.py">Special_Events</a>
				184	module is a nice example of a suite module.
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	185	The <code>Special_Events_Events</code> class is the bulk of the code
				186	generated. For each verb, it contains a method. Each method knows what
				187	arguments the verb expects, and it makes use of keyword
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	188	arguments to present a palatable
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	189	interface to the python programmer.
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	190
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	191	Notice that each method
				192	calls some routines from <code>aetools</code>, an auxiliary module
				193	living in <code>Mac:Lib</code>.
				194	The other thing to notice is that each method calls
				195	<code>self.send</code>. This comes from the <code>aetools.TalkTo</code>
				196	baseclass. </p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	197
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	198
				199	<p>
				200	After the big class, there are a number of little class declarations. These
				201	declarations are for the (AppleEvent) classes and properties in the suite.
Jack Jansen	f10786b	1997-08-19 14:00:56 +0000	[diff] [blame]	202	They allow you to create object IDs, which can then be passed to the verbs.
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	203	For instance,
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	204	when scripting the popular email program Eudora,
				205	you would use <code>mailbox("inbox").message(1).sender</code>
				206	to get the name of the sender of the first message in mailbox
				207	inbox. It is
Jack Jansen	f10786b	1997-08-19 14:00:56 +0000	[diff] [blame]	208	also possible to specify this as <code>sender(message(1, mailbox("inbox")))</code>,
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	209	which is sometimes needed because these classes don’t always inherit correctly
				210	from baseclasses, so you may have to use a class or property from another
				211	suite. </p>
Jack Jansen	f10786b	1997-08-19 14:00:56 +0000	[diff] [blame]	212
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	213	<p>
Jack Jansen	f10786b	1997-08-19 14:00:56 +0000	[diff] [blame]	214	Next we get the enumeration dictionaries, which allow you to pass
				215	english names as arguments to verbs, so you don't have to bother with the 4-letter
				216	type code. So, you can say
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	217	<code>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	218	diskcopy.create(..., filesystem="Mac OS Standard")
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	219	</code>
				220	as it is called in Script Editor, instead of the cryptic lowlevel
				221	<code>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	222	diskcopy.create(..., filesystem="Fhfs")
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	223	</code></p>
Jack Jansen	f10786b	1997-08-19 14:00:56 +0000	[diff] [blame]	224
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	225	<p>
				226	Finally, we get the “table of contents” of the module, listing all
				227	classes and such
Jack Jansen	9051ad1	2002-01-25 15:28:39 +0000	[diff] [blame^]	228	by code, which is used by <code>gensuitemodule</code> itself: if you use this
				229	suite as a base package in a later run this is how it knows what is defined in this
				230	suite, and what the Python names are.
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	231	</p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	232
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	233	<h3>Notes</h3>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	234
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	235	<ul>
				236
				237	<li>The <code>aetools</code> module contains some other nifty
				238	AppleEvent tools as well. Have a look at it sometime, there is (of
				239	course) no documentation yet.
				240	</li>
				241
				242	<li>There are also some older object specifiers for standard objects in aetools.
				243	You use these in the form <code>aetools.Word(10,
				244	aetools.Document(1))</code>, where the corresponding AppleScript
				245	terminology would be <code>word 10 of the first
				246	document</code>. Examine
				247	<code>aetools</code> and <code>aetools.TalkTo</code>
				248	along with
				249	the comments at the end of your suite module if you need to create
				250	more than the standard object specifiers.
				251	</li>
				252
				253	</ul>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	254
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	255
				256
				257
				258	<h2>Using a Python suite module</h2>
				259
				260	<p>
				261	Now that we have created the suite module, we can use it in a Python script.
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	262	In older MacPython distributions this used to be a rather
				263	complicated affair, but with the package scheme and with the application signature
				264	known by the package it is very simple: you import the package and instantiate
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	265	the class, e.g.
				266	<code>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	267	talker = Disk_Copy.Disk_Copy(start=1)
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	268	</code>
				269	You will usually specify the <code>start=1</code>: it will run the application if it is
				270	not already running.
				271	You may want to omit it if you want to talk to the application
				272	only if it is already running, or if the application is something like the Finder.
Jack Jansen	9051ad1	2002-01-25 15:28:39 +0000	[diff] [blame^]	273	Another way to ensure that the application is running is to call <code>talker._start()</code>.
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	274	</p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	275
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	276	<p>
				277	Looking at the sourcefile <a
				278	href="applescript/makedisk.py">makedisk.py</a>, we see that it starts
				279	with some imports. Naturally, one of these is the Python interface to Disk
				280	Copy.</p>
Jack Jansen	bdf03a0	1996-09-20 15:22:47 +0000	[diff] [blame]	281
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	282	<p>
				283	The main program itself is a wonder of simplicity: we create the
				284	object (<code>talker</code>) that talks to Disk Copy,
				285	create a disk, and mount it. The bulk of
				286	the work is done by <code>talker</code> and the Python interface package we
				287	just created.</p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	288
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	289	<p>
				290	The exception handling does warrant a few comments, though. Since
				291	AppleScript is basically a connectionless RPC protocol,
				292	nothing happens
				293	when we create the <code>talker</code> object. Hence, if the destination application
				294	is not running, we will not notice until we send our first
				295	command (avoid this as described above). There is another thing to note about errors returned by
				296	AppleScript calls: <code>MacOS.Error</code> is raised for
				297	all of the errors that are known to be <code>OSErr</code>-type errors,
				298	while
				299	server generated errors raise <code>aetools.Error</code>. </p>
Jack Jansen	a630813	1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000	[diff] [blame]	300
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	301	<h2>Scripting Additions</h2>
Jack Jansen	a742d11	1996-12-23 17:28:53 +0000	[diff] [blame]	302
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	303	<p>
Jack Jansen	a742d11	1996-12-23 17:28:53 +0000	[diff] [blame]	304	If you want to use any of the scripting additions (or OSAXen, in
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	305	everyday speech) from a Python program, you can use the same method
				306	as for applications, i.e. run <code>gensuitemodule</code> on the
				307	OSAX (commonly found in <code>System Folder:Scripting Additions</code>
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	308	or something similar). There is one minor gotcha: the application
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	309	signature to use is <code>MACS</code>. You will need to edit the main class
				310	in the <code>__init__.py</code> file of the created package and change the value
Jack Jansen	9051ad1	2002-01-25 15:28:39 +0000	[diff] [blame^]	311	of <code>_signature</code> to <code>MACS</code>, or use a subclass to the
				312	same effect.
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	313	</p>
Jack Jansen	a742d11	1996-12-23 17:28:53 +0000	[diff] [blame]	314
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	315	<p>
				316	There are two minor points to watch out for when using <code>gensuitemodule</code>
				317	on OSAXen: they appear all to define the class <code>System_Object_Suite</code>,
Jack Jansen	a742d11	1996-12-23 17:28:53 +0000	[diff] [blame]	318	and a lot of them have the command set in multiple dialects. You have to
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	319	watch out for name conflicts and make sure you select a reasonable dialect
				320	(some of the non-English dialects cause <code>gensuitemodule</code> to generate incorrect
				321	Python code). </p>
Jack Jansen	a742d11	1996-12-23 17:28:53 +0000	[diff] [blame]	322
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	323	Despite these difficulties, OSAXen offer a lot of possibilities. Take a
				324	look at some of the OSAXen in the Scripting Additions folder, or
				325	<A HREF="http://www.osaxen.com/index.php">download</A> some from the net.
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	326
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	327	<h2>Further Reading</h2>
				328
				329	<p>
				330	If you want to look at more involved examples of applescripting, look at the standard
Jack Jansen	c15ab03	2000-08-20 21:57:38 +0000	[diff] [blame]	331	modules <code>findertools</code> and <code>nsremote</code>, or (possibly better, as it
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	332	is more involved) <code>fullbuild</code> from the <code>Mac:scripts</code> folder.
				333	</p>
				334
				335	<h2><a name="alternatives">Alternatives</a></h2>
				336
				337	<h3><a name="osx">Mac OS X</a></h3>
				338
				339	<p>
				340	Under Mac OS X, the above still works, but with some new difficulties.
Jack Jansen	9051ad1	2002-01-25 15:28:39 +0000	[diff] [blame^]	341	The application package structure can hide the ‘AETE’ or
				342	‘AEUT’ resource from <code>gensuitemodule</code>, so that,
				343	for example, it cannot generate an OSA interface to iTunes. Script
				344	Editor gets at the dictionary of such programs using a ‘Get
				345	AETE’ AppleEvent, if someone wants to donate code to use the same
				346	method for gensuitemodule: by all means!
Jack Jansen	c7a7d2d	2002-01-25 15:06:19 +0000	[diff] [blame]	347	</p>
				348
				349	<p>
				350	One alternative is available through the Unix command line version of python.
				351	Apple has provided the <code>osacompile</code> and <code>osascript</code> tools,
				352	which can be used to compile and execute scripts written in OSA languages. See the
				353	man pages for more details.
				354	</p>
				355
				356
				357	</body>
				358	</html>