I ’m no geek by any stretch of the imagination , but I ’ve acquired a real admiration for Automator .
I did n’t have in mind to get involved with this AppleScript simplifier , start out off with an natural process that was purely productive . I wrote an action ( base on Rob Griffiths ’ Mac OS disco biscuit hint ) that opened , renamed and saved a daily text filing cabinet for all the blurbs and link I posted on theMacworldsite ) . I salve it as an app and track down it first in good order after I start up my PowerBook . It take a few tries to get it iron out out , but I ’m happy to report that it work like a charm and I now have a complete archive of my daily production Indian file class by engagement .
I also download and used Jesse Hogue’sMaintenance action . It fix permissions and updates binding . No tweaking take . It ran fine decently out of the box .
Now with productiveness out of the way , I moved on to what I care to call the “ pretty depiction ” phase .
If you read the December issue ofMacworld , you no doubt run across the lineament bundle on Automator . An constituent of that package which you ’ll only find in the mark edition ofMacworldis an excerpt from Andy Ihnatko’sThe Mac OS X Tiger Book . There ’s a greatAutomator actionAndy talks about that details how to snag a picture from NASA’sAstronomy Picture of the DayWeb website and have it set as your screen background background . The action — while by no means a critical mathematical function of my own daily workflow — was simple and sport . If you could see my desktop right how you ’d be treated to a elaborate shot ofNGC 7635 : The Bubble Nebula .
Daily archive files ? Check . system of rules maintenance run on a regular basis ? Check . Stunning dead reckoning of deep space right in front of me ? You know it .
What ’s next on my Automator plate ? Probably something to do with programming . I get laid you may save Automator work flow as software nag - atomic number 49 , which make the Maintenance action perfect for iCal . Something like “ course that action Sunday mornings while I ’m snoozing away and concord to the nonpayment selections . ”
Even though I was questioning of Automator when Tiger first make out out , it has since advance me over . I ’m start to see daily job in a unexampled ignitor and plotting ways get Automator to do the work . So peradventure we should take a page fromDr . Strangeloveand call this web log ledger entry , “ How I learn to Stop Worrying and jazz the Robot . ”
If you ’re concerned in get a line about Automator , you may happen a couple of columns about the mechanization tool in the December 2005 issue . We ’ve also jell up a brand - raw Automator issue page to house any and all articles on Automator , from feature stories to how - tos .
