When Apple was touting Automator as part of the O X 10.4 Tiger upgrade , some people wondered whether AppleScript would be needed any longer . Now that we ’ve attend Automator , AppleScript may be needed more than ever . There are holes in the mode Automator works for those applications that support it , and there are plenty of applications that do n’t support Automator at all .
Script Debugger 4.0.4 , Late Night Software ’s AppleScript editor program , is a basis - up rescript of what was already an excellent product . Although Apple include an AppleScript editor with OS X , Script Debugger is much more than just an editor .
For one thing , Script Debugger includes its own rendering of the AppleScript OSA ( Open Scripting Architecture ) component , which gives you the variety of debugging controls you would expect in a professional programming environment — including the power to see your code lean one command at a time .
In addition , each Script Debugger script window has its own draftsman containing a result box , a peck list ( so you’re able to see which AppleScript bit are presently being address ) , a variable watcher ( for showing the current United States Department of State of variables being used ) , an expression area ( where you’re able to construct debugging computer code that gets value at every footstep ) , and an execution of instrument clock ( which lets you live how long your script is take away to be given ) . If a variable or facial expression changes between steps , the new value shows up in red , make it easier to see the upshot your codification causes .
At any degree when a script is running , you may select face within your computer code , place your cursor over the selection , and hold back ; a tool tip pops up , tell you what would happen if the pick out codification were to run . As you maltreat through a script , the left - hand security deposit highlight to suggest which lines of your script have been executed . This lineament earn it a cinch to find routines in sure-enough computer code that are n’t being run anymore .
The debugging process has also been ameliorate . you’re able to now debug more than one script at a time , so it ’s possible to observe the interaction between handwriting . Moreover , there ’s a new option called prisonbreak - on - exception , which hesitate your playscript when an error occur , so you could see the state of the script at the time of the error . And if you ’re interested in the testicle and bolt of how your script is running , there ’s a contextual card detail that lets you see which line of your AppleScript code give rise a given Apple event .
Of course , debugging an subsist script is one affair — writing one is quite another . AppleScript ’s large military posture is that each scriptable software extends the social occasion useable to you . This power can be subtle , however , since it ’s often a botheration to figure out the right syntax for a bidding or object reference . Luckily , Script Debugger has always excelled at this — and in version 4 , it ’s even better .
For a more dynamic version of an lotion ’s lexicon , you could change to the Explorer modality . This lists all current object for the software program in question — so if you were examining the Finder , for example , you ’d see a list of each open Finder windowpane , the depiction being used as the desktop picture , the position of your Home folder , and other relevant Finder details . If you find an object you want to script , you could simply drag and dribble it into your playscript to have Script Debugger write the code for referencing the object . That path , Script Debugger saves you from having to endlessly try out to find the correct phrase structure for what you ’re strain to do .
But no update is without some problem . The Script pallette is overleap from this version , as is the playscript bill of fare for well running saved scripts . Worse still , Script Debugger 4 can no longer be script .
As some recompense for this , the Clippings feature of speech has been enhance ; when you comprise a clipping into your script ( such as a skeleton for producing anif , then , elseexpression ) , Script Debugger can automatically incorporate pick out codification into the novel expression . But deplorably , script windows no longer support tear views , so editing orotund script can be a mo frustrating . ( The fellowship says this feature is planned for a future update . )
Macworld’s buying advice
Script Debugger 4.0.4 is almost everything an upgrade should be . Late Night Software seems to have taken every opportunity to condense and simplify Script Debugger ’s interface , while provide gentle entree to potent tools and better debugging information . If you ’re serious about scripting , corrupt it .
[ Richard Dyce is a database consultant , journalist , and computer programmer in Elgin , Scotland . This review was published in the May 2006 issue of Macworld UK . ]
