Comments on: Automate out of this http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/ hot bits and bytes Sun, 18 May 2008 10:49:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: martin http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-184 martin Tue, 18 Jul 2006 05:30:08 +0000 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-184 <p>Great. Thanks a lot for the link. I'll have to check that out in more detail.</p> Great. Thanks a lot for the link. I’ll have to check that out in more detail.

]]> By: has http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-181 has Mon, 17 Jul 2006 17:58:53 +0000 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-181 <blockquote> <p>Ruby could also be a perfect replacement/addition to AppleScript.</p> </blockquote> <p>There are moves afoot to add high-level application scripting support to Ruby: </p> <p>http://rubyforge.org/projects/rubyosa/</p> <p>It's not there yet, but fingers crossed. There's also Mac::Glue for Perl and appscript for Python.</p>

Ruby could also be a perfect replacement/addition to AppleScript.

There are moves afoot to add high-level application scripting support to Ruby:

http://rubyforge.org/projects/rubyosa/

It’s not there yet, but fingers crossed. There’s also Mac::Glue for Perl and appscript for Python.

]]> By: semaja2 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-173 semaja2 Thu, 13 Jul 2006 03:52:43 +0000 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-173 <p>It would be great if Automater had like a functionality to search online through the apple.com collections that people upload.</p> <p>So like the user can say search online and it will find the action needed.</p> <p>But yeh the GUI needs to be fixed up massively so it is easier to use</p> It would be great if Automater had like a functionality to search online through the apple.com collections that people upload.

So like the user can say search online and it will find the action needed.

But yeh the GUI needs to be fixed up massively so it is easier to use

]]> By: martin http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-170 martin Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:46:44 +0000 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-170 <p>Thanks a lot for the regexp. Where is that automator action that fixes my spelling errors? :-)</p> <p>You are absolutely right about scripts. They offer a lot more power. For my part I have written a lot of ruby and shell scripts the last couple of months. One of the problem with my scripts is that I often do not take the time to refactor them so that they become more common and reusable. I often do copy an existing one and adopt the copy to fit my new needs. Everything goes well with this duplication as long as I do not have the need to fix/add something in the script (and the fact that I duplicate things drives me crazy).</p> <p>The other thing is that I do not write scripts that often. I tend to forget things. I have to check the documentation to find out about the ruby date parsing API or the file tests in bash. Therefore it takes time to write them - and they have a very basic error handling.</p> <p>I have three projects that use nearly the same script to build a disk image that has a license agreement. The very next step is to refactor this script to make it reusable and configureable. Maybe others would do that in the first step already. </p> <p>Automator could be the platform for such reusable and configurable scripts. It provides a UI for those who probably will become Pros in the future. Automator integrates with the OS. I can select a directory, right click and start a complex workflow.</p> <p>The <em>workflow system</em> I use on a daily basis is XCode. I cannot remember when I last wrote a Makefile. XCode does a far better job in writing this Makefile (script) behind the scenes. It's like a UI for a very complex script. I don't miss writing these Makefiles :)</p> <p>I don't think that Automator is perfect right now and I'm sure that there are a lot of problems where Automator shall not be used. But I'm sure there are also a lot of things where Automator could do a really great job.</p> Thanks a lot for the regexp. Where is that automator action that fixes my spelling errors? :-)

You are absolutely right about scripts. They offer a lot more power. For my part I have written a lot of ruby and shell scripts the last couple of months. One of the problem with my scripts is that I often do not take the time to refactor them so that they become more common and reusable. I often do copy an existing one and adopt the copy to fit my new needs. Everything goes well with this duplication as long as I do not have the need to fix/add something in the script (and the fact that I duplicate things drives me crazy).

The other thing is that I do not write scripts that often. I tend to forget things. I have to check the documentation to find out about the ruby date parsing API or the file tests in bash. Therefore it takes time to write them - and they have a very basic error handling.

I have three projects that use nearly the same script to build a disk image that has a license agreement. The very next step is to refactor this script to make it reusable and configureable. Maybe others would do that in the first step already.

Automator could be the platform for such reusable and configurable scripts. It provides a UI for those who probably will become Pros in the future. Automator integrates with the OS. I can select a directory, right click and start a complex workflow.

The workflow system I use on a daily basis is XCode. I cannot remember when I last wrote a Makefile. XCode does a far better job in writing this Makefile (script) behind the scenes. It’s like a UI for a very complex script. I don’t miss writing these Makefiles :)

I don’t think that Automator is perfect right now and I’m sure that there are a lot of problems where Automator shall not be used. But I’m sure there are also a lot of things where Automator could do a really great job.

]]> By: rentzsch http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-169 rentzsch Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:34:31 +0000 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-169 <p>s/clue/glue/eg :-)</p> <p>I believe Automator isn't used as much as it could be by software professionals since we're more comfortable with scripts. Scripts tend to run in more environments than Automator, and offer more greater power. Hmm.</p> s/clue/glue/eg :-)

I believe Automator isn’t used as much as it could be by software professionals since we’re more comfortable with scripts. Scripts tend to run in more environments than Automator, and offer more greater power. Hmm.

]]> By: martin http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-167 martin Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:46:37 +0000 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-167 <p>A big problem with Automator is that one can easily get frustrated when a needed Action is missing. A developer could help himself by using the "Run Applescript" or "Run Shell Script" action.</p> <p>An enduser will not know how to do things in AppleScript. The enduser will stop after he has spend a ton of time doing the thing with Automator. He probably will not start Automator in the future.</p> <p>I think the more Actions, Examples and Tips/Tricks are available the better this situation will become. The UI of Automator will hopefully also advance in Leopard to make the process of finding actions that fit a lot easier.</p> <p>I'm in luck. As a programmer I add the Actions and Scripts to Automator that I need :-)</p> A big problem with Automator is that one can easily get frustrated when a needed Action is missing. A developer could help himself by using the “Run Applescript” or “Run Shell Script” action.

An enduser will not know how to do things in AppleScript. The enduser will stop after he has spend a ton of time doing the thing with Automator. He probably will not start Automator in the future.

I think the more Actions, Examples and Tips/Tricks are available the better this situation will become. The UI of Automator will hopefully also advance in Leopard to make the process of finding actions that fit a lot easier.

I’m in luck. As a programmer I add the Actions and Scripts to Automator that I need :-)

]]> By: semaja2 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-166 semaja2 Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:06:59 +0000 http://www.martinkahr.com/2006/07/12/automate-out-of-this/#comment-166 <p>I couldnt agree any more, when i was trying to make Automater wait 15 seconds and play the next song in itunes it took me about 5 mins till i gave up because there wasnt any actions supplied to do that.</p> <p>So i pulled up Script Editior and had it working in about 30 seconds, i dont know about you but i think apple script is eaiser then using Automater</p> I couldnt agree any more, when i was trying to make Automater wait 15 seconds and play the next song in itunes it took me about 5 mins till i gave up because there wasnt any actions supplied to do that.

So i pulled up Script Editior and had it working in about 30 seconds, i dont know about you but i think apple script is eaiser then using Automater

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