Apple AppleScript Finder Guide User Manual

Page 21

C H A P T E R 1

Introduction to Finder Scripting

Recording Actions in the Finder

integers. For the Position property, the two integers specify the coordinates of

the upper-left corner of the content region of the window (the portion of the

window that displays its contents; the title bar and scroll bars are not part of the

content region). For the Size property, the two integers specify the vertical and

horizontal dimensions of the window’s content region.
Instead of adjusting these properties separately, you can adjust them at the

same time by setting the Bounds property. The value of the Bounds property is

a list of four integers that specify the coordinates of the four corners of the

window’s content region. The first and second integers are identical to the

value of the window’s Position property. The third and fourth integers can be

obtained by adding the first and second integers of the Position property to the

first and second integers of the Size property, respectively.
You can easily obtain the bounds property of a window by asking the Finder

for it. Just activate the window and run a script like this:

tell application "Finder"

bounds of front window

end tell

--result: {4, 43, 373, 507}

If you wish, you can rewrite a script like the one in Listing 1-1 using the

Bounds property instead of Position and Size:

tell application "Finder"

activate
close every window
open startup disk
set bounds of window of startup disk to {4, 43, 373, 507}
open folder "Financial" of startup disk
set bounds of window "Financial" to {378, 43, 578, 198}
open folder "Letters" of startup disk
set bounds of window "Letters" to {379, 222, 579, 508}

end tell

Although this simplified version of the script in Listing 1-1 won’t run

appreciably faster than the original, it is easier to read. In a longer script,

using succinct statements can improve performance.