Apple AppleScript Finder Guide - Manual (Page 22)

C H A P T E R 1
Introduction to Finder Scripting
10
Writing Scripts That Control the Finder
Writing Scripts That Control the Finder 1
You can use a variety of techniques in scripts you write yourself that you can’t
use in recorded scripts. For example, suppose you have several different
window arrangements that you like to use, and they tend to evolve and
change. Instead of recording a series of scripts, you can write a single script
that allows you to perform one of two actions: take a snapshot of the current
window arrangement or restore the most recently taken snapshot.
To write a script that performs these tasks, you need to know something about
script properties, variables, the Display Dialog scripting addition, If statements,
and Repeat statements. For more information about these AppleScript features,
see the AppleScript Language Guide and the AppleScript Scripting Additions Guide.
Listing 1-2 shows an example of such a script. It begins by declaring two script
properties, boundsAll and refsAll, that hold the windows’ bounds and
references to the objects the windows belong to when the script takes a
snapshot. At first these properties consist of empty lists. When the script takes
a snapshot of the current windows, these properties “remember” the windows’
bounds and references until a new snapshot is taken or the script is recompiled.
After declaring its properties, the script uses the Display Dialog scripting
addition command to display a dialog box. The dialog box asks the user to
make a choice and displays two buttons: Restore Old Snapshot or Take New
Snapshot. These buttons control which of two parts of the If statement that
follows runs next.
If the user chooses Take New Snapshot, the second part of the If statement
(beginning with else) takes control and stores the bounds and references
for the open windows in the boundsAll and refsAll properties. If the user
chooses Restore Old Snapshot, the first part of the If statement closes all the
windows that are currently open and uses the values stored in the properties to
identify the items whose windows are to be opened, open their windows, and
set the windows’ bounds. These actions are accomplished with a Repeat loop
that acts on one item and its window at a time.