Has something changed (Permissions?) with macOS 14.5?

[Grant_Symon]

I’ve been using a very simple Shortcut, for 3 or 4 years. I run it from inside FileMaker. It takes a ScreenShot and copies it to the Clipboard. (The FileMaker script then continues and pastes it into a field).

Since upgrading to macOS 14.5, it has stopped working. The ScreenShot takes place and is highlit in green when run from inside the ShortCuts app, then the Copy to Clipboard runs and NO errors are reported. However, the Clipboard is not changed/updated.

The ShortCut is only 2 steps:

Take Interactive Screenshot
Copy Screenshot to Clipboard

I have tried quite a lot to see if I can work out what’s going on. I’ve removed and re-added ShortCuts to:
System Settings / Privacy & Security / Screen & System Audio Recording
Sadly this hasn’t changed anything.

I’ve tried making an Automator vs, which amazingly, is a single step:
Take ScreenShot.

This failed to work too, but bizarely, it sort of worked. It took a ScreenShot, but it did NOT include any windows. So all I got was a picture of the selected area … so only of part of the Desktop Picture. So, clearly there is a Permissions issue?

I found an old thread talking of this, where the person suggested adding the app to:
System Settings / Privacy & Security / Accessibility
and removing it from :
System Settings / Privacy & Security / Screen & System Audio Recording
and then running the script.

I tried and it worked!! The OS obviously added the necessary Permissions as and where required.

However … my Automator app, which runs a single step has a hiccup in that FileMaker doesn’t wait for it to finish before proceeding. So I have to add a 2nd ‘Pause’ … which works, but it’s not very good on the UI, as it requires a 2nd btn click to Resume the script.

Questions:

• Has anyone else come across these issues since the macOS 14.5 update and do you have a workaround (Permissions) ?

• Can anyone offer a workaround for either the ShortCuts problem (doesn’t copy to Clipboard) or the Automator problem (needs a 2nd step, to allow the 1st to finish, before FileMaker continues??) ?

Many thanks for any help you can offer.

[peavine]

@Grant_Symon

• Has anyone else come across these issues since the macOS 14.5 update and do you have a workaround (Permissions) ?

Grant. I do not have FileMaker and can’t comment on what impact, if any, that has on taking a screenshot with a shortcut. However, my computer is updated to macOS 14.5, and I can comment on taking screenshots with a shortcut.

By way of preface, I have given the Shortcuts app permissions in Accessibility, Full Disk Access, and Screen and System Audio Recording. I did this some time ago and haven’t changed anything in a month or more.

I ran the following shortcut, and it did not copy the screenshot to the clipboard. I tried various possible permissions and other fixes but nothing worked. I think the issue is that the screenshot is not being taken, because saving the screenshot to a file doesn’t work either.

Screenshot to Clipboard 1.shortcut (21.6 KB)

A workaround that is reliable for me is to use the screencapture utility. As written, you have to manually select the area of the screen to capture or hold down the space key to put screencapture into window-select mode.

Screenshot to Clipboard 2.shortcut (21.4 KB)

[Grant_Symon]

Peavine, thank you so much for your reply. I’ve spent ages trying to find a solution to this, which I think is definitely a Permissions issue and which happened (for me) after the macOS 14.5 upgrade.

Yes, you may be correct that the screenshot is not being taken at all. The Clipboard remains unaltered.

Delighted that you found a workaround, but the intrigue continues for me. I’m guessing that you have some Permissions set, that I don’t, but either way … I copied your Shortcut and gave it Admin Permissions. When I ran it the first time (from inside FileMaker) it asked for Admin permission to enable it, which I gave via Touch ID. It then continued and presto! Nothing.

So I tried it inside Shortcuts itself and it fails with this error:

Any ideas?

[peavine]

Grant. I tested my second script but enabled the Run as Administrator option and got the same result as you:

If Administrator privileges are necessary, I don’t know of a Shortcuts app solution. Might it be possible to include the screencapture solution inside the FileMaker script? The following is an example–the repeat loop may not be necessary and is included just in case there is a timing issue:

set the clipboard to "no screenshot"
do shell script "screencapture -c -i" -- takes screenshot and copies it to the clipboard
repeat 30 times -- in case of a timing issue (30 is an arbitrary number)
	delay 0.1
	set clipboardContent to get the clipboard
	if clipboardContent is not "no screenshot" then exit repeat
end repeat
if clipboardContent is "no screenshot" then display dialog "A screenshot was not taken"

[Grant_Symon]

Thank you again Peavine.

Interesting what you say about running the Shell script as Admin in Shortcuts. It never occurred to me to try without, but now that I have, I find that it does exactly the same as was happening with the Automator step (i.e. takes the screenshot, but shows no windows, so it’s a screenshot of part of the Desktop) which I then fixed for the Automator script, as described in my 1st post, in other words, by enabling the macOS to fix it itself, by adding it to Accessibility, then running it. From then on it’s fine, however, FileMaker doesn’t wait for it to finish, before running the rest of the script, so I had to workaround that.

So I guess this confirms that there are Permissions which can be set and which do indeed make it work.

The good news, is that your 2nd Shell script solves the problem and runs perfectly from FileMaker (bit embarrassing if it didn’t … they’re both Apple apps ).

I tried it without the repeat and I got an error … but it still worked!!

Anyway, many thanks for your help. I’m back up and running. I shall reply to this thread in the future, if I discover that the Shortcut is back working again. It’s a very simple process in FileMaker, to switch from one to the other.

[Homer712]

I know this is an old post, but it caught my interest.

I was able to cut down your script in post #4 to this and it works well. But, how can it be modified to take the entire screen, and not just the selected area?

set the clipboard to "no screenshot"
do shell script "screencapture -c -i" -- takes screenshot and copies it to the clipboard
delay 0.1
set clipboardContent to get the clipboard
if clipboardContent is "no screenshot" then display dialog "A screenshot was not taken"

[peavine]

@Homer712

But, how can it be modified to take the entire screen, and not just the selected area?

Homer. Just delete the -i option after the screencapture command, and the script will work as you want.

[Homer712]

Thank you, both scripts (with -i and without -i) work perfectly. I can see these scripts replacing at least one app that I currently have installed. Slick!