I am new to using Applescript to store and retrieve data so am seeking advice on the best approach to use in my script.
I have a results string, returned from a shell script, that I am parsing. The Applescript extracts the lines that contain file paths that refer to image files that have been moved by the shell script. These file paths are added to one of two lists: the first stores jpeg and dng files and the second camera raw files.
Most but not all Jpeg files will have what I will call a source file. This source file shares the same base file path but has a different extension e.g. …/MyGreatImage.jpg may have a source file of …/MyGreatImage.cr3 or MyGreatImage.dng . A number of raw extensions may be present in the lists.
My aim is to write a function that accepts the filepath of a jpeg file and returns the filepath of its source file.
At some point I will end up with a data structure very similar to this FilePath.jpg , FilePath.raw. Lazy me thinks that I could just alternate these pairs in a simple list . Retrieval would be a case of stepping through every odd numbered item then when a match is found returning the next item.
Other more complex ways are to store the data pair from above in a list of two items and then have a parent list that is a list of the two item lists. To me this adds complexity with no great advantages.
The final option I have thought of so far is replace the two item lists from above with a record {FilePathKey:“FilePath.jpg”, SourceRaw:“FilepathRaw”} and create a list of records. I think this would result is legible function code along the lines of e.g.
if aRecord's FilePathKey is "FilePath.jpg" then
set RawFilePath to SourceRaw of aRecord
return RawFilePath
end
end repeat
return "FilePath.jpg" -- default if nothing found
What are the merits or otherwise of each of these approaches and is there another way?
best wishes
Simon