I guess that this fake script will help you to understand what you get :

Applescript:

tell application "Finder"
   set frontApp to first application process whose frontmost is true
   --> application process "Script Editor" of application "Finder"
end tell

tell application "Script Editor"
   activate
   set maybe to file of frontApp
   log result -->    (*alias SSD 1000:Applications:Utilities:Script Editor.app:*)
   open maybe -- does nothing if the front app is Script Editor
end tell

set frontApp to (path to application "TextEdit") as alias
log result --> (*alias SSD 1000:Applications:TextEdit.app:*)

tell application "Script Editor"
   activate
   try
       open frontApp -- as alias
   on error errMsg number errNbr
       display dialog "Error # " & errNumber & ", " & errMsg
   end try
end tell

set frontApp to (path to application "LibreOffice") as alias
log result --> (*alias SSD 1000:Applications:Applications perso:LibreOffice.app:*)

tell application "Script Editor"
   activate
   try
       open frontApp -- as alias
   on error errMsg number errNbr
       display dialog "Error # " & errNumber & ", " & errMsg
   end try
end tell

My understanding is that the Editor doesn't send its own error to the script itself.

Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mardi 7 janvier 2020  17:55:10

Maybe you may insert a piece of code scanning the package of the app:

Applescript:

----------------------------------------------------------------
use AppleScript version "2.5"
use framework "Foundation"
use scripting additions
use script "FileManagerLib" version "2.3.3"
----------------------------------------------------------------
script o
   property theURLs : {}
end script

set theApp to path to application "Pages"
set o's theURLs to objects of theApp result type urls array with searching subfolders without include folders and include invisible items
set hasDictionary to false
repeat with aURL in o's theURLs
   set theExtension to (aURL's pathExtension()) as text
   if theExtension is in {"scriptTerminology", "scriptSuite", "sdef"} then
       set hasDictionary to true
       exit repeat
   end if
end repeat
hasDictionary

I used FileManagerLib for this first draft but you may trigger the NSFileManager directly.

Applescript:

----------------------------------------------------------------
use AppleScript version "2.5"
use framework "Foundation"
use scripting additions
----------------------------------------------------------------
script o
   property theURLs : {}
end script

set theApp to path to application "Pages"
set folderPath to POSIX path of theApp
set theURL to current application's class "NSURL"'s fileURLWithPath:folderPath
set fileManager to a reference to current application's NSFileManager's defaultManager()
set keysToRequest to {}
set theOptions to {current application's NSDirectoryEnumerationSkipsHiddenFiles}
set theEnumerator to fileManager's enumeratorAtURL:theURL includingPropertiesForKeys:keysToRequest options:theOptions errorHandler:(missing value)
set o's theURLs to (theEnumerator's allObjects())

set hasDictionary to false
repeat with aURL in o's theURLs
   set theExtension to (aURL's pathExtension()) as text
   if theExtension is in {"scriptTerminology", "scriptSuite", "sdef"} then
       set hasDictionary to true
       exit repeat
   end if
end repeat
hasDictionary

In Pages we have a "sdef" file.
In TextEdit we have "scriptTerminology" and "scriptSuite" files but no "sdef" one.
I didn't made more extensive search.

Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mardi 7 janvier 2020  19:22:32

Last edited by Yvan Koenig (2020-01-07 12:24:52 pm)

Thanks Shane. I incorporated your suggestion in my script and it works great.

Applescript:

tell application id "com.apple.systemevents"
   set frontApp to first application process whose frontmost is true
   set appDictionary to has scripting terminology of frontApp
   set appName to name of frontApp
end tell

if appDictionary then
   tell application "Script Editor"
       open file of frontApp as alias
       activate
   end tell
else
   display dialog appName & " does not have a dictionary." buttons {"OK"} ¬
       cancel button 1 default button 1 with icon stop
end if

Last edited by peavine (2020-01-09 07:49:52 am)

If you wanted to avoid system Events as well, you could use this:

Applescript:

use AppleScript version "2.5" -- macOS 10.11 or later
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
use scripting additions

set activeApp to current application's NSWorkspace's sharedWorkspace()'s frontmostApplication()
set theBundle to current application's NSBundle's bundleWithURL:(activeApp's bundleURL())
return ((theBundle's objectForInfoDictionaryKey:"NSAppleScriptEnabled") is not missing value)

On my Mac,  that's about 50 times quicker than System Events, which takes more than 0.1 seconds.

While working on this topic, I wrote a simple script which is functionally little different than selecting Open Dictionary from the File menu of Script Editor. The very-slight advantages of this script are 1) it contains only the dictionaries the user wants, and 2) it can be run just about any way a script can be run, which is not the case with my script included above. I tested this with most applications that have a dictionary but there may be a few that won't work.

Applescript:

property defaultItem : missing value

set appList to {"Finder", "Mail", "Preview", "Safari", "Script Editor", "StandardAdditions", "System Events", "TextEdit"}

choose from list appList default items {defaultItem} with prompt "Select a Dictionary:"

if result = false then
   error number -128
else
   set selectedApp to item 1 of result
end if

if selectedApp = "StandardAdditions" then
   set appPath to "Macintosh HD:System:Library:ScriptingAdditions:StandardAdditions.osax:" as alias
else
   set appPath to path to application selectedApp
end if

tell application "Script Editor"
   if selectedApp is in (name of every window) then
       my raiseWindow(selectedApp)
   else
       activate
       open appPath
   end if
end tell

set defaultItem to selectedApp

on raiseWindow(selectedApp)
   tell application "System Events" to tell process "Script Editor"
       perform action "AXRaise" of window selectedApp
   end tell
end raiseWindow

Last edited by peavine (2020-01-11 11:56:46 am)

Thanks Yvan. I've corrected that.

Yvan. Your script works fine on Catalina and is probably preferred for its simplicity and speed.

Last edited by peavine (2020-01-08 11:55:04 am)

If you want simplicity and speed, Script Debugger's OpenDictionary command is your answer. Separate lists of running, recent and favorite apps and script libraries, as well as Standard Additions and a general open command. As a bonus, you get a much more detailed presentation of the dictionary.

I get the same result on my Mac with Script editor.

Even more interesting  is: if I run it with SD with the Debugging option active, I get an error at:
open file of activeApp as alias
This is the error:
Can’t make alias "iMac_HD:Applications:Script Debugger.app:" of application "System Events" into type alias.

This might help you in fix this strange behaviour.


L.

This is the script I used in SD:

Applescript:

tell application "System Events"
   set activeApp to first application process whose frontmost is true
   set appName to name of activeApp
   set appDictionary to has scripting terminology of activeApp
end tell

if appDictionary then
   tell application "Script Debugger"
       open file of activeApp as alias
       activate
   end tell
else
   display dialog appName & " does not have a dictionary." buttons {"OK"} ¬
       cancel button 1 default button 1 with icon stop
end if

This is the corresponding screenshot:
https://funkyimg.com/i/31dfQ.png

Last edited by ldicroce (2020-01-10 12:57:38 am)

Thanks Yvan and ldicroce for the responses. I've revised my script in Post 18 to fix the issue identified by ldicroce. So, all is well.

Yvan. Thanks for looking at my revised script and for your comments.

As regards the "path to" command line in my script in Post 18, it has always been my understanding that it's best not to put a command in a tell statement if that's not necessary. Because the "path to" command is in Standard Additions, I did not put that instruction in System Events. I'd be interested to learn how this is best handled.

You are correct that the revised version of my script in Post 18 does not fix the error identified as issue #3 in that post. Perhaps I misled, but this revision was only intended to fix the issue identified by ldicroce.

I did try your script which worked well, but it only seemed to fix issue #3 with Script Editor. I tested it with Finder, Safari, and Mail, and the 5-second delay was still present.

I have further refined this issue in the following script. Run it once and there is no delay. Run it again with the Safari dictionary open and there is a 5-second delay, as reflected by the word "running" in the Script Editor Result pane.

Applescript:

set theApp to "Macintosh HD:Applications:Safari.app:" as alias

tell application "Script Editor"
   open theApp
end tell

Actually the ideal solution. which entirely avoids this issue, is to get the path to the app's dictionary and to use Finder to open it, as in the following:

Applescript:

set appPath to "Macintosh HD:System:Library:ScriptingAdditions:StandardAdditions.osax:" as alias

tell application "Finder" to open appPath

With other apps, like Safari, this approach just opens the app.

Last edited by peavine (2020-01-10 11:16:35 am)

Yvan. I tested the following scripts in Script Geek:

Applescript:

tell application "System Events"
   set activeApp to first application process whose frontmost is true
   set activeName to name of activeApp
   set thePath to path of (file of activeApp) as alias
end tell

Applescript:

tell application "System Events"
   set activeApp to first application process whose frontmost is true
   set activeName to name of activeApp
end tell

set appPath to path to application activeName

With 100 iterations, the first script took 2.5 milliseconds per iteration and the second script 2.3 milliseconds. So, timewise, they are pretty much the same. From a design/style perspective, grouping all the commands under System Events makes sense.

I tried your revised script and encountered a delay as before. I suspect this is something I'm doing wrong.

I rewrote my script to operate in a fashion similar to Nigel's script in the thread linked below. My script displays a dialog with default apps, which are specified in the script, plus apps that are active at the time the script is run. The script no longer has the delay-on-reopen issue.

Thanks again for the help.

https://www.macscripter.net/viewtopic.php?pid=191643

Applescript:

property defaultItem : missing value

set defaultApps to {"StandardAdditions", "System Events"}

tell application "System Events"
   set activeApps to name of every process whose visible is true and has scripting terminology is true
end tell

set appList to activeApps & defaultApps

if defaultItem is not in appList then set defaultItem to item 1 of appList

choose from list appList with title "AppleScript" with prompt "Dictionaries" default items {defaultItem} OK button name "Open"

if result = false then
   error number -128
else
   set selectedApp to item 1 of result
end if

if selectedApp = "StandardAdditions" then
   set appFile to ((path to scripting additions folder as text) & "StandardAdditions.osax:") as alias
else
   set appFile to path to application selectedApp
end if

tell application "Script Editor"
   if selectedApp is in (name of every window) then
       raiseWindow(selectedApp) of me
   else
       activate
       open appFile
       -- set bounds of window 1 to {10, 33, 750, 1065} # option to resize dictionary window
   end if
end tell

set defaultItem to selectedApp

on raiseWindow(selectedApp)
   tell application "Script Editor" to activate # duplicate activate commands are intentional
   tell application "System Events" to tell process "Script Editor" to perform action "AXRaise" of window selectedApp
   tell application "Script Editor" to activate
end raiseWindow

Last edited by peavine (2020-01-12 03:54:44 pm)