AppleScript Dictionary Script

It just occurred to me that the following script might be a more reliable approach, although I’d prefer not to have to specify every scriptable app.

set scriptableApps to {"Finder", "Script Editor"} -- add other app names

tell application "Finder"
	set frontApp to first application process whose frontmost is true
	set appName to name of frontApp
end tell

if appName is not in scriptableApps then
	display dialog "There is not an AppleScript dictionary for " & appName buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with icon stop
end if

tell application "Script Editor"
	open file of frontApp as alias
	activate
end tell

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

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

Thanks Yvan. I now understand the code line I didn’t previously understand.

If Script Editor won’t send an error to the script itself, then that would explain why the try statement is not catching the error. So perhaps specifying scriptable apps in my second post is the way to go.

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

----------------------------------------------------------------
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.

----------------------------------------------------------------
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

So check if it exists:

tell application id "com.apple.systemevents" -- System Events.app
	set scriptable to has scripting terminology of (get first application process whose frontmost is true)
end tell

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

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

Thanks Shane.

I never saw this feature before.

Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 8 janvier 2020 10:52:57

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

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.

Thanks again.

I will save this script so that I don’t forget it.

Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 8 janvier 2020 13:38:23

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.

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

The posted script issued :

“Erreur dans Script Editor : Il est impossible d’obtenir alias (alias "SSD 1000:Applications:Safari.app:").” number -1728 from alias (alias “SSD 1000:Applications:Safari.app:”)
A small edit is required

tell application "Script Editor"
	activate
	open appPath -- EDITED because appPath is already an alias
end tell

Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 8 janvier 2020 15:58:59

Thanks Yvan. I’ve corrected that.

You may use the simple :

set theApp to choose application as alias

tell application "Script Editor"
	activate
	open theApp 
end tell

At least with 10.13.6, as long as you select an app in the proposed list you will have a scriptable one.

I would be glad to know if other systems behave the same way.

Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 8 janvier 2020 18:25:15

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

@peavine

Thank you.

Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 8 janvier 2020 18:48:23

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.

My script works fine and I’ll use it a lot, but I did encounter one small issue. To replicate:

  1. Copy and paste the script contained below into Script Editor.

  2. Run the script, which loads the Script Editor dictionary.

  3. Without closing the dictionary, activate Script Editor and run the script again. This brings the Script Editor dictionary to the front but Script Editor continues to show “running” for about 5 seconds.

I wondered if anyone knew how to prevent my script from running as described in 3 above. This does have a practical consequence during normal use in that FastScripts is not responsive during the 5-second period. Thanks.

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

set appFile to path to application appName

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

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:

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

Try to use :

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
	set thePath to path of (file of activeApp)
end tell

if appDictionary then
	set maybe to appName & ".sdef"
	tell application "System Events" to tell process "Script Editor"
		tell menu bar 1 to tell menu bar item 9 to tell menu 1
			set menuItems to name of menu items
			--> {"Placer dans le Dock", "Placer toutes les fenêtres dans le Dock", "Réduire/agrandir", "Réduire/agrandir toutes les fenêtres", missing value, "Afficher l’onglet précédent", "Afficher l’onglet suivant", "Placer l’onglet dans une nouvelle fenêtre", "Fusionner toutes les fenêtres", missing value, "Tout ramener au premier plan", "Mettre au premier plan", missing value, "Historique", "Bibliothèque", missing value, "Enregistrer comme réglage par défaut", missing value, "get language code.scpt", "Pages.sdef", "Sans titre", "Sans titre 2", "System Events.sdef"}
			if menuItems contains maybe then -- if Finder show extensions
				click menu item maybe
				return -- exit the script
			end if
			
			if menuItems contains appName then -- if Finder doesn't show extensions
				click menu item appName
				return -- exit the script
			end if
		end tell
	end tell
	
	tell application "Script Editor"
		open file thePath
		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

Yvan KOENIG running High Sierra 10.13.6 in French (VALLAURIS, France) jeudi 9 janvier 2020 19:10:39

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.