Convert the Text to Record (effectively)

AppleScript

script WifiStats
	property parent : a reference to {«class usrf»:my list's paragraphs}
	property key : a reference to AppleScript's text item delimiters
	property item : a reference to my list's text items
	property list : "		agrCtlRSSI: -29
		agrExtRSSI: 0
		agrCtlNoise: -87
		agrExtNoise: 0
		state: running
		op mode: station 
		lastTxRate: 59
		maxRate: 72
		lastAssocStatus: 0
		802.11 auth: open
		link auth: wpa2-psk
		BSSID: 8:78:8:0:aa:5c
		SSID: AndroidAP
		MCS: 6\n channel: 6"
end script

tell WifiStats
	set key's contents to {linefeed, ": "}
	set its list to its item as text
	set key's contents to {{space},tab}
	set its list to its item as text
	return the contents as anything
end tell

Run Script (JXA)

set WifiStats to "		agrCtlRSSI: -29
		agrExtRSSI: 0
		agrCtlNoise: -87
		agrExtNoise: 0
		state: running
		op mode: station 
		lastTxRate: 59
		maxRate: 72
		lastAssocStatus: 0
		802.11 auth: open
		link auth: wpa2-psk
		BSSID: 8:78:8:0:aa:5c
		SSID: AndroidAP
		MCS: 6\n channel: 6"

run script "let R=`" & WifiStats & "`" & "
		.replace(/[\\s\t]*(\\w[^:]+): (.+)\\x12?/g, 
					'\"$1\" : \"$2\" \\u{0A}' 
					).split( '\\u{0A}' ).slice( 0, -1 ).join( ',' );
		JSON.parse( '{' + R + '}' );" in "JavaScript"

ASObjC


-- Format the string first into the following format,
-- e.g. using Text Item Delimiters:

set WifiStats to "		\"agrCtlRSSI\" = \"-29\";
		\"agrExtRSSI\" = \"0\";
		\"agrCtlNoise\" = \"-87\";
		\"agrExtNoise\" = \"0\";
		\"state\" = \"running\";
		\"op mode\" = \"station\" ;
		\"lastTxRate\" = \"59\";
		\"maxRate\" = \"72\";
		\"lastAssocStatus\" = \"0\";
		\"802.11 auth\" = \"open\";
		\"link auth\" = \"wpa2-psk\";
		\"BSSID\" = \"8:78:8:0:aa:5c\";
		\"SSID\" = \"AndroidAP\";
		\"MCS\" = \"6\";
		\"channel\" = \"6\";"

-- Then the Foundation framework allows this:
use framework "Foundation"
my (NSString's stringWithString:WifiStats)'s propertyList() as record

Sorry, I’m currently too tired to do the labour of formatting the string in the last example, but it’s fairly straight forward.

I’m sorry that I disappeared temporarily from the radar. Now I can only say one thing:

Friends, I’m impressed! :smiley:

Because I did not expect that 6 options for solving this problem would appear at once. (This is a very common task faced by users when getting results from utilities, so a good solution will come in handy).

As I tested, they all work, and quite quickly, but 2 of them give the result almost instantly. I will provide the results of speed testing + my full script obtained with your help.

Thanks everyone!!!

If you can format your string in JSON format,
You can create a NSData object from it.
The use NSJSONSerialization to create a NSDictionary from it.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nsjsonserialization

Speed testing results (from fast to fastest):

13 ms : scripts from @Mark Anthony and from @Peavine

3 ms : JXA script from @CK

2 ms : script from @robertfern, but for some reason it doesn’t trim spaces before key names when working with result of do shell script


set currentWiFiNetworkInfo to do shell script "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I"

set {ATID, AppleScript's text item delimiters} to {AppleScript's text item delimiters, ": "}
set theContent to paragraphs of currentWiFiNetworkInfo

set myRec to {}
repeat with i in theContent
	set tmp to text items of i
	set spaceOffset to item 1 of tmp
	set end of myRec to item 1 of tmp
	set tmp to (rest of tmp) as text
	try
		set tmp to tmp as integer
	end try
	set end of myRec to tmp
end repeat
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ATID
set rawRecord to {«class usrf»:myRec}

2 ms : plain AppleScript version from @CK. I see this solution as the best provided solution.

Here is full script (it gets current WiFi Network state info) using the excellent @CK suggestion :


on currentWiFiNetworkInfo()
	script o
		property parent : a reference to {«class usrf»:my list's paragraphs}
		property key : a reference to AppleScript's text item delimiters
		property item : a reference to my list's text items
		property list : "" -- EDITED
	end script
	set currentWiFiNetworkInfo to ¬
		do shell script "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I" -- ADDED
	tell o
		set its list to currentWiFiNetworkInfo -- ADDED
		set key's contents to {linefeed, ": "}
		set its list to its item as text
		set key's contents to {[space]}
		set its list to its item as text
		return the contents as any
	end tell
end currentWiFiNetworkInfo

my currentWiFiNetworkInfo()

No, after all, the JXA solution from @CK in this case is the best, since it preserves the necessary spaces in the compound key names, unlike the last script in the previous post:


on currentWiFiNetworkInfo()
	set currentWiFiNetworkInfo to do shell script "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I"
	run script "let R=`" & currentWiFiNetworkInfo & "`" & "
       .replace(/\\s*(\\w[^:]+): (.+)\\x12?/g, 
                   '\"$1\" : \"$2\" \\u{0A}' 
                   ).split( '\\u{0A}' ).slice( 0, -1 ).join( ',' );
       JSON.parse( '{' + R + '}' );" in "JavaScript"
end currentWiFiNetworkInfo

my currentWiFiNetworkInfo()

You mean the fastest solution provided. :slight_smile: You can only judge it to be the best if you yourself understand how it works and can judge whether or not the methods used are legitimate. The square brackets in {[space]} certainly aren’t part of AppleScript and replacing them with braces produces exactly the same end result. On the face of it, using reserved terms as property labels is also to be discouraged, but in this case they appear to integral to the method.

The result I get from the script is …

{|\t\tagrctlrssi|:"-29", |\t\tagrextrssi|:"0", |\t\tagrctlnoise|:"-87", |\t\tagrextnoise|:"0", |\t\tstate|:"running", |\t\topmode|:"station", |\t\tlasttxrate|:"59", |\t\tmaxrate|:"72", |\t\tlastassocstatus|:"0", |\t\t802.11auth|:"open", |\t\tlinkauth|:"wpa2-psk", |\t\tbssid|:"8:78:8:0:aa:5c", |\t\tssid|:"AndroidAP", |\t\tmcs|:"6", channel:"6"}

… but presumably it’s because the beginnings of the text lines are rendered above as tabs rather than spaces. I see you’ve already noticed that spaces within the labels are removed too.

I’ve modified my script with some script object hocus pocus. Let me know if it fares differently in your speed test, and perhaps I’ll change my default method.

@Marc Anthony,

Thanks for updating your version. As I checked, it is still 7 times slower than the JXA solution. It also uncomfortably removes spaces in compound key names.

I took the liberty of tweaking your script. Now it gives the correct result. Moreover, its execution in Script Geek is equal in speed with the JXA solution (3 ms). (Note: in the Script Debugger following script for some reason is still 3 times slower then the JXA solution, I don’t know why this difference with Script Geek testings).

It makes sense to bring it here for users who are weak in JXA, like me:


on currentWiFiNetworkInfo()
	set currentWiFiNetworkInfo to do shell script "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I"
	set recordz to {}
	repeat with theParagraph in my (currentWiFiNetworkInfo's paragraphs)
		set o to offset of ":" in theParagraph
		set theKey to theParagraph's text 1 thru (o - 1)
		repeat while theKey begins with space
			set theKey to text 2 thru -1 of theKey
		end repeat
		set recordz to recordz & (run script "{|" & theKey & "|: " & (quote & (theParagraph's text (o + 2) thru -1) & quote) & "}")
	end repeat
end currentWiFiNetworkInfo

my currentWiFiNetworkInfo()

remove keyword result inside run script. I think, here @CK simply made typo.

Thanks KniazdisR–that got it working. I’ll modify my post above.

I cleaned up a version from above to save fields that are integers as integers not text.
It also does REALS and BOOLEANS.
Also i only call run script once to cut down on processing time


set theContent to "agrCtlRSSI: -29
agrExtRSSI: true
agrCtlNoise: -87
agrExtNoise: 2.10
state: running
op mode: station 
lastTxRate: 59
maxRate: 72
lastAssocStatus: 0
802.11 auth: open
link auth: wpa2-psk
BSSID: 8:78:8:0:aa:5c
SSID: AndroidAP
MCS: 6
channel: 6"

set text item delimiters to {": "}
set theContent to (theContent's text items)
set text item delimiters to {":"}
set theContent to theContent as text
set theContent to paragraphs of the theContent
set {keylist, textList, recordz} to {{}, {}, {}}

repeat with index from 1 to count theContent
	set anItem to theContent's item index
	set keylist's end to anItem's text item 1
	if (count (text items of anItem)) = 2 then
		set textList's end to anItem's text item 2
	else
		set textList's end to (anItem's text items 2 thru -1) as text
	end if
	try -- see if field is an boolean
		set textList's last item to textList's last item as boolean
		set end of recordz to ("|" & my keylist's item index & "|: " & (textList's item index))
	on error
		try -- see if field is a REAL
			if textList's last item contains "." then
				set textList's last item to textList's last item as real
			else
				error
			end if
			set end of recordz to ("|" & my keylist's item index & "|: " & (textList's item index))
		on error -- its text
			try -- see if field is an integer
				set textList's last item to textList's last item as integer
				set end of recordz to ("|" & my keylist's item index & "|: " & (textList's item index))
			on error -- its text
				set end of recordz to ("|" & my keylist's item index & "|: \"" & my textList's item index & "\"")
			end try
		end try
	end try
end repeat
set text item delimiters to {","}
set recordz to run script "{" & (recordz as text) & "}"
recordz

Very cool! If you want to handle reals and integers:


            set textList's last item to textList's last item as number

Should be easy enough to do booleans also.

Done!

I edited my post above.

Yes, they are. I think the length of time for which you’ve been saying this sort of demonstrates their permanency, and they’ve most certainly outlived many apparently stable “core” features of AppleScript in their lifetime. So I think when it comes to defining what the term “legitimate” actually means, I’m taking the pragmatic view in this instance (and I must admit, pragmatism doesn’t always come easily to me), which is to acknowledge that these things have utility, they’re not going anywhere, and they let one do things that aren’t possible otherwise. I’ve previously given a run-down on their history in AppleScript, what capabilities they retain, and the pros and cons in various scenarios.

Yes, correct. They aren’t serving a functional purpose in this case, purely a typographical one, largely for my benefit to be able to distinguish neighbouring brackets from each other more easily. Anyone else who’s dyslexic might understand how confusing consecutive sets of symbols can be.

I actually normally switch them back out for curly ones when publishing, but my tiredness made me overlook it in this instance. That said, they pose no drawbacks here nor do any harm, and if anything, it’s opened up discussion for people to learn about it.

Oh, and those tab characters shouldn’t be there. I don’t know whether that’s something you inserted into the script or whether that was me again. Simply appending a tab item to the tids value in question will resolve their unwelcome appearance.

There’s no particular reason on the face of it, or on the back of it, or from any angle, to discourage their use. Once again, it’s about appreciating that they have utility, but also—as you rightly said—knowing and understanding how to use them in ways that maintain robustness and offer effectiveness. Come to think of it, that’s true of everything.

I would encourage you to try and start making a point to use them, even though it may be outside of your comfort zone. But getting familiar with something usually allows reservations that are less warranted to subside. You may even end up liking it.

Ah, is that where they’re coming from ? I don’t know whether the forum mutated the white space or whether I did it in a hypnogogic state.

Yes, really sorry. I was half asleep last night and made a few blunders. I’ve amended my post to correct these.

try blocks will slow a script down quite significantly when an error is caught. Error catching is a fairly intense set of operations that get performed in order to catch the error, itemise the components of the script responsible for the error, reporting it, and logging it. Luckily, you can probably do away with all of that and simply do this:

tell the textList to set the last item to the last item as {boolean, real, integer, text}

Thanks, thanks, thanks!

I ended up with 3 solutions that return the exact result, but at different speeds. The most effective method (for me) here was the JXA-method, provided by @CK. I also discovered a lot of interesting things about his programming technique.

  1. JXA solution from @CK turned out to be the fastest (3 ms). It is ideal for users who understand JXA. See my post #10 for how I applied this solution.

  2. The method suggested by @Marc Anthony is also fast (9 ms), although it is 3 times slower than the JXA solution. Since the difference in speed is not fatal, this solution is ideal for users weak in JXA. See my post #13 for how I applied this 2nd solution.

  3. The method suggested by @robertfern is the most accurate solution, so it’s worth considering. It is ideal for those who would like to receive the values of numerical keys in numerical form. I tried to get the most speed out of it, and made it to remove spaces before key names. I ended up with a script that is 10 times slower than the JXA solution (30 ms):


on currentWiFiNetworkInfo()
	script o
		property currentWiFiNetworkInfo : ""
	end script
	set o's currentWiFiNetworkInfo to paragraphs of (do shell script "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I")
	set {ATID, AppleScript's text item delimiters} to {AppleScript's text item delimiters, ": "}
	set myRec to {}
	repeat with i in o's currentWiFiNetworkInfo
		set tmp to text items of i
		set spaceOffset to item 1 of tmp
		repeat while spaceOffset begins with space -- added by me
			set spaceOffset to text 2 thru -1 of spaceOffset
		end repeat
		set end of myRec to spaceOffset
		set end of myRec to (rest of tmp) as {integer, text} -- the @CK's last suggestion applied here
	end repeat
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ATID
	set rawRecord to {«class usrf»:myRec}
end currentWiFiNetworkInfo

my currentWiFiNetworkInfo()

Hmmm… I tried various forms of that, and it changes the class of everything to text. But the below works.


set theContent to "agrCtlRSSI: -29
agrExtRSSI: true
 agrCtlNoise: -87
agrExtNoise: 2.10
state: running
		op mode: station 
 lastTxRate: 59
maxRate: 72
lastAssocStatus: 0
  802.11 auth: open
link auth: wpa2-psk
  BSSID: 8:78:8:0:aa:5c
 SSID: AndroidAP
MCS: 6
channel: 6"
set testRecords to RecordIzeText(theContent)
set currentWiFiNetworkInfo to do shell script "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I"
set actualRecords to RecordIzeText(currentWiFiNetworkInfo)

on RecordIzeText(theContent)
	set the content to linefeed & theContent
	set saveTID to AppleScript's text item delimiters
	repeat
		set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {return & tab, linefeed & tab, return & space, linefeed & space}
		set fixedText to text items of theContent
		set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {linefeed}
		set fixedText to fixedText as text
		if fixedText = theContent then exit repeat
		set theContent to fixedText
	end repeat
	set the theContent to the rest of paragraphs of (theContent as text)
	set recordz to {}
	set text item delimiters to {": "}
	repeat with index from 1 to count theContent
		set anItem to theContent's item index
		set anItem to text items of anItem
		set recordLabel to item 1 of anItem
		set recordValue to the rest of anItem as text
		--set recordValue to recordValue as {boolean, real, integer, text} --turns everything to text
		try
			set recordValue to recordValue as {boolean, number}
		on error
			set recordValue to quote & recordValue & quote
		end try
		set end of recordz to ("|" & recordLabel & "|: " & (recordValue))
	end repeat
	set text item delimiters to {","}
	set recordz to run script "{" & (recordz as text) & "}"
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to saveTID
	return recordz
end RecordIzeText

Also…

Script Debugger adds a lot of overhead to script execution in order to do all its magic. That makes it less than ideal for timing scripts. I think that’s why Shane made Script Geek in the first place.

They’ve not been mentioned in any edition of the AppleScript Language Guide for at least 25 years. So either the author(s) have been very forgetful or the AppleScript team hasn’t intended square brackets to be an official part of the language. The latter explanation’s by far the more likely. Square brackets were mentioned once or twice in my very early days on the AppleScript-Users e-mail list, but you and one other poster elsewhere (possibly the same person posting under a different name) are the only people I’ve ever seen actually use them. The length of time I’ve had to point out that they’re not (or are no longer) an official part of AppleScript equates to the time you’ve been casually using them here without explanation or good reason. It’s the permanency of your stubbornness rather than that of square brackets that’s being demonstrated.

AppleScript has quite a few undocumented features and sometimes they can be the only way to get a particular job done or to get it done efficiently (if you know about them). Where this is the case, it should be noted and explained in comments. Where not, more standard methods should be used. This isn’t some law I’ve made up myself. It’s a philosophy passed on by the many professional coders with whom I’ve crossed swords over the past quarter century. Likewise with not using reserved terms (with a few exceptions) as labels for script and user record properties. But as I noted above, your convoluted script seems to depend on the labels not being user ones.

Not being casual or a smartarse is especially relevant in fora where people come for help in learning the language. There are subtle differences between lists with square brackets (“linked lists”) and those with braces (“vectors”). If a learner sees someone who comes on clever casually using square brackets instead of braces simply as a matter of style, they might be tempted to think the two are equivalent, follow suit, and one day run foul of the differences. That said, of course, there’s no reason why an undocumented feature shouldn’t be demo’d at the end of a relevant, already answered topic for the interest and amusement of other scripters.

I in turn would encourage you to read MacScripter’s forum rules, which were also not made up by me. Rule 2 states: “You will be required to enter your legal first and last name when you register.” The first and last name shown in your profile don’t conform to this requirement and I’d encourage you to correct them before Mark notices. :slight_smile:

If anyone’s interested, in April 2002, on the AppleScript-Users list, Shane quoted from a 1993 AppleScript document which appears to show the beginning of linked lists’ fall from favour. By 1997, there was no mention of them at all in the AppleScript documentation.

Here’s an analysis of CK’s AppleScript script in post #5. The way the TIDs are used is interesting.

set WifiStats to "		agrCtlRSSI: -29
		agrExtRSSI: 0
		agrCtlNoise: -87
		agrExtNoise: 0
		state: running
		op mode: station 
		lastTxRate: 59
		maxRate: 72
		lastAssocStatus: 0
		802.11 auth: open
		link auth: wpa2-psk
		BSSID: 8:78:8:0:aa:5c
		SSID: AndroidAP
		MCS: 6
 channel: 6"

-- Replace both linefeeds and colon-spaces with linefeeds.
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {linefeed, ": "}
set WifiStats to WifiStats's text items as text
-- Replace both spaces and tabs with empty texts resulting from a non-text delimiter.
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {{space}, tab} -- simile: {7, space, tab}
set WifiStats to WifiStats's text items as text
-- Hack the result's alternating label and value lines into a record.
return {«class usrf»:WifiStats's paragraphs}'s contents as anything

-- Another once-popular version of the hack:
return (record {«class usrf»:WifiStats's paragraphs} as record)'s «class seld»

-- Or even:
script
	{«class usrf»:WifiStats's paragraphs}
end script
return (run script result)