That’s right. You could still use the same code to do the actual work.
I revised the script in post 16 to remove an unnecessary error handler and to cleanup the code a bit. I did not alter db123’s dialog handler, which works great as written.
-- Revised 2022.02.28
on main()
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selectedText to selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
end tell
if c2 = 0 then -- select entire script if no selection
display dialog "A text selection was not found" buttons {"Cancel", "Select All"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon caution -- disable if desired
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selectedText to source text
set {c1, c2} to {1, (count selectedText)}
set selection to {c1, c2}
end tell
end if
set dialogResult to my showSearchReplaceDialog()
if dialogResult is missing value then error number -128
set {searchString, replaceString} to {searchString, replaceString} of dialogResult
set text item delimiters to searchString
set modifiedText to text items of selectedText
set searchStringMatches to ((count modifiedText) - 1)
set text item delimiters to replaceString
set modifiedText to modifiedText as text
set text item delimiters to {""}
if searchStringMatches = 0 then
display dialog "The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text" buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
else if searchStringMatches = 1 then
display dialog "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
else
display dialog "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
end if
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selection to modifiedText
set selection to {c1, c2}
-- compile without showing errors -- enable if desired
end tell
end main
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
script theScript
use scripting additions
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
use framework "Carbon"
property ca : current application
property dialogWindow : missing value
property searchTextField : missing value
property replaceTextField : missing value
property cancelButton : missing value
property replaceButton : missing value
property searchString : missing value
property replaceString : missing value
property replaceClicked : false
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
if current application's AEInteractWithUser(-1, missing value, missing value) ≠ 0 then
return missing value
end if
if ca's NSThread's isMainThread() then
my performSearchReplaceDialog:(missing value)
else
its performSelectorOnMainThread:"performSearchReplaceDialog:" withObject:(missing value) waitUntilDone:true
end if
if my replaceClicked then
return {searchString:my searchString as text, replaceString:my replaceString as text}
end if
return missing value
end showSearchReplaceDialog
on performSearchReplaceDialog:args
set findLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Search:"
findLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 85, 70, 20))
set my searchTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
searchTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 85, 245, 20))
searchTextField's setEditable:true
searchTextField's setBordered:true
searchTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Search for …"
searchTextField's setDelegate:me
set replaceLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Replace:"
replaceLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 55, 70, 20))
set my replaceTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
replaceTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 55, 245, 20))
replaceTextField's setEditable:true
replaceTextField's setBordered:true
replaceTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Replace with …"
set my cancelButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Cancel" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
cancelButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
cancelButton's setFrameOrigin:{150, 10}
cancelButton's setKeyEquivalent:(character id 27)
set my replaceButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Replace" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
replaceButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
replaceButton's setFrameOrigin:{245, 10}
replaceButton's setKeyEquivalent:return
replaceButton's setEnabled:false
set windowSize to ca's NSMakeRect(0, 0, 355, 125)
set winStyle to (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskTitled as integer) + (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskClosable as integer)
set my dialogWindow to ca's NSWindow's alloc()'s initWithContentRect:windowSize styleMask:winStyle backing:(ca's NSBackingStoreBuffered) defer:true
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:findLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:searchTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:cancelButton
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceButton
dialogWindow's setTitle:"Search and Replace"
dialogWindow's setLevel:(ca's NSModalPanelWindowLevel)
dialogWindow's setDelegate:me
dialogWindow's orderFront:me
dialogWindow's |center|()
ca's NSApp's activateIgnoringOtherApps:true
ca's NSApp's runModalForWindow:dialogWindow
end performSearchReplaceDialog:
on buttonAction:sender
if sender is my replaceButton then
set my searchString to searchTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceString to replaceTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceClicked to true
end if
my dialogWindow's |close|()
end buttonAction:
on controlTextDidChange:aNotification
set sender to aNotification's object()
if sender is my searchTextField then
if sender's stringValue() as text ≠ "" then
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:true)
else
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:false)
end if
end if
end controlTextDidChange:
on windowWillClose:aNotification
ca's NSApp's stopModal()
end windowWillClose:
end script
return theScript's showSearchReplaceDialog()
end showSearchReplaceDialog
main()
This script works with Script Editor but is otherwise identical to that above.
-- Revised 2022.03.05
on main()
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
set selectedText to contents of selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
end tell
if c1 = c2 then -- select entire script if no selection
display dialog "A text selection was not found" buttons {"Cancel", "Select All"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon caution -- disable if desired
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
set selectedText to contents
set {c1, c2} to {1, (count selectedText)}
set selection to {0, c2}
end tell
end if
set dialogResult to my showSearchReplaceDialog()
if dialogResult is missing value then error number -128
set {searchString, replaceString} to {searchString, replaceString} of dialogResult
set text item delimiters to searchString
set modifiedText to text items of selectedText
set searchStringMatches to ((count modifiedText) - 1)
set text item delimiters to replaceString
set modifiedText to modifiedText as text
set text item delimiters to {""}
if searchStringMatches = 0 then
display dialog "The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text" buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
else if searchStringMatches = 1 then
display dialog "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
else
display dialog "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
end if
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
set contents of selection to modifiedText
set selection to {(c1 - 1), c2}
end tell
end main
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
script theScript
use scripting additions
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
use framework "Carbon"
property ca : current application
property dialogWindow : missing value
property searchTextField : missing value
property replaceTextField : missing value
property cancelButton : missing value
property replaceButton : missing value
property searchString : missing value
property replaceString : missing value
property replaceClicked : false
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
if current application's AEInteractWithUser(-1, missing value, missing value) ≠ 0 then
return missing value
end if
if ca's NSThread's isMainThread() then
my performSearchReplaceDialog:(missing value)
else
its performSelectorOnMainThread:"performSearchReplaceDialog:" withObject:(missing value) waitUntilDone:true
end if
if my replaceClicked then
return {searchString:my searchString as text, replaceString:my replaceString as text}
end if
return missing value
end showSearchReplaceDialog
on performSearchReplaceDialog:args
set findLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Search:"
findLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 85, 70, 20))
set my searchTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
searchTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 85, 245, 20))
searchTextField's setEditable:true
searchTextField's setBordered:true
searchTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Search for …"
searchTextField's setDelegate:me
set replaceLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Replace:"
replaceLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 55, 70, 20))
set my replaceTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
replaceTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 55, 245, 20))
replaceTextField's setEditable:true
replaceTextField's setBordered:true
replaceTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Replace with …"
set my cancelButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Cancel" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
cancelButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
cancelButton's setFrameOrigin:{150, 10}
cancelButton's setKeyEquivalent:(character id 27)
set my replaceButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Replace" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
replaceButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
replaceButton's setFrameOrigin:{245, 10}
replaceButton's setKeyEquivalent:return
replaceButton's setEnabled:false
set windowSize to ca's NSMakeRect(0, 0, 355, 125)
set winStyle to (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskTitled as integer) + (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskClosable as integer)
set my dialogWindow to ca's NSWindow's alloc()'s initWithContentRect:windowSize styleMask:winStyle backing:(ca's NSBackingStoreBuffered) defer:true
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:findLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:searchTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:cancelButton
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceButton
dialogWindow's setTitle:"Search and Replace"
dialogWindow's setLevel:(ca's NSModalPanelWindowLevel)
dialogWindow's setDelegate:me
dialogWindow's orderFront:me
dialogWindow's |center|()
ca's NSApp's activateIgnoringOtherApps:true
ca's NSApp's runModalForWindow:dialogWindow
end performSearchReplaceDialog:
on buttonAction:sender
if sender is my replaceButton then
set my searchString to searchTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceString to replaceTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceClicked to true
end if
my dialogWindow's |close|()
end buttonAction:
on controlTextDidChange:aNotification
set sender to aNotification's object()
if sender is my searchTextField then
if sender's stringValue() as text ≠ "" then
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:true)
else
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:false)
end if
end if
end controlTextDidChange:
on windowWillClose:aNotification
ca's NSApp's stopModal()
end windowWillClose:
end script
return theScript's showSearchReplaceDialog()
end showSearchReplaceDialog
main()
The scripts included below were written for use with Script Debugger and Script Editor, and both utilize Shane’s Dialog Toolkit Plus script library. These scripts include search-all, match-word, and consider-case options. I tested these scripts on Monterey; they can be tested on earlier versions of macOS by removing the first line of the scripts.
Dialog Toolkit Plus can be downloaded from:
https://latenightsw.com/freeware/The Script Debugger script:
The Script Debugger script is:
-- revised 2022.07.31
use AppleScript version "2.8" -- remove to test with earlier versions of macOS
use framework "Foundation"
use script "Dialog Toolkit Plus" version "1.1.0"
use scripting additions
on main()
set {searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption} to displayDialog()
if searchString = "" then errorDialog("A search string was not entered")
searchAndReplace(searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption)
end main
on displayDialog()
set dialogWidth to 330
set verticalSpace to 10
set {theButtons, minWidth} to create buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} cancel button 1 default button 2
set {searchCheckbox, unusedTop, searchWidth} to create checkbox "Search All" left inset 0 bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {wordCheckbox, unusedTop, wordWidth} to create checkbox "Match Words" left inset (searchWidth + 8) bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {caseCheckbox, theTop, caseWidth} to create checkbox "Consider Case" left inset (searchWidth + wordWidth + 16) bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {replaceField, replaceLabel, theTop, fieldLeft} to create side labeled field "" placeholder text "replace with..." left inset 0 bottom (theTop + verticalSpace) total width dialogWidth label text "Replace:" field left 0
set {searchField, searchLabel, theTop, fieldLeft} to create side labeled field "" placeholder text "search for..." left inset 0 bottom (theTop + verticalSpace) total width dialogWidth label text "Search:" field left 0
set allControls to {searchCheckbox, wordCheckbox, caseCheckbox, replaceField, replaceLabel, searchField, searchLabel}
set {buttonName, controlsResults} to display enhanced window "Search and Replace" buttons theButtons acc view width dialogWidth acc view height theTop acc view controls allControls initial position {} without align cancel button
return {item 6, item 4, item 1, item 2, item 3} of controlsResults
end displayDialog
on searchAndReplace(searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption)
tell application id "com.latenightsw.ScriptDebugger8" to tell document 1
if searchOption is false then
set selectedText to selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
else
set selectedText to source text
set selection to {1, (count selectedText)}
end if
end tell
if selectedText = "" then errorDialog("A text selection was not found")
set selectedText to current application's NSMutableString's stringWithString:selectedText
if wordOption is true and caseOption is true then
set searchPattern to "\\b" & searchString & "\\b"
set optionText to "The match-words and consider-case search options were enabled."
else if caseOption is true then
set searchPattern to searchString
set optionText to "The consider-case search option was enabled."
else if wordOption is true then
set searchPattern to "(?i)" & "\\b" & searchString & "\\b"
set optionText to "The match-words search option was enabled."
else
set searchPattern to "(?i)" & searchString
set optionText to "No search options were enabled."
end if
set searchStringMatches to (selectedText's replaceOccurrencesOfString:searchPattern withString:replaceString options:(current application's NSRegularExpressionSearch) range:{0, selectedText's |length|()})
if searchStringMatches = 0 then errorDialog("The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text. " & optionText)
set selectedText to selectedText as text
if replaceString = "" then
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
set dialogText to "Delete 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote
else
set dialogText to "Delete " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote
end if
else
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
set dialogText to "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote
else
set dialogText to "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote
end if
end if
display dialog dialogText with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
tell application id "com.latenightsw.ScriptDebugger8" to tell document 1
set selection to selectedText
if searchOption is false then
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
set selection to {c1, c2}
else
set selection to {1, 0}
set selection to {1, (count selectedText)}
end if
end tell
end searchAndReplace
on errorDialog(theText)
display dialog theText buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
end errorDialog
main()
The Script Editor script is:
-- revised 2022.07.31
use AppleScript version "2.8" -- remove to test with earlier versions of macOS
use framework "Foundation"
use script "Dialog Toolkit Plus" version "1.1.0"
use scripting additions
on main()
set {searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption} to displayDialog()
if searchString = "" then errorDialog("A search string was not entered")
searchAndReplace(searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption)
end main
on displayDialog()
set dialogWidth to 330
set verticalSpace to 10
set {theButtons, minWidth} to create buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} cancel button 1 default button 2
set {searchCheckbox, unusedTop, searchWidth} to create checkbox "Search All" left inset 0 bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {wordCheckbox, unusedTop, wordWidth} to create checkbox "Match Words" left inset (searchWidth + 8) bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {caseCheckbox, theTop, caseWidth} to create checkbox "Consider Case" left inset (searchWidth + wordWidth + 16) bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {replaceField, replaceLabel, theTop, fieldLeft} to create side labeled field "" placeholder text "replace with..." left inset 0 bottom (theTop + verticalSpace) total width dialogWidth label text "Replace:" field left 0
set {searchField, searchLabel, theTop, fieldLeft} to create side labeled field "" placeholder text "search for..." left inset 0 bottom (theTop + verticalSpace) total width dialogWidth label text "Search:" field left 0
set allControls to {searchCheckbox, wordCheckbox, caseCheckbox, replaceField, replaceLabel, searchField, searchLabel}
set {buttonName, controlsResults} to display enhanced window "Search and Replace" buttons theButtons acc view width dialogWidth acc view height theTop acc view controls allControls initial position {} without align cancel button
return {item 6, item 4, item 1, item 2, item 3} of controlsResults
end displayDialog
on searchAndReplace(searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption)
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
if searchOption is false then
set selectedText to contents of selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
else
set selectedText to contents
set {c1, c2} to {1, (count selectedText)}
set selection to {0, c2}
end if
end tell
if selectedText = "" then errorDialog("A text selection was not found")
set selectedText to current application's NSMutableString's stringWithString:selectedText
if wordOption is true and caseOption is true then
set searchPattern to "\\b" & searchString & "\\b"
set optionText to "The match-words and consider-case search options were enabled."
else if caseOption is true then
set searchPattern to searchString
set optionText to "The consider-case search option was enabled."
else if wordOption is true then
set searchPattern to "(?i)" & "\\b" & searchString & "\\b"
set optionText to "The match-words search option was enabled."
else
set searchPattern to "(?i)" & searchString
set optionText to "No search options were enabled."
end if
set searchStringMatches to (selectedText's replaceOccurrencesOfString:searchPattern withString:replaceString options:(current application's NSRegularExpressionSearch) range:{0, selectedText's |length|()})
if searchStringMatches = 0 then errorDialog("The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text. " & optionText)
set selectedText to selectedText as text
if replaceString = "" then
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
set dialogText to "Delete 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote
else
set dialogText to "Delete " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote
end if
else
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
set dialogText to "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote
else
set dialogText to "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote
end if
end if
display dialog dialogText with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
set contents of selection to selectedText
set selection to {(c1 - 1), c2}
end tell
end searchAndReplace
on errorDialog(theText)
display dialog theText buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
end errorDialog
main()
Very nice. You should share this on the ScriptDebugger forums. Find and change is one of the few things I don’t like about SD.
Ed. Thanks for looking at my script and for the kind words.