So, since FaceSpan is not being supported going forward (FaceSpan 5 development is suspended), I better face the music and figure out where I go next for developing AppleScripts that need things like fancier user interfaces.
I keep seeing references to AppleScript Studio, but can’t find out much about it (keep getting led to Automator), and then there is Xcode (which seems like a sledgehammer solution to my fly problems).
Are there any other RAD (Rapid Application Development) environments like FaceSpan?
Or is Xcode where I have to head to get dialog boxes, menus, progress bars, etc. tacked-onto an AppleScript?
(Thankfully, FaceSpan works fine in 10.5.8, and Snow Leopard deployment is indefinitely delayed here.)
If you want some good tutorials, go and watch at http://macscripter.net/viewtopic.php?id=25631
Those tutorials are the ones I used to learn ASS and helped me make all applications at my site.
One of the several reasons I’ve kept my old PM G5/2.3 up and running. Don’t know of any alternatives though. Clearly, with AppleScript applications in Snow Leopard changing as radically as they have with the transition to ObjectiveC, Mark Aldritt didn’t think it worth starting all over again which is what FaceSpan 5 would have required. :o
Is AppleScript Studio part of Xcode? If not, where do I download it? Apple’s web site was a little vague on this part. (Already downloaded Xcode.)
EDIT: Nevermind, the ASS Tutorial you pointed me at says ASS is a subset of Xcode.
I’ll definitely take a peek, thanks.
Yeah, supposed I can’t blame him. But it is too bad”he’s a great, helpful guy and I’m glad he’s still doing Script Debugger.
From what I’ve seen of ASS/Xcode over the years, it’s alot of learning overhead for what I need it for. Oh well, maybe it will lead to new, more complex tinkering. evil grin
Going to keep using FaceSpan while it works though.
FWIW, FaceSpan 5 was shaping up to be wonderful, but it’s always hard to sell against something free.
Keep in mind that AppleScript Studio is deprecated in Snow Leopard, so taking it up now is asking for a repeat of the FaceSpan let-down. Of course the catch with AppleScriptObjC is that it’s Snow Leopard only.
Okay, let me get this straight: if I use ASS, it won’t work in Snow Leopard. If I use Xcode for Snow Leopard. it won’t work pre-Snow Leopard?
To frame the criteria: I simply plan to write in AppleScript, have some JavaScript code executed via do script, and add UI elements. No Object C, nothing else “programmerish” or too low-level that isn’t done for me by drag-n-drop or whatever in Xcode.
But I need it to be compatible with standard Leopard (no “Snow”) and even as far back as Tiger as needed.
What are my options?
(Why is the “sledgehammer for a fly” starting to feel like “ballistic missle for a gnat”?)
Not quite – ASS apps will still run (mostly) in Snow Leopard, but they may not run beyond it, and you have to jump through hoops to start a new ASStudio project in Snow Leopard.
And why in the name of did Apple decided to make this mess?
I didn’t realize how much Snow Leopard was a prelude to abandoning the rest of Macdom.
So to verify, for “AppleScript with UI” development:
–AppleScript Studio (or for that matter, FaceSpan) for 10.5.x and below.
–Xcode for 10.6.x and above
–But the two are, essentially, mutually exclusive (I don’t consider “sorta/mostly” viable from a development standpoint)
Ironically, I’m missing Snow Leopard less and less. We’re holding off here because of a wide variety of issues already: lack of AppleTalk, buggy network issues, print problems, and Adobe CS4 compatability. Add AppleScript development issues to the list? :mad:
I absolutely understand your frustration. But after making the bad experience that Apple silently switched off the Python Bindings for Quartz 2D in Snow Leopard, which forced me to rewrite a lot of our production tools, I am really happy with my move to pure Cocoa programming.
I guess they won’t switch that one off any time soon :lol:
So am I, I don’t regret any pain and frustration while understanding barely nothing in the first few months of learning Objective-C. Meanwhile I’m using AppleScript only for inter-application communication.
As ScriptingBridge is not leak-free in Leopard I prefer the AppScript framework, which is easy to use
