ASScriptMenuManager
-
Hi,
I've developed an Objective-C class which creates and manages a
Scripts menu for Cocoa apps. "Manages", in this context simply means
that it also runs the scripts selected in the menu as well as opens
the selected menu item's represented object (the script) in the
user's script editor if the Option key is held down while choosing
one of the menu items.
It's available as two files (.h and .m) here:
<http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ronfleckner/ASScriptMenuManager.zip>
(8 KB)
or in a demo project here:
<http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ronfleckner/
ASScriptMenuManagerDemo.zip>. (92 KB)
The demo project package also contains a Scripts folder with lots of
very simple scripts (display dialog "Hi there" and etcetera) in
nested folders to demonstrate how well the class handles scripts in
nested folders.
It works a treat on my system, a G4 running 10.4.10, but, to be
honest, I'd be very pleased if anyone who was interested in making a
Scripts menu in their app could have a look at it and see if it works
for you.
This is one small way I can repay the community on Cocoa-dev for all
the knowledge I've gained by lurking for the last couple of years.
Ron Fleckner -
Ron Fleckner wrote:> I've developed an Objective-C class which creates and manages a
> Scripts menu for Cocoa apps.
Nice. Like the hierarchical and organisation support. FWIW, the demo
project works fine here on G4/10.4.10 and i386/10.4.9.
One bug I noticed: if I put a non-script file in the Scripts folder,
some menu items may not show up (which ones depends on the file's
name) and the Add/Remove Script Menu doesn't work correctly either:
2007-07-22 13:26:35.244 ASScriptMenuManager demo[536] *** -
[NSCFString substringFromIndex:]: Range or index out of bounds
Also, a couple suggestions, one to improve user interaction and one
to extend its appeal:
1. At the moment, addition/removal of scripts while the app is
running isn't automatically detected - users need to restart the menu/
app for changes to take effect. It'd be nice if menu refreshes were
done automatically (e.g. when the user opens a menu/submenu), though
you would need to watch for performance issues - e.g. Apple's system-
wide script menu frequently stalls while opening as it checks
[presumably] the entire file hierarchy, but maybe if you just refresh
individual [sub]menus only as they're needed it'd perform ok.
2. You might consider adding support for Python/Perl/Ruby/shell/etc.
scripts as well as OSA scripts. There are several languages that have
good Apple event support but whose OSA support isn't currently
sufficient to permit OSA attachability. Being able to execute, say,
a .rb file directly would allow users to invoke such scripts from
your menu without having to wait for a full Ruby OSA component to
become available. The only thing you need to do is avoid blocking the
client app's main event loop while the script is running (either by
detaching the interpreter subprocess or by having a background thread
manage it) so that you don't get a deadlock if the subprocess tries
to send Apple events back to the parent app.
HTH
has
--
http://appscript.sourceforge.net
http://rb-appscript.rubyforge.org
http://appscript.sourceforge.net/objc-appscript.html -
On 22/07/2007, at 10:28 PM, has wrote:> Ron Fleckner wrote:
>
>
>> I've developed an Objective-C class which creates and manages a
>> Scripts menu for Cocoa apps.
>>
>
> Nice. Like the hierarchical and organisation support. FWIW, the
> demo project works fine here on G4/10.4.10 and i386/10.4.9.
>
has, thanks very much for looking at this and for your encouragement.> One bug I noticed: if I put a non-script file in the Scripts
> folder, some menu items may not show up (which ones depends on the
> file's name)
>
egads, you're right. I thought this line would stop it processing
non-script files:
if ([fileType isEqualToString:@"'osas'"] || [fileType
isEqualToString:@"'APPL'"])
// process file
but apparently not.> and the Add/Remove Script Menu doesn't work correctly either:
>
> 2007-07-22 13:26:35.244 ASScriptMenuManager demo[536] *** -
> [NSCFString substringFromIndex:]: Range or index out of bounds
>
The add/remove has worked fine for me, but I think now I may have
been lucky. I get this warning after a build:
/usr/bin/ld: warning suggest use of -bind_at_load, as lazy binding
may result in errors or different symbols being used
The warning appeared after I'd set the project to build a universal
binary. I guess the warning means that it may use the wrong object
at some point and your line about NSCFString getting a substring out
of range during removal of the menu suggests that. Unfortunately,
I'm unsure how to use -bind_at_load. A search of the docs gives me
no hits.
Your comment about what happens if the user puts a non-script file in
the Scripts folder is fair enough and is news to me. But guarding
against such a case seems excessive. Why would the user do that?
Then again, bullet-proofing is good.> Also, a couple suggestions, one to improve user interaction and one
> to extend its appeal:
>
> 1. At the moment, addition/removal of scripts while the app is
> running isn't automatically detected - users need to restart the
> menu/app for changes to take effect. It'd be nice if menu refreshes
> were done automatically (e.g. when the user opens a menu/submenu),
> though you would need to watch for performance issues - e.g.
> Apple's system-wide script menu frequently stalls while opening as
> it checks [presumably] the entire file hierarchy, but maybe if you
> just refresh individual [sub]menus only as they're needed it'd
> perform ok.
>
Yes, I gave that some thought and decided that it would be a good
thing. However, I really wanted to get some feedback after
(surprisingly for me) getting the thing to work at all. Not sure how
to implement it, but your suggestion would be a good place to start.> 2. You might consider adding support for Python/Perl/Ruby/shell/
> etc. scripts as well as OSA scripts. There are several languages
> that have good Apple event support but whose OSA support isn't
> currently sufficient to permit OSA attachability. Being able to
> execute, say, a .rb file directly would allow users to invoke such
> scripts from your menu without having to wait for a full Ruby OSA
> component to become available. The only thing you need to do is
> avoid blocking the client app's main event loop while the script is
> running (either by detaching the interpreter subprocess or by
> having a background thread manage it) so that you don't get a
> deadlock if the subprocess tries to send Apple events back to the
> parent app.
>
Sounds good. At this point, though, I have to tell you I'm really
just a beginner/dilettante with no formal training in computer
science and only a basic mastery of C and AppleScript under my belt.
Cocoa and Xcode and Mac OS neXt have opened a whole world to me which
I wouldn't have been able to see under OS 8/9. But like your other
suggestions I can see that it is a good one.
I really, sincerely, appreciate your interest and I will certainly be
looking into implementing your suggestions, the first of which I'd
already considered.
Thanks a lot,
Ron -
On 22 Jul 2007, at 8:50 AM, Ron Fleckner wrote:> Unfortunately, I'm unsure how to use -bind_at_load. A search of the
> docs gives me no hits.
A search of Google gets you hits.
â F -
On 23/07/2007, at 2:52 AM, Fritz Anderson wrote:> On 22 Jul 2007, at 8:50 AM, Ron Fleckner wrote:
>
>> Unfortunately, I'm unsure how to use -bind_at_load. A search of
>> the docs gives me no hits.
>
> A search of Google gets you hits.
>
> â F
Fritz,
thanks for that. My search for -bind_at_load got zero hits with
Google, so I gave up. But thanks to your encouragement, I tried
bind_at_load and got lots. A stupid oversight on my part.
Ron -
Am 23.07.2007 um 00:21 schrieb Ron Fleckner:> thanks for that. My search for -bind_at_load got zero hits with
> Google, so I gave up. But thanks to your encouragement, I tried
> bind_at_load and got lots. A stupid oversight on my part.
-foo in google means "return everything except pages containing
foo" ( -ebay, anyone? ;-)
Either omit the - or include it in parentheses.
regards,
tom_e
