Danny Goodman's Applescript Handbook

by Danny Goodman

Book Overview

This latest edition will help you:

Enhance your productivity by freeing yourself from the drudgery of tasks in the Finder

Automate the Finder and third-party applications, including: FileMaker Pro; QuarkXPress; Microsoft Excel; HyperCard; Microsoft Word; WordPerfect; MacWrite Pro; TouchBase;

Customize your own system and give your scripts professional polish

Rely on OSA (Open Scripting Architecture) infrastructure to provide a consistent...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0966551419
• ISBN13: 9780966551419
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An AppleScript guide that actually teaches you how to USE AppleScript

I loved Danny Goodman's Complete HyperCard Handbook and have relied on it for years. So when I wanted to learn what is really going on in AppleScript and how to do things with it, I figured I could count on Goodman. I was not disappointed. I had already read the entire reference manual on AppleScript put out by Apple but was still almost clueless as to how to use AppleScript successfully. My beef with most books that purport to teach you how to use a scripting language is that they simply lay out all the elements that you have to work with, along with a few trivial examples, and then leave it up to you to figure out how to put something useful together. Goodman has a real knack for knowing the questions a beginner will have and the types of things a person is likely to want to do using the scripting language. In the first 100 pages, Goodman concisely answered numerous nagging questions and pointed out significant features of AppleScript that had escaped my notice. Even though the book was published way back in 1994, it is still very relevant, as the essentials of AppleScript seem to have changed very little. An extremely helpful book.

Oldie, but goodie

I was very surprised to even find this book listed (and with a new cover at that).I have the 1998 Edition and was under the distinct impression that the book was no longer available in any shape or form (as some friends that liked the book discovered years ago.)Some books will be more appropriate at the 'bottom' of the learning curve but will seldom be touched 'further down the road'.In contrast, I find that over the years, I can still return to this book and find the answers I need, as AppleScript syntax, commands and flow control have been robust enough to remain unchanged for the most part.Since Applications do not usually undergo radical changes in functionality over time, neither do their command dictionaries, so scripting the Finder under Mac OS X is not much different than under System 7.5.In closing, I still find Goodman's 1998 book a good read; it bootstrapped the learning process when I started and is still a current and comprehensive reference today.(BTW I dont hand out five stars merely as a matter of principle :) )

Well worth the effort

This is not a book for the faint of heart but this is due more to the nature of scripting/programming than any weakness of this book. Unfortunately these topics require that you understand a fair amount before you can understand anything -( a real chicken before the egg scenario) But if you stick it out, you'll be writing truly useful applescripts before youre halfway through the book. Goodman does an especially good job of warning the user of common pratfalls before they stumble. The attached disk contains some excellent scripts that even a beginner can hack to suit their own purposes.

Absolute "bible" for AppleScript.

Danny Goodman's absolute treatise on AppleScript. The definitive, must have bible for learning, using, living with AppleScript. Danny's easy-to-read and insightful tomb. This takes you from absolutely clueless to programming in as little as a month. Danny starts with theory then delivers pratical, real world solutions as examples. Many books eschew the object oriented underpinnnings of AppleScript, often assuming (wrongly) the customer already knows OOP (Object Oriented Programming). Danny goes through object-oriented programming with outstanding lucidity comprehensible to everyone. After laying the foundation, Danny dives into addressing the issue by issue in AppleScript including referencing, coercion, looping, optimizations, object-store, and so so much more. The depth of AppleScript is only limited by your imagination. Many programming books are considered authorities, the last stop, first stop, definitive source everyone turns to. Danny Goodman's _AppleScript Handbook_ is that. If you want to learn AppleScript the right way so your can use it, adapt it, relearn it, and reapply it from application to application, then you *must* own this book. -Scott

THE both AppleScript Tutorial and Reference

When I wanted to learn Applescript I bought serveral books, included this one. This book gave me clear insight in the AppleScript mechanisms but also why I should use it. It is been a reference since and I don't travel/develop without it.