Can I use Automator to do this?

[Blue Velvet]

I'd like to use a Mac to run different presentations at different scheduled times of the day and week. Essentially, all it is has to do is open certain files and close them much like a video-recorder timer...

Are there also any 3rd-part utilities that would do something like this in Panther?

 

[DXoverDY]

I'd like to use a Mac to run different presentations at different scheduled times of the day and week. Essentially, all it is has to do is open certain files and close them much like a video-recorder timer...

Are there also any 3rd-part utilities that would do something like this in Panther?

cron is your friend

automator might do this, however i don't think so. automator is for doing tasks. repetative things, not necessarily to repeat things. for example jobs showed automator downloading pictures from a website, adding them to iphoto, and then based on those photos add them to a dvd slideshow in idvd.

it's for workflows. meaning, you start in safari, you transfer to another application, then another possibly. it's for doing common tasks. i have no idea whether automator will allow you to "schedule" tasks like you say. but i know cron will, do a search for cron in versiontracker or macupdate.

 

[Blue Velvet]

cron is your friend

Thank you, my friend.

I'll look into this. I need to make this as foolproof as possible for myself and others to operate.

 

[Dr. Dastardly]

Well from just going by the examples they have shown with downloading pictures from the internet and then burning them to disc with iDVD tells me that Automater to be able to automate that process it would have to open Safari to get the pictures then iDVD to burn them.

I thought Automater will also be able to start at specific times to do tasks that you want it to do like get the pictures off your friends site every Friday at 6. This is the only part of Automater that I am not to sure on.

But if it can start at times that you assigned to it on a schedule and can open programes and use basic funtions in them. Basically I thought Automater is basically a user friendly GUI for Apple Script. Seeing that Apple Script can do all that (Not a script kiddie so I might be mistaken in any of the above) it should be able to do what you want. Guess you'll find out in a few days.

 

[DXoverDY]

Well from just going by the examples they have shown with downloading pictures from the internet and then burning them to disc with iDVD tells me that Automater to be able to automate that process it would have to open Safari to get the pictures then iDVD to burn them.

I thought Automater will also be able to start at specific times to do tasks that you want it to do like get the pictures off your friends site every Friday at 6. This is the only part of Automater that I am not to sure on.

But if it can start at times that you assigned to it on a schedule and can open programes and use basic funtions in them. Basically I thought Automater is basically a user friendly GUI for Apple Script. Seeing that Apple Script can do all that (Not a script kiddie so I might be mistaken in any of the above) it should be able to do what you want. Guess you'll find out in a few days.

yea, i'm not so sure it will. maybe someone who has Tiger already could comment on this. Anyone? I'm curious if it will allow this too. sadly i'm doubting it but it would be great.

 

[erickg]

Couldn't you save files in Automater both as workflows and as applications? I believe I read that somewhere... Wouldn't it then be possible to save your workflow as an application and use some kind of scheduled application launcher to launch your workflow applications?

 

[superbovine]

Thank you, my friend.

I'll look into this. I need to make this as foolproof as possible for myself and others to operate.

FYI:

http://h5197.serverkompetenz.net/cronnix/
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2001020700163714

 

[Lacero]

Programs have to written with Automator in mind in order to fully use it. Blue Velvet would probably benefit from Automator if programs that she uses, such as Quark are programmed with it in mind.

I normally create binary EPS files from Quark documents, and rasterize them in Photoshop, then do a CMYK conversion, some cropping, and a final save out to Tiff and sent to an FTP site. It would certainly be faster for me to have Automator handle these tasks, but it would take a rewrite of Quark, Photoshop, and Transmit.

 

[Blue Velvet]

FYI:

http://h5197.serverkompetenz.net/cronnix/
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2001020700163714

Holy Cow!
Excellent...

Ta!

 

[biw314]

iCal?

couldn't iCal do this?

 

[DXoverDY]

couldn't iCal do this?

the problem with all this is that you need to a schedule a time to start the thing up, then shut it down at a certain time, then start up the other right after. you probably could use ical, but you need to probably create a script to start and stop the applications.

 

[Blue Velvet]

All sorted

In order to bring some closure to this thread, I should explain that robbieduncan helped with the last pieces of the puzzle in this thread.

I now have exactly what I needed: a combination of Cronnix and an AppleScript has done the trick.

Once again, many thanks to all who helped.