Help me make AppleScript for this...

[celticpride678]

I have a printer that will no longer scan in Snow Leopard without Preview. I actually like that. However, I find it hard to go into Preview and tell it to begin scanning. Can someone please help me make an AppleScript application where I open it and it tells Preview to begin scanning? Thanks a lot!

 

[calderone]

Preview doesn't actually have an Applescript dictionary. In the past, you could enable it with a terminal command:

defaults write /Applications/Preview.app/Contents/Info NSAppleScriptEnabled -bool YES

This doesn't work in SL. I will try to find out how to turn it on.

You could use automator in this case.

I will report back soon.

EDIT: Also could you post screenshots of the steps you take. I don't have a scanner on hand to test.

 

[calderone]

I got Applescript to see Preview.app. Attached is the modified Info.plist. Backup the original and drop the new one in.

Here is a basic framework for the script. From here it will have to be a series of menu click's since Preview doesn't have a dictionary of pre-defined commands.

if appIsRunning("Preview") is false then
	open "/Applications/Preview.app"
end if

tell application "Preview"
	activate
end tell


on appIsRunning(appName)
	tell application "System Events" to (name of processes) contains appName
end appIsRunning

I have taken the script to a level where you would get some use. Like I said before, I don't have a scanner around to runs through all the motions. But I think this should be good enough to get you going. You just have to swap in the correct menu actions.

-- If Preview is not running, run it.
if appIsRunning("Preview") is false then
	open "/Applications/Preview.app"
end if

-- Activate Preview and issue menu clicks. In this case a screen shot of the entire screen.
tell application "Preview" to activate
menu_click({"Preview", "File", "Take Screen Shot", "From Entire Screen"})

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Functions

-- Checks if an application is running
on appIsRunning(appName)
	tell application "System Events" to (name of processes) contains appName
end appIsRunning

-- `menu_click`, by Jacob Rus, September 2006
-- 
-- Accepts a list of form: `{"Finder", "View", "Arrange By", "Date"}`
-- Execute the specified menu item.  In this case, assuming the Finder 
-- is the active application, arranging the frontmost folder by date.
on menu_click(mList)
	local appName, topMenu, r
	
	-- Validate our input
	if mList's length < 3 then error "Menu list is not long enough"
	
	-- Set these variables for clarity and brevity later on
	set {appName, topMenu} to (items 1 through 2 of mList)
	set r to (items 3 through (mList's length) of mList)
	
	-- This overly-long line calls the menu_recurse function with
	-- two arguments: r, and a reference to the top-level menu
	tell application "System Events" to my menu_click_recurse(r, ((process appName)'s ¬
		(menu bar 1)'s (menu bar item topMenu)'s (menu topMenu)))
end menu_click

on menu_click_recurse(mList, parentObject)
	local f, r
	
	-- `f` = first item, `r` = rest of items
	set f to item 1 of mList
	if mList's length > 1 then set r to (items 2 through (mList's length) of mList)
	
	-- either actually click the menu item, or recurse again
	tell application "System Events"
		if mList's length is 1 then
			click parentObject's menu item f
		else
			my menu_click_recurse(r, (parentObject's (menu item f)'s (menu f)))
		end if
	end tell
end menu_click_recurse