| Inherits from | |
| Conforms to | |
| Framework | /System/Library/Frameworks/Automator.framework |
| Availability | Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later. |
| Companion guide | |
| Declared in | AMBundleAction.h |
Instances of the AMBundleAction class (or its public subclasses) manage Automator actions that are loadable bundles. Automator loads action bundles from standard locations in the file system: /System/Library/Automator, /Library/Automator, and ~/Library/Automator.
AMBundleAction objects have several important properties:
The NSBundle object associated with the action’s physical bundle
The action’s view, which holds its user interface
A parameters dictionary that reflects the settings in the user interface
When you create a Cocoa Automator Action project in Xcode, the project template includes a custom subclass of AMBundleAction. (This custom class is given the name of the project.) The sole requirement for this custom class is to provide an implementation of runWithInput:fromAction:error:, which is declared by the superclass AMAction.
As noted in “Class Description,” the project template for Cocoa Automator actions includes partially completed header and source files for a custom subclass of AMBundleAction. The name of this custom class is the name of the Xcode project. To complete the implementation of this subclass, you must override runWithInput:fromAction:error: (declared by AMAction).
Another reason for subclassing AMBundleAction is to obtain a class that is a peer to AMAppleScriptAction, itself a subclass of AMBundleAction. For example, the AMShellScriptAction class is a subclass of AMBundleAction whose instances can control the behavior of an action through shell, Perl, and Python scripts.
To subclass AMBundleAction, you must override the runWithInput:fromAction:error: to implement the task performed by the action. If you have added any instance variables, you must override the initWithDefinition:fromArchive: method and the writeToDictionary: method of AMAction to work with them.
Sent to the receiver when all objects in its bundle have been unarchived.
- (void)awakeFromBundle
This method allows an action object to perform set-up tasks requiring the presence of all bundle objects, such as adding itself as an observer of notifications, dynamically establishing bindings, and dynamically setting targets and actions.
AMBundleAction.hReturns the receiver’s bundle object.
- (NSBundle *)bundle
Returns nil if no bundle has been set.
AMBundleAction.hReturns whether the receiver has a view associated with it.
- (BOOL)hasView
AMBundleAction.hInitializes and returns an allocated AMBundleAction object.
- (id)initWithDefinition:(NSDictionary *)dict fromArchive:(BOOL)archived
The definitions dictionary dict contains configuration information specific to the receiver. If archived is YES, the definitions are coming from an archive. You may examine the definitions dictionary to learn about specific properties and settings of the action, but some of the keys are private to Automator. You should not attempt to change the values in dict, but you may add custom key-value pairs to the definition dictionary by overriding the writeToDictionary: method declared by the superclass, AMAction. If at runtime you need to learn about or change the action’s properties in its information property list (Info.plist), send the appropriate NSDictionary messages to the action bundle’s infoDictionary; for example:
[NSDictionary *infoDict = [[self bundle] infoDictionary]; |
NSString *theApp = [infoDict objectForKey:@"AMApplication"]; |
if ([theApp isEqualToString:@"Finder"]) { |
// do something appropriate |
} |
– awakeFromBundle– definition (AMAction)AMBundleAction.hReturns the receiver's parameters.
- (NSMutableDictionary *)parameters
The parameters of an action reflect the choices made and values entered in the action’s user interface.
AMBundleAction.hSets the parameters of the receiver to newParameters.
- (void)setParameters:(NSMutableDictionary *)newParameters
The parameters of an action reflect the choices made and values entered in the action’s user interface. Keys in the parameters dictionary identify specific user-interface objects. If an action uses the Cocoa bindings mechanism, the parameters of an AMBundleAction object are automatically set. You can change the parameters wholesale with this method. Or you can get the current parameters dictionary with the parameters and update individual parameters.
AMBundleAction.hLast updated: 2006-10-26