Inside Macintosh: AppleScript Scripting Additions Guide /

Chapter 2 - Scripting Addition Commands / Command Definitions

/

Choose Application

The Choose Application command allows the user to choose a running application from a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 2-1.

Figure 2-1 A Choose Application dialog box

The dialog box displays applications on the current computer and on any computer connected to the same network.

Choose Application is the only command provided by the Choose Application scripting addition.

SYNTAX

choose application [ with prompt promptString ] ÿ
   [ application label appListLabel ]

PARAMETERS

promptString

The prompt to be displayed in the dialog box. The prompt can be up to 255 characters long, but the standard dialog box has room for only about 50 characters. If you omit the with prompt parameter, the string "Choose a program to link to:" is displayed.
Class: String
Default Value: "Choose a program to link to:"

appListLabel

The label above the list of applications displayed in the dialog box. The label can be up to 255 characters long, but the standard dialog box has room for only about 25 characters. If you omit the application label parameter, the string "Programs" is displayed.
Class: String
Default Value: "Programs"

RESULT

A reference to the application specified by the user.

EXAMPLES

choose application with prompt "Choose a spelling checker:"
tell (choose application with prompt ÿ
   "Choose a scriptable text editor:")
      --other statements
end tell

NOTES

If the user chooses the Cancel button, Display Dialog returns error -128. If you want your script to continue after the user clicks Cancel, you must include an error handler. For information about Tell statements and error handlers, see Chapter 8, "Handlers," of the AppleScript Language Guide.

ERRORS

Error number	Error message
-108	Out of memory.
-128	User canceled.