Introduction

AppleScript is a scripting system that allows you to directly control Macintosh applications, including the Mac OS itself. Instead of using a mouse, keyboard, or other input device to manipulate menus, buttons, and other interface items, you can create sets of written instructions--known as scripts--to automate repetitive tasks, customize applications, and even control complex workflows.

This document is a complete guide to the AppleScript language. It is intended for use with AppleScript version 1.3.4 or later and Mac OS 8.5.1 or later, although some descriptions and examples may work with earlier versions.

This version of the AppleScript Language Guide has been revised to cover new features in AppleScript, to include examples from the Mac OS and the Finder, to improve formatting for online viewing, and to correct errors. For a detailed listing of the changes, see Document Revision History.

This guide should be useful to anyone who wants to write new AppleScript scripts or modify existing scripts. If you are new to AppleScript, however, you might want to start by reading the AppleScript section of the Mac OS Help Center, or by reviewing the introductory materials at the AppleScript website:

www.apple.com/applescript

You can also find introductory books on AppleScript at many bookstores and online sites. Macintosh software developers who want to create scriptable applications should refer to Inside Macintosh: Interapplication Communication. and to related information available at the Apple Developer website:

www.apple.com/developer

This guide describes the AppleScript language in the following chapters:

Overview of AppleScript introduces AppleScript and its capabilities and provides an overview of the elements of the AppleScript language.
Values and Constants describes AppleScript's value classes, predefined constants, and coercions for converting between value classes.
Commands describes the commands available in AppleScript.
Objects and References describes objects and their characteristics and explains how to refer to objects in scripts.
Expressions describes AppleScript expressions, the operators they use, and how they're evaluated.
Control Statements describes statements that control when and how other statements are executed.
Handlers describes subroutines, command handlers, error handlers, and the scope of variables and properties in handlers and elsewhere in a script.
Script Objects describes how to define and use script objects.
The Language at a Glance provides a quick overview of the AppleScript language. It includes a table with links to examples of common scripting tasks.
Document Revision History provides a history of changes to this document.

Most sample scripts in this guide demonstrate scriptable features of the Finder, the Mac OS, or applications distributed with the Mac OS, such as the Apple System Profiler. Some examples use AppleWorks, an application suite available from Apple Computer, Inc.