Automation & Scripting

RSS for tag

Learn about scripting languages and automation frameworks available on the platform to automate repetitive tasks.

Automation & Scripting Documentation

Posts under Automation & Scripting subtopic

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

Shortcuts: Can not access submenu of inserted variables inside of newly created dictionaries on mac
While I was creating a shortcut using the dictionary function I encountered a bug. When creating a new dictionary to store the date and some other stuff I set a value to the current date variable. I went to change the date format to one I preferred I was unable to access the submenu to do so. To figure out what was going on I did some testing and here is what I found: You can't access the submenu of any inserted variable This only happens in newly created dictionaries You can be fix the dictionary by simply closing and opening the shortcut This bug does not happen on Iphone How to make this bug happen: Open any shortcut Create a new dictionary Add a variable in the value field You can no longer access the sub menu to edit the variable.
1
0
118
2w
Bug: Finder/AppleScript interaction
I have created a simple AppleScript that makes a folder named with today’s date. For many years, it has worked fine except: If I run the script (from a script app in the menu bar), then dump files into the folder, then change the colored “Tag” on the folder, I get a Finder error - An unexpected error occurred (error code -8076) - and I have to force-quit the Finder to complete the color tagging. If it change the tag before dumping the files, no error occurs. (Please hold the “Doctor, it hurts when I do this …” jokes.) This error has persisted through many macOS major iterations, including Tahoe 26.4.1. Prolly a Finder bug, but not sure. Here’s the source, for anyone interested. set dateStr to getDate() --display dialog dateStr tell application "Finder" activate try --set thisFolder to (the target of the front window) as alias set thisFolder to (the target of the front window) as string make new folder at thisFolder with properties {name:dateStr as string} on error errMsg display dialog "ERROR: " & errMsg end try end tell on getDate() set theDate to current date set theYear to year of theDate as string set theNewYear to third character of theYear & fourth character of theYear set theMonth to month of theDate as number as string if length of theMonth = 1 then set theMonth to "0" & theMonth as string end if set theDay to day of theDate as string if length of theDay = 1 then set theDay to "0" & theDay as string end if return theNewYear & " " & theMonth & " " & theDay as string end getDate
3
0
165
2w
AppEntity / EntityQuery returns multiple results but Shortcuts only displays a single item on newest iOS 26.4
We are observing a regression in iOS 26.4 related to AppIntents, specifically AppEntity + EntityQuery. When using a single AppIntent with a parameter backed by AppEntity and EntityQuery, the query correctly returns multiple entities (e.g. ~50 items). However, in the Shortcuts app UI, only a single item is displayed. This behavior differs from iOS 26.3 and earlier, where all returned entities are correctly displayed in the selection list. This issue significantly impacts dynamic configuration use cases where AppEntity is used to represent server-driven or runtime-generated options.(The screenshots below illustrate the difference in shortcut presentation between iOS 26.4 and earlier versions.)
1
2
223
2w
Mac App Store review policy for Apple Event temporary exception entitlements
I’m looking for some advice regarding the usage of temporary exception entitlements in Mac App Store apps. Specifically the Apple Event Temporary Exception to communicate with other third party applications (not first-party macOS system apps): The Best Practices for Submitting Scriptable and AppleScript Apps to the Mac App Store section is a bit vague (how to 'request' a temporary entitlement?) and I couldn't find it mentioned in the Review Guidelines. Before designing, implementing and testing functionality based on the Apple Event Temporary Exception I’d like to know if these entitlements would: A. Always be rejected on the Mac App Store B. Only accepted in highly specific use cases C. Accepted if there is a clear use case and sufficient argumentation For this particular use case I’d like to send Apple Events to Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXPress. The application helps the user with some design tasks in their documents. The app requests the currently open documents and accesses document content to process used design elements. This is optional functionality that the user must explicitly enable in the app. I’m aware that the com.apple.security.scripting-targets entitlement is preferred. (Side question: are these always allowed or can they also be rejected for third party app scripting?) However, many third party applications don’t offer any scripting access groups in their definition, including Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXPress in this case. So before spending a lot of time implementing this feature I’d like to have some indication whether it is unlikely that sending Apple Events to third party apps will be allowed on the Mac App Store. Thanks for any insights!
5
0
205
1w
Shortcuts: Can not access submenu of inserted variables inside of newly created dictionaries on mac
While I was creating a shortcut using the dictionary function I encountered a bug. When creating a new dictionary to store the date and some other stuff I set a value to the current date variable. I went to change the date format to one I preferred I was unable to access the submenu to do so. To figure out what was going on I did some testing and here is what I found: You can't access the submenu of any inserted variable This only happens in newly created dictionaries You can be fix the dictionary by simply closing and opening the shortcut This bug does not happen on Iphone How to make this bug happen: Open any shortcut Create a new dictionary Add a variable in the value field You can no longer access the sub menu to edit the variable.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
118
Activity
2w
Bug: Finder/AppleScript interaction
I have created a simple AppleScript that makes a folder named with today’s date. For many years, it has worked fine except: If I run the script (from a script app in the menu bar), then dump files into the folder, then change the colored “Tag” on the folder, I get a Finder error - An unexpected error occurred (error code -8076) - and I have to force-quit the Finder to complete the color tagging. If it change the tag before dumping the files, no error occurs. (Please hold the “Doctor, it hurts when I do this …” jokes.) This error has persisted through many macOS major iterations, including Tahoe 26.4.1. Prolly a Finder bug, but not sure. Here’s the source, for anyone interested. set dateStr to getDate() --display dialog dateStr tell application "Finder" activate try --set thisFolder to (the target of the front window) as alias set thisFolder to (the target of the front window) as string make new folder at thisFolder with properties {name:dateStr as string} on error errMsg display dialog "ERROR: " & errMsg end try end tell on getDate() set theDate to current date set theYear to year of theDate as string set theNewYear to third character of theYear & fourth character of theYear set theMonth to month of theDate as number as string if length of theMonth = 1 then set theMonth to "0" & theMonth as string end if set theDay to day of theDate as string if length of theDay = 1 then set theDay to "0" & theDay as string end if return theNewYear & " " & theMonth & " " & theDay as string end getDate
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
165
Activity
2w
AppEntity / EntityQuery returns multiple results but Shortcuts only displays a single item on newest iOS 26.4
We are observing a regression in iOS 26.4 related to AppIntents, specifically AppEntity + EntityQuery. When using a single AppIntent with a parameter backed by AppEntity and EntityQuery, the query correctly returns multiple entities (e.g. ~50 items). However, in the Shortcuts app UI, only a single item is displayed. This behavior differs from iOS 26.3 and earlier, where all returned entities are correctly displayed in the selection list. This issue significantly impacts dynamic configuration use cases where AppEntity is used to represent server-driven or runtime-generated options.(The screenshots below illustrate the difference in shortcut presentation between iOS 26.4 and earlier versions.)
Replies
1
Boosts
2
Views
223
Activity
2w
Mac App Store review policy for Apple Event temporary exception entitlements
I’m looking for some advice regarding the usage of temporary exception entitlements in Mac App Store apps. Specifically the Apple Event Temporary Exception to communicate with other third party applications (not first-party macOS system apps): The Best Practices for Submitting Scriptable and AppleScript Apps to the Mac App Store section is a bit vague (how to 'request' a temporary entitlement?) and I couldn't find it mentioned in the Review Guidelines. Before designing, implementing and testing functionality based on the Apple Event Temporary Exception I’d like to know if these entitlements would: A. Always be rejected on the Mac App Store B. Only accepted in highly specific use cases C. Accepted if there is a clear use case and sufficient argumentation For this particular use case I’d like to send Apple Events to Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXPress. The application helps the user with some design tasks in their documents. The app requests the currently open documents and accesses document content to process used design elements. This is optional functionality that the user must explicitly enable in the app. I’m aware that the com.apple.security.scripting-targets entitlement is preferred. (Side question: are these always allowed or can they also be rejected for third party app scripting?) However, many third party applications don’t offer any scripting access groups in their definition, including Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXPress in this case. So before spending a lot of time implementing this feature I’d like to have some indication whether it is unlikely that sending Apple Events to third party apps will be allowed on the Mac App Store. Thanks for any insights!
Replies
5
Boosts
0
Views
205
Activity
1w