Apple® Automator with AppleScript® Bible

Dive into Automator and AppleScript

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Why is automation important?

• Who uses automation?

• Introducing Automator

• Introducing AppleScript

This book is about making your life easier, at least the part that intersects with your MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, or any other kind of computer running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. In these pages you can learn how to automate various computing tasks, making yourself more productive and, I hope, happier.

Along the way, you'll get answers to questions like these:

• What is automation?

• Why care about automation?

• What is Automator, and how do you use it?

• What is AppleScript, and how do you use it?

• How do you use these two technologies together?

No assumptions are made in these pages that you know any of this, so I start from scratch and move ahead. You should find the book's organization intuitive enough that you can skip the parts you're already familiar with.

This chapter, however, is a bit different. It's a quick start, a microcosm if you will, of the entire book. You're probably reading it in the comfort of a book store, or through the Amazon Look Inside feature, trying to decide whether to shell out your hard-earned money for the whole book. A lot of the material in this chapter is covered later in much greater detail, but for now, a brief tour is what you're after, and that's what you'll get.

Without further ado, follow me into the world of automation in Mac OS X.

Why Is Automation Important?

It's ironic to consider that computers were invented to ...