Scripting Additions
Scripting additions are extensions to the AppleScript language. The Standard Additions and some others are written by Apple; however, there are hundreds of scripting additions the scripters can add themselves. They are added by placing the scripting addition file into the Scripting Additions folder. Once installed, scripting additions can be used by any script.
Another term for scripting addition is osax (the plural form is osaxen), which stands for Open Scripting Architecture eXtension. The OSA is explained in an upcoming section of this chapter.
In Mac OS 9, the scripting addition files are stored in the startup
disk:System Folder:Scripting Additions
folder. They are stored in more than one location in Mac OS X,
including /System/Library/ScriptingAdditions/
. Examples of two scripitng addition commands that are often used are
display dialog (see Example 1-1) and current date. The latter command returns a date object that contains data about today’s date and
time. The Standard Additions are installed with the Mac OS.
Tip
There is a large database of scripting additions at http://osaxen.com.
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