Office 2008 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual

Installing and Running Office Scripts

Whether you choose to write your own scripts or not, you can always run scripts that others have written. Scripts come in two basic forms—applets (script programs, also called droplets), or as scripts (script documents). Developers create their scripts in either of these two forms when they save them.

Installing Applets and Droplets

If the icon is an applet, you can store it, and its folder, anywhere at all on your computer. You can move it to your Applications folder, or to a subfolder for scripts within it; or to your Microsoft User Data folder (even though it’s not data), or to a subfolder you create within it for Office script applets. You can also drag the applet icon to your Dock, as with any program, so you can launch it from there. If it’s a script you’ll be using often, dock it.

Run the applet by double-clicking it, like any program, or by clicking it in the Dock (if it’s there). Or if it’s a droplet (with the down-arrow icon), drag one or more files of the appropriate type—usually a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document—onto it. You can even store droplets in the Dock and drop files onto it there.

If the icon is a script document (it may or may not bear an .scpt extension), then you have to put it in a specific place depending on whether it’s a script for Entourage or for one of the other Office programs. Read on.

Installing Script Menu Scripts

When you’re in any Office 2008 program, you’ll notice a dark, scroll-shaped icon just to the right ...