Is there a post, blog or something somewhere that explains scripting?

DEVONthink Automation
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I see that the scripting category starts with a post by Bluefrog that says something like “If you find yourself coding the same thing over and over…”

I have never found myself coding anything and likely never will. But I see there seem to be quite a few scripts created by users that do very useful things.

Is there a single place that introduces one to installing and using scripts? I have looked in tutorials, help, forum, Youtube, and cannot find something like that.

(And I’m only talking about scripts in DT. I have used scripts in OS X before, though not much.)

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I wrote a whole chapter on it in the Help. It’s the Automation chapter. It also points to resources about learning AppleScript.

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Thank you. I figured it was something easy and obvious.

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You’re welcome. Also check out the In & Out chapter.

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Just saw this. Thanks.

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You’re welcome.

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FWIW this formulation, in the section on JavaScript, expresses a bit of a misunderstanding:

However, it is bridged by the operating system from AppleScript, not specifically coded for.

AppleScript is not, as it happens, involved in any component or stage of the interface between OSA and the Automation library provided in the JavaScript for Automation instance of a JSContext :slight_smile:

JavaScript and AppleScript are peer interfaces to the OSA framework.

(just alternative language interface switches in the osascript shell command, for example. See man osascript)

Some of the large gaps in AppleScript (Regular expressions for pattern matches, Math functions, URL encoding and decoding etc ) can be plugged by making calls to JavaScript from AppleScript, but that doesn’t, alas, redeem the difficulties of working with AppleScript’s unusually brittle and difficult record objects)

I would hesitate to recommend investment in learning AppleScript as a first language at this point, not just because it is in now in sunset mode – no longer in active development, and (for technical reasons) completely and inevitably absent from iOS and iPadOS, but also because a macOS scripter who wants to benefit from:

  • the (dual platform) omniGroup scripting interfaces
  • the (dual platform) Drafts scripting interfaces
  • general purpose scripting on iOS
  • general purpose scripting on the web

needs to know some JavaScript anyway.

(DEVONthink smart actions are egregiously behind the curve on this issue at the moment :- )

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After having looked up “egregiously”, I agree. Since Hazel permits AppleScript and JavaScript simultaneously, I don’t see why DT can’t open up the interface to performSmartRule to JavaScript in the same way. In addition to the products already mentioned, there’s also Scriptable as a dual platform JS environment.

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