Getting path to user's home directory

Question

Getting path to user's home directory

I have some Applescripts that I've written at work and I'd like to share with coworkers. The problem is that I've currently got my home directory path hard-coded in some of them, e.g.

set theScript to load script file ":Users:bmargoli:Library:Scripts:Lib:RunInTerminal.scpt"

I'd like to rewrite this to be more portable, so everyone doesn't have to personalilze their copies of the scripts. How would I rewrite the above line to get the user's home directory, and then find the Library/Scripts/Lib folder within it.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 6, 2008 4:29 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

red_menace

Level 6

17,036 points

Aug 6, 2008 5:34 PM in response to Barry Margolin

AppleScript's Standard Additions has a path to command with several constants defined, such as:

get path to home folder

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Answer 2

Tom_X

Level 5

5,260 points

Aug 6, 2008 6:31 PM in response to Barry Margolin

Here's two examples...

open the Lib folder...
try
do shell script "open ~/Library/Scripts/Lib\\ folder"
end try
move the Lib folder to the desktop...
tell application "Finder"
set home_path to home as Unicode text
try
set source to alias ( home_path & "Library:Scripts:Lib folder") as Unicode text
set destination to home_path & "Desktop" as Unicode text
tell application "Finder" to move source to destination as Unicode text
end try
end tell

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Answer 3

Tom_X

Level 5

5,260 points

Aug 6, 2008 7:03 PM in response to Barry Margolin

this is what you want but you will have to save the script as an .app

try
do shell script "open -a ~/Library/Scripts/Lib/RunInTerminal.app"
end try

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Answer 4

Aug 6, 2008 7:43 PM in response to Tom_X

Making RunInTerminal a .app won't work, since all it contains are subroutines that other scripts can use.

When I first created the library I tried using "get path to home folder", but I was unable to combine that with "Library/Scripts/Lib" to get it to load the script library. I don't remember the errors I got. Can someone show the whole sequence?

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