Automator AppleScript not working

Question

Level 1

4 points

Automator AppleScript not working

I have the following AppleScript commands in an Automator workflow that I then saved as a Service:

tell application "System Events"
	set _Date to (current date)
	keystroke ¬
		(year of _Date as text) & "-" & ¬
		text -2 thru -1 of ("00" & ((month of _Date) as integer)) & "-" & ¬
		text -2 thru -1 of ("00" & ((day of _Date) as integer)) & " - "
end tell

In High Sierra this used to allow me to insert the current date in a standardized format anywhere in the OS, e.g. in notes, while editing a filename, etc. It no longer works in Mojave or later. Is there a change that needs to be made when invoking the System Events application?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Mar 17, 2021 5:10 PM

Reply

Answer 1

shaolin11 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 17, 2021 5:12 PM in response to shaolin11

User Camelot provided this reply on my expired thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252213838?answerId=254205941022#254205941022

To answer his question, I've created new scripts from scratch to no avail.

Reply

Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,398 points

Mar 18, 2021 2:46 AM in response to shaolin11

Apple really increased security with Mojave and later. Automator will not permit System Events keystrokes without some security help. In System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy panel, do the following:

In Accessibility, add [+] Automator
In Full Disk Access, again, add [+] Automator

If you receive any dialog from Automator asking permissions to control anything, click OK, or suffer for clicking cancel.

Following the preceding bullet items, I would create a new Automator Quick Action (service) on Mojave and enter your posted code in the Run AppleScript action, and then save it. Use that Quick Action on Mojave.

Alternatively, you could use a Run Shell Script action with the following code:

date -j '+%F - '

which also produces "2021-03-18 - " .

Reply

Automator AppleScript not working

Similar questions