say I wanted to know which dictionary something resided in, say "date" for instance. How would I find which dictionary this was in ? I can seem to search a dictionary once it's open, but how to search all dictionaries?
OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)
Things like "date" are not in any dictionary. Those are basic parts of AppleScript. Dictionaries hold the methods to extend an application or service. To learn that kind of thing, you might want to find a book, though there might be some stuff online.
I used Danny Goodman's "AppleScript" and "AppleScript, the Definitive Guide" by Neuberg.
The first was for the original Applescript, and a bit has changed since then, but it covers the basic concepts well.
MacScripter.net might provide some examples.
Also, the Apple dev Center has some references.
alright, suppose it was something like the iphoto "current album". short of looking through all the dictionaries is there a way to search them all for an item ?
As I didn't make clear, you would look in the iPhoto dictionary for controlling iPhoto.
In general! If you want commands to control "Random generic app," look in the "Random generic app" dictionary.
Dictionaries are specific to an application. You aren't going to find iPhoto stuff in the iTunes Dictionary (and vice versa).
yeah... I get that. I'm just wondering if there's a general search facillity, but may be it's just obvious which dictionary something would be in. And once I learn the basic commands (like date, time, etc) I won't be trying to find them in the dictionaries. thanks!
There isn't a search facility for anything. And, you won't find those things in any Dictionary. There are some system related things in StandardAdditions and in System Events, but things like Date are just part of Applescript, not a particular Dictionary. Dictionaries are extensions to Applescript, for lack of a better term.
There might be something you can search in the Apple Dev Center, but I'm not aware of it.
If you want to control a particular app, open its dictionary and type a phrase in the search box.
As far as I know you can't search across multiple dictionaries in one pass.
You can access the basic Applescript dictionary using some third-party applications, for example Smile http://www.satimage.fr/software/en/downloads/index.html Here's a screenshot:
I don't believe this dictionary is accessible in AppleScript Editor.
You can also find the basic terms of the language defined in the AppleScript Language Guide
Hope this helps.
H
how do locate which dictionary an item resides in applescript?
