[Automator]How to pause Dropbox syncing from status bar?

Hi,

The following script should do the trick. I've used cliclick because the “click at“ command doesn't seem to work any more under Mavericks (see this post for example).

tell application "System Events" to tell process "Dropbox"

set {x, y} to position of menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2

set {x, y} to {x + 13, y + 11} -- center of menu icon

end tell

set cliclick to "/usr/local/bin/cliclick "

do shell script cliclick & "c:" & x & "," & y & " w:250"

set {x, y} to {x + 135, y + 251} -- center of wheel

do shell script cliclick & "c:" & x & "," & y & " w:250"

set {x, y} to {x + 85, y + 102} -- center of menu item

do shell script cliclick & "c:" & x & "," & y

If you prefer, you might also use this more concise version of the script:

tell application "System Events" to tell process "Dropbox"

set {x, y} to position of menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2

end tell

do shell script "/usr/local/bin/cliclick " & "c:" & (x + 13) & "," & (y + 11) & " w:250" & " c:" & (x + 148) & "," & (y + 262) & " w:250" & " c:" & (x + 233) & "," & (y + 364)

Hope it can help.

In both versions of the script, the values of x and y (z doesn't exist) are returned by the following statement:

set {x, y} topositionofmenu bar item 1 ofmenu bar 2

when the script is run. See GUI scripting and Accessibility Preferences and GUI Scripting.

To test the script, just copy and paste it into the AppleScript Editor window, then click the Runbutton.

You can get those values with the help of Accessibility Inspector:

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Accessibility Inspector.app

For example:

Have a look at Using Accessibility Inspector.

I'm glad I could help you. Thanks for your feedback.