Q: List of Pages Pages 5.2 fixes and bugs

It is a good sign that Pages 5.2 reintroduces some serious Applscript support.  But I have noticed some issues.

1. Consider the declaration

set dateParagraph to make new paragraph

"make new" is still documented in the Pages dictionary, but it returns this error

Pages got an error: Don't know how to create TMAScriptTextStorage

Why?

2. SImilarly, directives such as

set alignment of dateParagraph to right

fail with the same error, though they used to work.

3. The directive "save" is documented in a way that is similar to what was available in 4.3.  But consider this fragment:

save currentDocument in file (mobileFolder & fileName)

expands correctly to

save "Doe, John 3 April 2014.pages" in file "Macintosh HD:Users:MyName:Library:Mobile Documents:com~apple~Pages:Documents:Doe, John 3 April 2014.pages"

But results is this error:

error "Pages got an error: Can’t make \"Doe, John 3 April 2014.pages\" into type specifier." number -1700 from "Doe, John 3 April 2014.pages" to specifier

Why?

the "make new paragraph" is highlighted.

I suspect things are being rushed out the door without proper testing. In my view, Pages 5.0 was not ready to be released.Pages 5.2 actually represents a big step forward but there are, as you well know, huge lacunae, the most important of which are lack of facing pages support, bookmarks (and interdocument hyperlinks), mail merge, and advanced typography support. The inability to view comments while editing, like the inability to print comments, is inexplicable, though the former is probably due to the decision to redo the way comments appear--a bad decision, in my view, since a comment you cannot see (without clicking) is more of a rumor than a comment. The bizarre behavior of hyperlinked text that is dragged from a browser into a document is also irritating.  Why is Pages the only Apple app that cannot handle this? The context-sensitive formatting is a clever idea, but the decision to trash the old format bar and status bar actually makes writing and formatting much more awkward in many (most?) situations.  It is also a huge waste of real estate. Maybe someday Apple will reintroduce the format bar and status bar as options. I am not holding my breath.

PeterBreis0807 wrote:

 

Yes but with no Before/After or Side margins, which you can see I used in Pages '09.

 

Peter

That's right. I'd consider this as a missing feature that should be made available sooner or later.

Sounds right to me. DOubt that they'll scratch the stupid UI that takes up so much space, but if would be great if they added back the format bar and status bar as opption. Not, as I said,  that I am holding my breath.

Regarding the AppleScript notes: The new AppleScript dictionary is significantly changed from the one in Pages '09, and much less complete in text features.

1. I haven't had a chance to figure this out yet, but I suspect that "make new paragraph" would have to be targeted at the "text item" to which you want to add the paragraph.

2. Alignment used to be a property of a paragraph, but I haven't been able to find it as a property of anything in the new dictionary.

3. currentDocument appears to be the name of a document, not a reference to the document itself. The save command wants a document specifier, but you are giving it a string.

In Re: 3. Right: that worked in 4.3 but not in 5.2. 

save Document 1 in file (mobileFolder & fileName)

does save the file to the mobile Folder (and hence to iCloud), but the file being edited itself does not display the edited name. Curious.

Here's one that is driving me nuts:

Alignment guides for images has disappeared. 

Preferences/Rulers/Alignment guides has been checked, but they don't show up when I'm trying to align an image in a doucment to another. 

This feature is an absolute need for me, and it's disappeared since upgradeing to 5.2

Can anyone elaborate on what the "improved text box behavior" refers to, listed in the update to 5.2? I, too, am waiting patiently for linked text boxes and was hopeful this might be it, but it doesn't appear to be so.

When it comes to Applescript, I would like to mention just for the record that I played with it for quite some time. However, I got frustrated when things that worked in the past no longer did - at least not the same way.

It is great that Apple extended the dictionary as much as they did, but before I invest time in learning how it works, I would like some guarantee from Apple that they for once will maintain backward compatibility in future upgrades. Writing scripts that suddenly become unusable with new versions is simply not my idea of fun.

Good luck getting that guarantee. Many of the directives that work in 4.3 do not (yet) work for 5.2. Apple's code of omerta means that we plebs, er, users, have no idea what their plans are.

rkimball wrote:

 

Good luck getting that guarantee. Many of the directives that work in 4.3 do not (yet) work for 5.2. Apple's code of omerta means that we plebs, er, users, have no idea what their plans are.

Oh, come, come. That is as ridiculous as saying that Apple would ever abandon the faithful users of Bento, AppleWorks, Cyberdog, Opendoc, the Newton or Hypercard.

As Bertie Wooster once put it, you follow me like a leopard.