Applescript 'not allowed to control Mac'

I'll look into that, thanks. I may have found a solution here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5914

and I'll implement that and see what happens. Any comments from anyone with hand-on experience of all this would be welcome. 'Just works', eh?

The irony is that this particular piece of automation was handled very largely in QuicKeys, but in anticipation of problems with that in later Systems I modified the process to do most of the work in ApleScripts. Now I find that QuicKeys seems to be OK and Apple's preventing me from using my own Applescripts unless I jump through various hoops.

I don't think the particular script in question writes anything back - I'll check that - but I'll try the workaround they give. It did also occur to me that as QuicKeys can include an Applescript within a shortcut I could just copy the entire script back into QuicKeys (which as present does nothing but invoke it - it's just there to provide a keystroke trigger). The irritating thing is there are going to be quite a lot of scripts to do this sort of thing with.

I checked, and yes it does write properties back. However it never got as far as completing even once. I'll look at the various options when I have time: but this is insane. I'm experienced, and can handle Terminal and Applescript, but someone who has written an Applescript which is now blocked, and has little experience in depth, would be lost. Security is one thing, but there's such a thing as going too far. I don't even want to upgrade to a Mac with Mavericks but I can't expect my current iMac - six years old now - to last for ever, and already Safari isn't working in a number of websites.

Unfortunately the script in question does write back data, as do many of my other scripts though at present I'm only testing this one. Annoyingly when you get the error and go to System Preferences it doesn't list the script by name, just says 'Applet'. The method described in the Apple Tech Note may be the answer (though it imples the script will run once, then not the second time, and it hasn't even run once so far) - I'll try this on Monday morning.

I've now done extensive experimentation on this. The script in question runs until it gets to the point of using System Events to invoke menu commands in Nisus Writer Pro: this appear to be what is causing it to hang and throw up an error message that it is not allowed to control devices. It has been given permission in System Preferences>Security, and I have been through the Terminal process described at the bottom of this page:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5914

(they don't tell you that you have to install XCode). When repeating the process Terminal confirms that the script is signed. It does write back to itself at the end of its run, but it never gets as far as actually doing that.

Nothing I do will enable it to run. I've repeated the described process to no effect. Experimenting with a different script I got the same error, and couldn't get it to be recognized in System Preferences: the Terminal method had no effect.

The only way I was able to get the first script to run was to use QuicKeys, which has a facility for pasting in an AppleScript and running it within that - because QuicKeys has successfully been given permission the script runs OK.

This is outrageous. The script in question is an essential piece of automation I use regularly and have been doing so for years. Now even jumping through complex hoops that a less experienced user would be completely confused by won't enable it to run, other than by using a third party program which may eventually have its own problems.

Security is one thing but the system for allowing trusted scripts is completely broken.

I have attempted to send all this as feedback but the space allowed is too limited to enter all this text. I have asked them to contact me, though I have no idea whether this is likely.

As you may have detected I am extremely annoyed about all this and the time wasted (two hours today) trying to get it to work.

Barney-15E wrote:

Not certain, but is Remote AppleEvents checked in the Sharing System Preferences?

Thanks for the suggestion, but this makes no difference - it's intended to allow control from another computer.