AppleScript Help w/ GREP

Question

AppleScript Help w/ GREP

I'm trying to create a script that will open terminal and run a specific command that I created to get info from the system profiler. When I manually run the command in terminal it works perfectly; however when I paste it into the AppleScript editor it no longer works.

The command I want to run is:

In AppleScript Editor I have this:

tell application "Terminal"

activate

end tell

The error I get in AppleScript Editor is: Syntax Error: Expected “"” but found unknown token. If I run the same command without the grep portion it works OK.

Any ideas how to make this work?

Also, I want to the run: sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string in the same script to get the full CPU info is that possible to run both one right after the other?

Macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.5), null

Posted on Aug 31, 2015 12:40 PM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,254 points

Aug 31, 2015 1:56 PM in response to Computer Overhauls

The following code will open a new Terminal window, and run the script, producing the appropriate output in that window. Notice I inserted a newline (which disappears upon compile) prior to the sysctl command.

tell application "Terminal"

activate

sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string | sed -En 's/.+: (.+)$/\\1/p'"

end tell

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,254 points

Aug 31, 2015 2:13 PM in response to VikingOSX

Instead of that newline that I mentioned, simply separate the sysctl from the previous command with a semi-colon.

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Answer 3

Aug 31, 2015 2:29 PM in response to VikingOSX

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. I tried it both with the new line and with just a semi colon but didn't seem to get the correct output. The script runs but terminal only shows the output from the sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string command. None of the output from the system profiler shows.

The output from the system_profiler command should show this type of info:

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Answer 4

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,254 points

Aug 31, 2015 2:49 PM in response to Computer Overhauls

This works for me. There are no hard returns in the do script syntax.

tell application "Terminal"

activate

end tell

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Answer 5

Sep 1, 2015 7:21 AM in response to VikingOSX

Error

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Answer 6

Sep 1, 2015 7:22 AM in response to Computer Overhauls

Hi,

If a terminal command contains a backslash, you need to escape each backslash in an AppleScript

So use \\| instead of \|

tell application "Terminal"
      set currentTab to do script "system_profiler SPHardwareDataType SPPowerDataType SPStorageDataType SPDisplaysDataType SPMemoryDataType SPDiscBurningDataType SPCameraDataType|grep 'Cycle\\|Processor\\|Serial Number (system)\\|Model\\|Capacity\\|Media\\|Chipset Model\\|VRAM\\|Resolution\\|Memory\\|FaceTime\\|Total Number of Cores\\|Medium Type\\|Type\\|Speed\\|Cycle\\|CD-Write\\|DVD-Write\\|Camera'"
      activate
end tell

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Answer 7

Sep 1, 2015 7:34 AM in response to VikingOSX

I've isolated the issue to something within the GREP portion.

If I have just a SINGLE word in GREP then it works but as soon as I can two or more words it does work.

With this script I'm search for just "Model Name" within SPHardwareDataType and it works.

tell application "Terminal"

activate

do script "system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep \"Model Name\";sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string | sed -En 's/.+: (.+)$/\\1/p'" in front window

end tell

Terminal Output:

Owners-MacBook-Pro:~ owner$ system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep "Model Name";sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string | sed -En 's/.+: (.+)$/\1/p'

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4278U CPU @ 2.60GHz

However, If I try the same script but search for Model Name AND Model Identifier it only shows the sysctl command; nothing from the GREP.

tell application "Terminal"

activate

do script "system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep \"Model Name|Model Identifier\";sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string | sed -En 's/.+: (.+)$/\\1/p'" in front window

end tell

Terminal Output

Owners-MacBook-Pro:~ owner$ system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep "Model Name|Model Identifier";sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string | sed -En 's/.+: (.+)$/\1/p'

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4278U CPU @ 2.60GHz

Is there a different way I should be entering multiple GREP words to be searching by? It seem that this: grep \"Model Name|Model Identifier\" isn't being read properly. I tried it on a few different Macs but laptops and desktops but always had the same results...

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Answer 8

Sep 1, 2015 7:39 AM in response to Computer Overhauls

That was it!

The GREP needed two backslashes like this \\| between each search term:

Now it works perfectly!

Thanks!!

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Answer 9

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,254 points

Sep 1, 2015 8:17 AM in response to VikingOSX

The reason this AppleScript as written in my previous post works perfectly for me is that I have enabled GREP_OPTIONS in my .bashrc to include --extended-regexp. Thus every time I use grep, it is really invoking extended grep (egrep) and I do not need the double-backslashes before the | operators. Plain grep requires these in AppleScript, or you only get the sysctl output. You could also invoke grep as grep -E and my syntax would work equally well.

In the future, I will no longer assume everyone else is using extended grep.

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