What’s this all about then?
rb-appscript is a powerful way to automate your Mac. It's similar to Applescript but it's built in Ruby, which means you get to leverage that language's powerful syntax and libraries. Giving you more time to make toasted sandwiches. You want long-winded explanations? We got those.
Please note that these scripts are by no means bulletproof, and are intended to provide examples of application scripting. I take no resposibility for any loss of data or mishaps; you download and run everything at your own risk. That said, I use all of these scripts in a production environment every day (well – more accurately, I use some of these scripts in a production environment most days).
Author Archives: ian
Things: Add NetNewsWire Headline
While hacking my way through the RSS jungle in NetNewsWire, I often find something interesting that I don’t have time to look at right now. Instapaper takes care of long form articles, but if the media in question is a little richer – a video of a skateboarding dog, say – you’ll need another way to come [...]
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Illustrator: Delete Invisible Layers
A pretty descriptive name, yeah? This script is similar to Illustrator’s “Flatten Layers”, but it will leave your visible layers intact, rather than squishing everything onto one. n.b. if you’ve carefully locked certain layers, this will reset everything to unlocked. The script could certainly be tweaked (by someone less lazy than me) to remember which [...]
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Open for Business, Yes Sir
You’d be forgiven, of course, for thinking that this blog’s maintainer had just been deported to Russia for spying – such is the rate of updates. This, sadly, is not the case. The real reason is far more prosaic: I have been distracted. However, the Internet toils tirelessly whether I’m paying attention or not. One [...]
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Finder: Symlink This Window to That One
Symlinks! They’re not just for Christmas. They are, in fact, just like aliases, enabling you to litter your hard drive with shortcuts in no time flat. You can make them in the terminal with the “ln -s” command, but if you’ve got the windows open in the Finder, hell! Why not use ‘em? This little [...]
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Photoshop: Export Layer Comps
Web designers, in particular, are famous for making Photoshop files with 134 layers, all named “Layer 2 copy copy copy copy”, and spending an hour turning them on and off to show you one iteration of their handiwork. Using Photoshop and not using layer comps is akin to chartering a Gulfstream jet – and then [...]
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InDesign: Update All Modified Images
This has actually been added as a command in the latest release of InDesign (curse you Adobe, for improving your software and rendering my scripts obsolete). It still serves as a useful example for how to filter a bunch of objects based on a selector. Download Update-all-modified-images.rb.zip. As it’s only little, I’ve decided to let [...]
iTunes: Total Size of Current Playlist
This script, erm, duplicates the functionality of simply looking at the bottom of the iTunes window, where you’ll find the total size of the current playlist smugly peering up at you. So why did I write this? Your guess is as good as mine. However, in the name of providing examples for would-be iTunes scripters, [...]
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Illustrator: All Layers Visible
Some layers aren't visible? BAM! Now they are.
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InDesign: Reveal Links in Finder
Loops through all the selected items, attempts to figure out whether any of them are linked images, and opens their containing folders, selecting all of ‘em. Download Reveal-links-in-Finder.rb.zip. The source code is bouncing from foot to foot in anticipatory glee, just after the jump.
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Things: Procrastinate