AppleScript saved as application doesn’t execute whole script when argument is passed

applescriptcommand linehigh sierra

I save the following AppleScript as application, to open Firefox in full screen and without the menu bar:

tell application "Firefox" to activate
delay 0.8
do shell script "lsappinfo setinfo -app Firefox ApplicationType=UIElement"
tell application "System Events" to tell process "Firefox" to set value of attribute "AXFullScreen" of last window to true

And execute it as:

open -a "Firefox Full Screen"

This works as expected, Firefox is opened, goes full screen, without the menu bar. The problem is when I try to call open with a URL:

open -a "Firefox Full Screen" "https://google.com"

This still opens Firefox, with the given URL in a new tab, but it doesn't execute the lines after delay 0.8, so it doesn't open in full screen. I don't understand why this happens and how to fix it.

I know those lines are not executed because the system doesn't warn that I need to add the application as an accessibility exception (when I don't have one added/enabled). It always warns if I don't pass the URL (and don't have an exception added/enabled).

EDIT 1

I also tried to execute the following version with open -a "Firefox Full Screen", open -a "Firefox Full Screen" "https://google.com", open -a "Firefox Full Screen" --args "https://google.com" and it's worse given that it doesn't execute the last lines in any case:

on run argv
    tell application "Firefox"
        activate
        repeat with arg in argv
            open location (arg as text)
        end repeat
    end tell
    delay 0.8
    do shell script "lsappinfo setinfo -app Firefox ApplicationType=UIElement"
    tell application "System Events" to tell process "Firefox" to set value of attribute "AXFullScreen" of last window to true
end run

EDIT 2

It seems the problem is related with https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14419700.

Best Answer

It looks like passing arguments to an AppleScript saved as an application has become broken at some point. I accomplished my task by using Automator to create an equivalent new Application that makes use of an Action > Utilities > Run Shell Script:

open -a Firefox
sleep 1
lsappinfo setinfo -app Firefox ApplicationType=UIElement
osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to tell process "Firefox" to set value of attribute "AXFullScreen" of first window to true'
sleep 0.5
for f in "$@"; do open -a Firefox "$f"; done

I set the shell script Shell: to /bin/sh and Pass input: to as arguments, save it as "Firefox Full Screen" in /Applications, change its icon as explained here and add it as an exception in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy Tab > Accessibility.

I then can run any of the following and it works as expected:

  • open -a "Firefox Full Screen"
  • open -a "Firefox Full Screen" --args "https://google.com"
  • open -a "Firefox Full Screen" --args "https://google.com" "https://twitter.com"

I'm using this coupled with the following userChrome.css to both evade a well known issue with the macOS menu bar on full screen applications and another long standing address bar and tab auto-hide bug that Firefox have with macOS native full screen.

userChrome.css

#navigator-toolbox[inFullscreen] {
    position: relative;
    z-index: 1;
    height: 3px;
    margin-bottom: -3px;
    opacity: 0;
    overflow: hidden;
}

#navigator-toolbox[inFullscreen]:hover {
    height: auto;
    margin-bottom: 0px;
    opacity: 1;
    overflow: show;
}

#content-deck[inFullscreen]{
    position:relative;
    z-index: 0;
}

For a generic approach, check my other answer.

TIP

  • Firefox, by default, does not have any issue on Linux or Windows to auto-hide address bar and tabs in full screen as expected. With that said, I grabbed this userChrome.css from my ArchLinux setup. I use it on i3 and sway tiling window managers, with all the [inFullscreen] removed, to get address bar and tabs to auto-hide in normal bordless windows.
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