How to use AppleScript application with “open file -a AppleScriptApp”

applescript

Some information about what I am trying to achieve

I am using emacs inside of terminal. I know about existence of cocoa versions of emacs (like GNU Emacs for OS X, Aquamacs and Emacs Mac Port). But I prefer to code inside of terminal.

Everything is fine in my setup except the fact that sometimes I want to open file inside of emacs from Finder or any other software. So I need find running process of emacs in terminal or create new one and open the fine inside of running emacs.

So basically I need to create an .app wrapper for opening files in terminal emacs.

Trying to get it done

As far as I understand, open -a my_emacs_app /path/to/file is the same as opening file in application from finder. So that's why I am testing my_emacs_app using open command.

My first attempt is to create application using AppleScript. Here is the code that process passed arguments:

on run argv
    if (count of argv) > 0 then
        -- get file path from argv
        -- and log to logfile for testing purposes
        return "defined"
    else
        -- no args means no file
        -- log to logfile that we can't extract file path
        -- from empty arguments
        return "failed"
    end if
end run

And actually it works when I try to run it using

$ osascript my_emacs_app.scpt /path/to/file

It opens the file and logs what expected to log file.

When I run it using

$ osascript my_emacs_app.scpt

It logs to file that no arguments were passed.
So I was happy with it. But remember, I need an .app wrapper. So I am exporting this script as application (and place it inside of /Applications/ folder). And then when I try to

$ open -a my_emacs_app /path/to/file

I see that application is executed for a short time and then is closed. But nothing good happens. I mean, file is not opened in emacs and nothing is logged into log file.

Does any one know, how to export such scripts?

Best Answer

After few different attempts and hacks I found good solution to solve my problem. First - implement the script. Then open the Automator.app and create new application. Then combine Get Specified Finder Items action and Run AppleScript. So now open -a my_automator_app /path/to/file will pass /path/to/file/ to my script. And that's cool.

P. S. in the argv will be stored the alias to the file, not the posix file path. To convert it from alias to posix you should use

set aliasPath to item 1 of item 1 of argv
set filePath to (the POSIX path of aliasPath)

Oh and don't forget that you might want to get the quoted form of filePath in case it contains some special characters (like space or ~).

You can get more information about alias/posix paths here

Related Solutions

How to write a script to open multiple terminal tabs and execute code in them

This is a little bit hacky, but you can achieve this in AppleScript. If there is a predetermined number of tabs you want, and preset commands you wish to run, this isn't difficult.

tell application "Terminal"
    -- Activate it.
    activate

    set targetWindow to 0

    -- Get a window that's not busy.
    -- If there are no open windows, open one.
    if count of windows is greater than 0 then
        repeat with currentWindow in windows
            if currentWindow is not busy then
                set targetWindow to currentWindow
            end if
        end repeat
    else
        do script ""
        set targetWindow to window 1
    end if

    -- Do command 1.
    set firstCommand to "cd ~/Desktop; clear"
    do script firstCommand in targetWindow

    -- Open a new tab.
    tell application "System Events" to tell process "Terminal" to keystroke "t" using command down

    if count of windows is greater than 0 then
        repeat with currentWindow in windows
            if currentWindow is not busy then
                set targetWindow to currentWindow
            end if
        end repeat
    else
        do script ""
        set targetWindow to window 1
    end if

    -- Do command 2.
    set secondCommand to "cd /Applications; clear"
    do script secondCommand in targetWindow

    -- And so on...
end tell

Of course, replace firstCommand with whichever command you actually want to run, and so on. For whatever reason, Terminal doesn't really have an accessible way to create new tabs through AppleScript, so the long, hacky looking line in the middle just tells Terminal to type ⌘T to open that new tab, and then new commands will execute in it.

You can run this AppleScript as is, or use it in Automator to create a new service, which you can then execute from anywhere using a keyboard shortcut if you'd like.

Extras - If you want to fire some script/command in the newly opened terminal session, you can refer this

MacOS – How to open a shell script in a new Terminal window and run it with administrator privileges

I'd try writing a simple script:

#!/bin/bash
sudo /usr/bin/id

save this as something.command, change its permissions to executable with chmod +x, and then run this from AppleScript with

osascript -e 'do shell script "open -a Terminal ./something.command"'

Instead of /usr/bin/id you can call whatever script you need to run with admin privileges then.

EDIT:

This will work:

osascript -e 'do shell script "sudo /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/MacOS/Terminal" with administrator privileges'

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to write a script to open multiple terminal tabs and execute code in them

MacOS – How to open a shell script in a new Terminal window and run it with administrator privileges

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