Getting the Status of a Macro

[CJK]

@dbates

I'm curious how you knew that you could extract that particular variable through AppleScript, and how you went about crafting that command. I'd like to start doing AppleScript a bit more but it seems impenetrable.

Every language seems impenetrable at the start. Learn by doing, and I assure you, it gets easier.

To know what commands are available for a particular (scriptable) application, refer to my response here:

XCode Windows

What sort of information ? Regarding AppleScriptability and its implementation, my typical method is to open Script Editor and bring up the "Library" window by pressing ⇧⌘L; after locating the XCode app icon (e.g. by opening the "Applications" folder in Finder), you can then drag the app onto Script Editor's "Library" window, and it should be added to the list given that it's scriptable. From there, just double click on it, and Script Editor will show you the AppleScript dictionary for XCode,…

plus @ccstone's:

XCode Windows

Hey Tom, The simplest way is to drag Xcode onto the Script Editor.app in the Finder or Dock. @CJK's method is a bit handier for repeated use, although I usually use LaunchBar for this sort of task. @CJK is also right about Script Debugger being a far superior means to read an app's scripting dictionary. (Even the free lite version.) -Chris

His method for accessing an AppleScript dictionary is simplest, so go with that. But I reference my post also because it gives a little bit of an explanation about what an Applescript dictionary is; and it also tells you about the Library window, which—once an application's dictionary has been accessed in Script Editor once—-becomes the route through which you access its dictionary in the future (you don't have to keep dragging the application file to the dock icon each and every time).

Here's a screenshot of the pertinent bit of the Keyboard Maestro AppleScript dictionary that gave me a helping hand:

Firstly, it tells me there's an object called a macro group, and this contains other objects called macros (pretty easy to discern what those are). Secondly, it tells me that every macro group object has a property called enabled that is a boolean (true/false), and can be both read (get enabled of...) and set (set enabled of...), since read-only properties (those that cannot be set to something else) have r/o next to them.

Though looking at this now, I see a property called disabled on this Mac that I've never noticed before, and has my interested piqued. I think I'll experiment with that a little later and see what that's all about.