Hints & Tips

Hints & Tips

Call Automator Workflows from AppleScript

From [Mac OS X Hints](http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050512170841120): *"If you need to execute an Automator workflow from an AppleScript, have the application "Automator Launcher" open the saved workflow document.* More »

Hints & Tips

Sanitize Filenames for Shell Scripts

[Joe Block](mailto:jpb@ApesSeekingKnowledge.net) writes: *"I ran into an issue with Automator workflows that call unix shell scripts. I've detailed it [here](http://digitalhominid.blogspot.com/2005/05/automator-and-shell-scripts.html), but it boils down to if you have a workflow that sends filenames to the unix script, you need to add an extra Applescript step to sanitize the file names.* More »

Hints & Tips

Disable Actions for Testing Workflows

If you're working on a complex workflow and want to see how it behaves without a certain action, click on the action's number on the left-hand side of the title bar. A pop-up menu will allow you to select *Disable*; the action will now be dimmed out, and the workflow will ignore it. This menu also appears as a ctrl (right) click on the title bar, and allows you to add a custom name, reorder or delete the action from the workflow.

Hints & Tips

Get Instant Access to New Actions

Tired of having to restart Automator every time you install an action to have it appear in the Library? In Automator, *File > Import Actions...* will install the action into ~/Library/Automator/ for you, and have it appear in the Library immediately.

Hints & Tips

Schedule Workflows via iCal

This fantastic tip for scheduling Automator comes to us from [MacOSXHints](http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050504105901868&query=automator), and it's one a lot of people have asked about. More »

Hints & Tips

Broken Destination Folders

Avoid sharing workflows that contain actions pointing to custom folder locations; these absolute paths break the workflow when another user runs it. Instead, select *Show Action When Run* so the user can choose the proper destination folder (or indicate how they should modify the workflow).

Hints & Tips

Installing Actions and Plug-ins

Actions should be installed in either: /Library/Automator/ or ~/Library/Automator/. Create the "Automator" folder if it doesn't exist. They will appear in Automator under the appropriate application name. More »

Hints & Tips

Drag and Drop Files to Automator

Drag-and-Dropped files or folders to Automator will automatically appear as "Get Specified Finder Item" Actions. This is helpful if you want to make a quickie one-time workflow on specific files, or you want to test out a workflow without having to save it and test repeatedly on Finder items.