Headlines

News

News Briefs

[MacWorld](http://www.macworld.com) is featuring an [excerpt](http://www.macworld.com/2005/11/secrets/tcoautomator/index.php) from the eBook [*Take Control of Customizing Tiger*](http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-customizing.html?14@@!pt=MW-EXCERPT-TCCT2) on some Automator basics ... also at MacWorld, [Ben Long](http://www.completedigitalphotography.com/) has written [Automate Photoshop chores](http://www.macworld.com/2005/11/secrets/decdigitalphoto/index.php), a tutorial aimed at photographers looking to automate repetitive Photoshop actions ... along the same lines, [MacNN](http://www.macnn.com/) has reprinted [*Building an Automator Action*](http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/11/07/automator.action/) from [MacTech](http://www.mactech.com/), a very concise tutorial on creating your own actions with Xcode.

Hints & Tips

10.4.3 Broken Shell Script Paths

[MacOSXHints](http://www.macosxhints.com/) has posted a [detailed look](http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20051101073100820) at an annoying problem that has cropped up in Automator 1.0.2:

> "...it appears that the 'Get Selected Finder Items' action has changed its behavior under 10.4.3, and not for the better...the problem is that the path returned by *Get Selected Finder Items* isn't usable by the *Run Shell Script* action.

> It turns out that if you take an action, any action, on the Finder selection, then the path will be correct. What's the best action to add? One that doesn't do much of anything -- Label Finder Items, with the label set to None."

News

Definitely a Treat: Mac OS X 10.4.3 Update Released

[Apple](http://www.apple.com) has released the [Mac OS X 10.4.3 updater](http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301984). This update brings a slew of improvements and fixes to Automator (now at version 1.0.2 build 63), the most we've seen yet; it will take some time to verify all of these! Read on for the full list. More »

Hints & Tips

Store and Retrieve Workflow Data

[J. Kevin Wolfe](mailto:jkevinwolfe@mac.com) has written a very concise [overview](http://homepage.mac.com/jkevinwolfe/otto/files/archive-0.html) of how Automator passes information from action to action, and how to "trick" it into storing data for later use:
>"To store references, use the Copy to Clipboard action from System Library. Place this after the results you need to store. Then to call it up, place a Run AppleScript action in the workflow with the following scriptlet before the action that needs the data from earlier in the workflow:

>

--Return Clipboard Contents to Data Flow 
return (the clipboard)

>This takes the information stored on the clipboard and puts it back in the Data Flow."

Site News

Server Upgrade

Automator World is in the process of upgrading to a bigger, faster server. Things might be a little funky here for a brief time, please bear with us. Thank you. **Update:** Migration completed. Booya.

Opinion

Aperture is Big


[Aperture](http://www.apple.com/aperture) is big. Industry-rattling big. If you're a photo professional, you understand why; if not, take my word for it. [Apple's](http://www.apple.com) announcement of Aperture today wasn't a total shock; many were expecting an "iPhoto Pro" to come along (readers of my [iPhoto Challenge](http://www.automatorworld.com/archives/the-iphoto-challenge-i/) articles will know I was one of those hoping for just such a thing.) What _is_ surprising is that it's not "iPhoto Pro", it's really just **PRO**, in big bold letters. Aperture includes Automator integration, of course; it sports a number of [handy actions](http://www.automator.us/aperture/) that will be of great interest to users. Watch this space for more information.

News

Automator QuickPick for Backup 3

Apple's Backup was one of those utilities that should have been better than it turned out. The interface was weird, the options obfuscated and the file scanning slower than any reasonable person should endure. [Backup 3](http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/backup.html), which appears to be something of a ground-up rewrite, solves nearly all those problems. I actually use the thing now; it's oddly fun creating backups, and even more so checking the logs and seeing they actually _ran_.

Backup 3 has _QuickPicks_, which are basically shortcuts to backing up folders associated with specific apps (it's not immediately obvious, but QuickPicks appear when you manually add a new item to a backup set.) The folks over at [Wishingline](http://www.wishingline.com/notebook/archives/2005_09.php#000767) have created a bunch of custom QuickPicks, including one for Automator. Worth checking out.

Hints & Tips

Adding Ruby to Run Shell Script Action

[Sean Long](www.hailstonesoftware.com) writes:
"Add this snip of XML to */System/Library/Automator/Run Shell Script.action/Contents/Resources/Shells.plist.* Now when Automator is restarted */usr/bin/ruby* will show up in the Shells: list." More »

Hints & Tips

Force Reloading the Action Library

If you develop or update your action library a lot, Automator's action cache can become "confused," leading to odd behavior. To force reload the actions, launch Automator while holding down the **option** key. Because workflows also store an action cache, misbehaving workflows should have their actions removed and replaced after the option launch has occured.

Hints & Tips

Make the Automator Action Installer Not Hide Apps

From [MacOSXHints](http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050914121448472&lsrc=osxh): "Apple's Automator Action Installer template (available from Apple's [Installation Instructions for Developers](http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/submit/installers.html) page) is the recommended way to ship custom actions, and it works pretty well. However, one annoyance is its tendency to hide active apps when it runs. Luckily, the fix is easy." More »

News

Stuffit 10 Adds Automator Support

[Allume Systems](http://www.allume.com/mac/index.html) has released [Stuffit Deluxe 10.0](http://www.stuffit.com/mac/deluxe/index.html), a major upgrade to the venerable compression application. Stuffit 10 adds a new JPEG compression algorithm and Automator support, including the ability to compress and expand StuffIt, Zip, and Tar archives. Stuffit Deluxe 10.0 is available now for $79.99 and upgrade for $29.99.

Opinion

“Down on the Corner…”

I don't generally post on matters outside the realm of Automator, but since it's used a lot with iTunes, I'll let [this page](http://iacs5.ucsd.edu/~alwarren/fixitunesnow.html) slide. I think it speaks for itself.

News

News Briefs

Matt Neuburg, author of [AppleScript: The Definitive Guide](http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/applescpttdg/), will be speaking at the Applescript Pro Sessions, running October 31-November 4 in Chicago. The [session](http://www.scriptingmatters.com/aspro) will cover AppleScript Studio and Automator, including using Studio to create custom Automator Actions.… [MacDevCenter](http://www.macdevcenter.com) has posted [*What Is Automator (and Can It Make Your Life Easier)*](http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/09/06/what-is-automator.html), a solid and somewhat critical overview of Automator.

News

Macworld Poll: Automator Neglect?

A [Macworld UK](http://www.macworld.co.uk) poll, indicating that only 8% of respondents use Automator, is discussed in this [article](http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=12464&Page=1&pagePos=3). User's primarily found the interface daunting or slow, and Apple's included actions limited.

With a response of 1,165 votes, it's not particularly comprehensive (175 voters aren't even using OS X 10.4, which is a bit disingenuous). Still, valid points are raised; despite the myriad of third-party actions available online, many users are simply not aware of them, and the interface can be buggy and slow. MacSlash readers have also [chimed in](http://macslash.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/26/1034215) on this subject.

News

DEVONthink Pro Debuts

[Devon Technologies](http://www.devon-technologies.com) has released [DEVONthink Professional 1.0](http://www.devon-technologies.com/news/news.php), a personal file management system. DEVONthink includes 14 Automator actions and 10 sample workflows, and is available for $75.