AppleScript

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions on the possibility of false positive results from Apple's Hardware Test suite, how to locate lost files in iTunes libraries, and how to script a Mac to enter repeated keyboard button presses. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: False positives with Apple's Hardware Test suite MacFixIt reader Javier asks:

If you edit HTML code on your Mac, you might find that Apple's text-handling programs like TextEdit may not suffice, especially since as a basic text editor it does not provide syntax-aware coloring, the option to collapse sections of code based on tags, and properly index lines of code. In addition, TextEdit relies on direct access to files from the Finder and cannot open remote files.

As a result of these limitations, alternative text-handling tools may be useful for managing HTML documents; one of the most popular is Bare Bones Software's TextWrangler (a free version of its powerful … Read more

While the various programs and services on a computer are meant to offer you convenience, there are times when you may need to do repetitive tasks using the various tools and programs on the system. In these cases, the use of scripting tools can be exceptionally useful. Unlike programming, scripting is when you take a set of current tools and utilities and automate their interactions with commands. For instance, with Javascript you can tell a browser to change the way it renders HTML content, or with Automator you can tell the Finder to organize files in a certain way.

Recently … Read more

If you regularly use the Terminal to modify or manage files in the filesystem, it may be helpful to be able to select a file in the Finder and open it directly in a specified Terminal editor such as vi, pico/nano, or emacs. While you can always launch a Terminal window and enter the command to launch the file in the desired editor, there is a way to do this directly in the Finder.

Luckily, like most Terminal commands, common text editors use the syntax "command targetfile" to launch and target a file. Using this, you can … Read more

Starting with iPhoto 8.0.3, Apple implemented support for editing the geographical positioning tags for photos using AppleScript. The idea in part was to encourage developers of third-party programs like HoudahGeo to edit the photo information in the iPhoto library without directly accessing the library itself.

This implementation has worked for a number of iPhoto revisions, but in the latest update from Apple it appears that setting GPS coordinates with AppleScripts is not working properly. If you run an AppleScript similar to the following that uses the "set latitude" or "set longitude" commands, then you … Read more

On Thursday, security vendor SecureMac reported seeing new variants of AppleScript.THT Trojan horse in the wild affecting users of Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5.

The new variations exploit a vulnerability within the Apple Remote Desktop Agent, and can avoid detection by opening ports in the firewall and turning off system logging. The new Trojans can log keystrokes, take screen shots, take pictures with the Apple iSight camera, and enable file sharing, according to SecureMac.

The Trojans are using an AppleScript called ASthtv05 and/or may be bundled as an application. You must download and execute the … Read more