Is it possible to use the AppleScript library in Objective C?
e.g. ask the Mail application for a list of all mailboxes
Will there be an increase in performance?
You can use scripting bridge
Another link macosxautomation
"
AppleScript is an English-like language interface to the Apple Event messaging
architecture of Mac OS X. AppleScript scripts, when executed, are translated by the AppleScript frameworks into Apple Events used to query and control "scriptable" applications.
For years, developers and solution providers have sought an easy way to include similar abilities within other common programming languages. Mac OS X v.10.5 includes a new framework called Scripting Bridge that enables common languages, such as Ruby, Python, and Objective-C, to easily send Apple Events to scriptable applications
"
.
Or read about NSApplescript
In my opinion it is best use scripting bridge. but you may find it hard to find full documentation or a lot of examples.
But I am sure you will find help here.. :-)
Yes you can use AppleScript but Sandboxing enforces restrictions.
Yes there is certainly a performance issue, as AppleScript opens the application which it is targeted to like
Tell application Safari
If safari is not there, it will crash, If it is installed then it will be run.
Related
Java, C, C++ etc can be used for several types of computers and even mobile phones.
But, can Objective-C be used for anything except Apple products? Could I make an Objective-C program for a Windows machine (or linux), just like I do for java?
This link should answer your question: gnustep.org.
In short:
The purpose of this project is to create a free and open version of
the Cocoa (formerly known as NeXTSTEP/OpenStep) APIs and tools for as
many platforms as possible.
Hi just wondering how do you start writing programs for MAC OS X?
what language does it use? can I use objective C? which IDE do I use? any licensing fee should I know about.
Thanks.
Mac OS X is a great programming platform, as such you can use just about any language you like.
If you wish to write native applications using the Cocoa framework you'll probably want to be using Objective-C. You can download XCode as an IDE for free.
No licensing fees.
Xcode is the apple supplied IDE, and without external libraries some objective C is always required to build applications.
That being said xcode supports multiple types of langauges, and has extensions for many more - and C++ can be spliced in with objective C code - so if you prefer to code in C++ you can write a quick objective C wrapper and do all your own stuff in C++ - or indeed the langauge of your choice. There are a few other open source IDE's but I don't really recommend them - most of them crash on opening in new versions of Mac OS X.
Xcode is found in the developer package on your second mac install disk, or the latest version (with iphone SDK's) can be downloaded once registering on the Apple Developer Website, which you can become a basic member of for free.
As far as licensing goes, unless you plan to make a game for iOS there are no liscensing fees, unless you want a full subscription to apples developer website, which gives you a few extra things from them.
If your trying to write a game, consider using the SDL library, a cross platform wrapper for whole lot of operating system interface functions, including graphics - or you can use it as I do in combination with OpenGL for full 3D Support, hardware acceleration, ect.
Objective-C + Cocoa
http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/ObjectiveC/Introduction/introObjectiveC.html
http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/CocoaFundamentals/Introduction/Introduction.html
Apple suggests XCode
The native libraryfor OS X developed by Apple are called Cocoa. It provides OS X's graphical user interface, and other libraries such as Core Data for database acess, Core Animation for fast easy animation and video features in your software. These libraries are written in a mixture of C and Objective C (which is an extension of the C language). For best performance and best integration with the Mac operating system you should probaby look at developing in C, Objective C and perhaps some C++ as well.
There are some add-on layers that provide acces to the Cocoa libraries from other languages such as Ruby or Python. These are generaly of good quality and work well, so you can use these languages if your aplication does not need the very best performance. They are generaly considered to be easier to learn than the C family of languages and you can become productive very quickly.
Beyond that, you can use languages and toolkits that are platform-independent so your software will can run on Linux or Windows as well as the Mac. For example Python comes with a simple built-in GUI toolkit called Tkinter. You can use more powerful cross-platform toolkits such as Qt or WxWidgets with C or C++ but have excellent bindings for Ruby, Python and other langauges. This is an approach I am using of a project, with Python and Qt.
Others have mentioned Apple's integrated development environemnt (IDE) called XCode. I have only toyed with it, but it looks very powerful for true native development of Cocoa applications.
I would like to write an app for the iPad but I can't stand Objective-C.
Is there a language generator that would spit out Objective-C but let me write my iPad application in another language?
I've heard a little about MacRuby and am curious whether it could be used this way. Any other similar projects in other languages?
C# with MonoTouch.
JavaScript with Appcelerator Titanium.
Flex with ELIPS Studio 3.
Python with PyObjC (for jailbroken iPhones though).
Apparently Lua is an option.
John McIntosh uses Smalltalk on the iPhone. For instance, his Mobile Wiki Server app.
No computer anywhere (well maybe some) cares what language you write your programs in. Heck, you could hand-write machine instructions if you were patient (and crazy) enough. As long as you can figure out how to interact properly with the system call interface and the ABI, you can do whatever you want.
You could use Corona, Torque, or Unity. These all have advantages and disadvantages compared to using the standard Objective-C SDK, but really, if it's about the language itself, it's hard to see how you would be better able to "stand" the languages supported by these three than Objective-C.
Is there any other scripting language that can be used to embed scripts inside applications, which can access Mac OS X, or application classes with the same features, or most of the features seen in F-script?
The scripting language with the best support on the Mac is still AppleScript. But unlike F-Script, it cannot directly access the Objective-C level, it can only use what the target application chooses to expose for scripting.
There are Objective-C bridges for Perl, Python, and Ruby. I suppose those can embedded to provide scripting to your application.
Nu is an interesting option, although it isn't very popular yet.
A lot of people seem to like JSTalk.
But probably Applescript is your best bet: integrated into the system and all that.
I would say F-Script for many reasons. It has many unique features and is extremely tightly integrated with Cocoa and the Objective-C runtime. You can for example inspect various Finder classes (windows, icons, coverflow view...) and it's very easy (one or two lines of code) to start or control other processes. I don't think there is any good reason to prefer AppleScript. It's good for very short scripts, but will probably drive you crazy if you want to do something more complex.
Also, MacRuby is going to rock when it's a bit more stable, and some serious stuff has been accomplished using PyObjC as well, although I don't think it's very actively maintained anymore.
If you don't need F-Script graphical introspection tools, which are quite unique, there are some decent scripting languages that you can embed in applications. See in Particular RubyCocoa (for Ruby), PyObjC (for Python), JSTalk (for JavaScript) and CamelBones (for Perl). They are based on bridges between Cocoa and a foreign object model, which leads to some complexities. This is different from F-Script, which is directly built for the Cocoa object model. When ready, MacRuby might be an option too, but the syntax for manipulating Objective-C objects is not very nice (it improves on RubyCocoa, though). Nu is also an option: directly built for Cocoa like F-Script, but with a strong Lisp flavor.
MacRuby is an implementation of Ruby 1.9 that uses the Objective-C runtime and garbage collector. It can be embedded in a Objective-C application.
Even if the last available version is only 0.6, it is reported to be stable enough to be used in applications.
I have been researching around trying to find the best way to begin developing an application which aims to analyse user's writing styles based on outgoing SMS messages. I have installed Symbian's SDK and Carbide and purchased a book on their specific style of C++ to get started. However, I was told to check out Open C for Symbian as I have some previous C experience. I have installed the plugin from http://www.forum.nokia.com/Resources_and_Information/Explore/Runtime_Platforms/Open_C_and_C++/ and tested a simple Hello, World! application with success.
Although, the initial success would lead me to believe Open C would be a better option for me, I am worried about limitations of using Open C. For example, I need to be able to access native functions of the Symbian OS to capture keystrokes while in the SMS composer. I also need to be able to run my application in the background and have it load on system startup as not to interfere with user's normal activities.
Can someone clarify if Open C can access such functions and fulfil my needs in terms of developing this specific application? Also, what are the limitations to using Oepn C in comparison to the standard Symbian C++?
I'm by no means a Symbian guru but we've used the Open C/C++ plugin for Symbian here. My understanding is that the plugin is simply an extension -- it gives you the standard libraries and lets you deal with familiar functions (in our case, just the simple cstring.h, and stdio.h libraries were what we were looking for).
You can still mix and match the Symbian calls and likely will have to deal with some painful conversions to get your char* into the proper "descriptor". However, you should only have to do these at the interfaces at which you're touching existing Symbian libraries (as they're going to expect descriptors, not char*s).
In our code, we have some places where we're using a remove call to delete files and in the same class, creating the detailed Symbian RFs abd RFile objects.
So yes, while we use C/C++ libraries to do some low-level stuff and a lot of string manipulation, we're also using the Web Browser Control, key input monitoring and all that.
...And yes, we need to clean up our code. :-)
Open C provides a set of standard C libraries for Symbian OS programs i.e. it is a library.
This means you can call Open C code and Symbian native code freely in the same program, just as with any other library, provided you respect the preconditions and assumptions that the libraries require.
This is where the complexity comes in, because the standard Symbian APIs often require things like descriptors and a working active scheduler, whereas the Open C libraries don't. But provided you're careful you can do what you want.