Re: [MacPerl] from Applescript to AEBuild

[Matthias Ulrich Neeracher <neeri@iis.ee.ethz.ch>]

Bart Lateur <bart.mediamind@tornado.be> writes:
>I have looked over Matthias's AppleEvent cookbook, (called the "Perl
>Anarchist's Cookbook"), where he describes five distinct ways to do the
>same thing: controlling an app using AppleEvents.
>
>I have a strong feeling that not only the result is the same, but that
>the underlying technicalities are basically the same too. In other
>words: I expect that an Applescript, when compiled, results in basically
>the same tree, as the one you can build yourself manually, using
>AEBuild, which is Matthias's recommended method.

Not quite. The AppleScript, when compiled, still ends up as a *program*, not
just a series of AppleEvents. However, when that program is *executed*, it
sends the same event as the AEBuild/AESend.

>If that is correct, I'm willing to put a *lot* more energy into building
>a general Applescript decompiler, than into learning how to build an
>AEBuild structure for every (or even only one) application I want to
>script.

I don't think AppleScript can be decompiled easily. If you want to do something
AppleScriptesque (some people find AEBuild more convenient), it might be better
to create a Perlish dialect of AppleScript, that is, to parse terminology
resources (doesn't somebody already have code for this?) and figure out a
way to naturally map the terminology into a Perlish syntax.

Matthias

-----
Matthias Neeracher   <neeri@iis.ee.ethz.ch>   http://www.iis.ee.ethz.ch/~neeri
   "I'm set free to find a new illusion" -- Velvet Underground

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