I've been advertising AppleScript a lot here. Automating a task is something, but easy access to that automation is quite important too.
Since I try to stick to Apple solutions and free software* I prefer using Spotlight instead of all the smart launchers that we have for macOS.
What I do is that I call my script names that are easy to call first in Spotlight. A few screenshots speak louder than words so here we are:
The series that start with ">" usually is scripts that I use to open something.
See how just typing ">" suggests ">BB". That ">BB" is what I use to open the files selected in Finder with BBEdit.
The one below is ">Tedit", short for "TextEdit" and opens selected files in TextEdit, etc.
If I type "c" after ">", I get the following list of choices. ">command" is to launch an arbitrary command in Terminal, ">Capture" is to use org capture in Emacs (see here and here for more information) and ">cd" just opens a Terminal tab on the front Finder window, or selected Finder folder.
When I use "<" to initiate the search, I get a different list. That series is for scripts that usually act by themselves. "<text file" creates a text file in the front Finder window and proposes to open it in BBEdit for editing, "<facturation" is an invoicing script for the job selected in Finder, "<job" is a job managing script that creates a job hierarchy in Finder based on a mail, along with an event in calendar, and then "<xls2tmx" is a TMX converter for multicolumn Excel reference data (I'll publish it when it's more polished, but creating XML data with AppleScript is documented here).
I have a few more scripts (a dozen) that I routinely call with Spotlight, which I find totally sufficient for my needs.
As you know, hitting Command+Enter when you have a selection in Spotlight is a way to reveal that selection in the Finder if it is available. So when I want to edit a script, I start by calling it in Spotlight, I hit Command+Enter when it is selected and then I call ">SEditor" (Script Editor) or ">debugger" (Script Debugger) on the selection, to open it with the appropriate application...
* Ok, I do have BBEdit, Microsoft Office and Illustrator... And maybe a few others...
How to support this blog?
To support this blog, you can hire me as an OmegaT consultant/trainer, or you can send translation and project management jobs my way.
Search the site:
Popular, if not outdated, posts...
-
OmegaT searches are very powerful. One feature OmegaT does not have (yet?) is the ability to register common searches for later use. There ...
-
I may have missed something but I have yet to find an easy way to copy a set of files to an arbitrary place on my disk. I think Windows peop...
-
Table of contents Free software = build your software yourself → Required dependencies for building emacs on macOS → Extra de...
-
In my " Okapi tools for Mono " post, last November, I discussed the possibility to use Okapi on OSX without installing Parallels/...
-
A message from Okapi's Yves Savourel: Just a note to let you know that I'll be giving a little introduction on using the Okapi Tools...
.docx
.NET
.pptx
.sdf
.xlsx
AASync
accented letters
Accessibility
Accessibility Inspector
Alan Kay
alignment
Apple
AppleScript
ApplescriptObjC
AppleTrans
applications
Aquamacs
Arabic
archive
Automator
backup
bash
BBEdit
Better Call Saul
bug
Butler
C
Calculator
Calendar
Chinese
Cocoa
Command line
CSV
CSVConverter
database
defaults
Devon
Dictionary
DITA
DocBook
Dock
Doxygen
EDICT
Emacs
emacs lisp
ergonomics
Excel
external disk
file formats
file system
File2XLIFF4j
Finder
Fink
Font
français
Free software
FSF
Fun
Get A Mac
git
GNU
GPL
Guido Van Rossum
Heartsome
Homebrew
HTML
IceCat
Illustrator
InDesign
input system
ITS
iWork
Japanese
Java
Java Properties Viewer
Java Web Start
json
keybindings
keyboard
Keynote
killall
launchd
LISA
lisp
locale4j
localisation
MacPort
Mail
markdown
MARTIF to TBX Converter
Maxprograms
Mono
MS Office
NeoOffice
Numbers
OASIS
Ocelot
ODF
Okapi
OLPC
OLT
OmegaT
OnMyCommand
oo2po
OOXML
Open Solaris
OpenDocument
OpenOffice.org
OpenWordFast
org-mode
OSX
Pages
PDF
PDFPen
PlainCalc
PO
Preview
programming
python
QA
Quick Look
QuickSilver
QuickTime Player
Rainbow
RAM
reggy
regular expressions
review
rsync
RTFCleaner
Safari
Santa Claus
scanner
Script Debugger
Script Editor
scripting
scripting additions
sdf2txt
security
Services
shell
shortcuts
Skim
sleep
Smultron
Snow Leopard
Spaces
Spanish
spellchecking
Spotlight
SRX
standards
StarOffice
Stingray
Study
SubEthaEdit
Swordfish
System Events
System Preferences
TBX
TBXMaker
Terminal
text editing
TextEdit
TextMate
TextWrangler
The Tool Kit
Time Capsule
Time Machine
tmutil
TMX
TMX Editor
TMXValidator
transifex
Translate Toolkit
translation
Transmug
troubleshooting
TS
TTX
TXML
UI Browser
UI scripting
Unix
VBA
vi
Virtaal
VirtualBox
VLC
W3C
WebKit
WHATWG
Windows
Wine
Word
WordFast
wordpress
writing
Xcode
XLIFF
xml
XO
xslt
YAML
ZFS
Zip