Browse Programming Help and Tips

Browse Programming Help and Tips

Change color of BBEdit and TextWrangler 'invisibles' characters
Learn how to change the color of the special characters that BBEdit and TextWrangler use to display invisible characters, such as tabs and line breaks.
Getting geeky with Twitterrific and AppleScript
Jason Snell explores the rarely explored depths of Twitterrific for Mac, including secret preferences and AppleScript support.
Geek Factor: 8 great Automator downloads
You don't have to stick with the Automator actions that came with OS X. Ben Waldie lists his favorite third-party Automator downloads.
AppleScript versus Alameda County
Jason Snell battles a wonky Java applet to get a readable version of a court case.
Geek Factor: Automating Word with AppleScript
Unfortunately, Word 2008 doesn’t support VBA. The good news is that, with a little tinkering, almost anything you could do with a VBA macro in previous versions of Word, you can now do with AppleScript in Word 2008.
Geek Factor: Leopard’s Unix tricks
Mac OS X 10.5 includes a number of changes to its Unix core, perhaps more than in any prior OS X release. Here are my picks for the five most interesting and useful ones.
Geek Factor: Automating Word 2008
We didn’t have for all of Joe Kissell’s AppleScripts for Word 2008 in the magazine. Here are three more. These scripts are all in the enclosed download file.
Back up Entourage with AppleScript
John C. Welch uses AppleScript to help him back up Entourage, including compatibility with Time Machine.
Automator Power: Variables and looping
Automator includes dozens of built-in variables, such as dates, times, and system information. With looping, you can repeat actions or groups of actions a set number of times.
Linux on the Mac
By now, you know that you can run Windows on an Intel Mac. But virtualization programs don’t just run Windows: they can also run Linux (or any other Intel-compatible operating system) on your Mac. Here’s how.
OS X Hints: Find ungrouped contacts
Use AppleScript to identify any contacts in your Address Book who are not yet in a group.
Mac OS X Hints - April 2007
Rob Griffiths and Kirk McElhearn offer tips on how to minimize all of a program’s windows, select text with one click, zoom easily via the keyboard, tame Address Book’s envelope printing and more.
Mac OS X Hints - Feb. 2007
Rob Griffiths offers tips on ways to cancel the shut down command, change which application opens a file, zip through podcast lists, edit smart playlists and more.
3 amazing AppleScripts
For simple automation, it’s hard to beat Automator. But if you want to build truly powerful workflows that can do everything from coloring your iCal calendars to converting your e-mail messages for easy reading on your iPod, AppleScript is still the best tool in town.
Mac OS X Hints - July 2006
Rob Griffiths offers tips this month on ways to reply in Mail with original open, use tables in Stickies, make free iPhoto 6 books, speed through the Calendar widget and a scan-and-print Tiger time-saver.
Automator overdrive
If you’ve taken Automator out for a spin, you know that Apple’s automation tool really does make it easy to simplify repetitive tasks. But after experimenting with its built-in actions and with actions culled from the Internet, you probably still wish you could do more.
Mac 911: May 2006
Chris Breen offers help on ways to put together your PDFs, deal with duplicates in iTunes, choose a startup volume, launch a more colorful TextEdit and much more.
Take Control of Permissions in OS X
Command-line lifesavers
When you work with the command line, you work without a safety net—there’s no Trash to fish files out of and no Undo command. But there are some tricks for protecting yourself from missteps.
Using Tiger: Learning AppleScript
Take command of permissions
The command line may not be the most intuitive way to control your Mac, but often it’s the fastest—especially when it comes to permissions.
CSS tricks for custom bullets
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) give Web developers precise control over a page’s typography and layout. One secret weapon of CSS-based designs is the background property, which adds images and color to the background of any element on a Web page.