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JavaScript for Automation Cookbook

JavaScript for Automation is a new feature in OS X Yosemite. It lets you control applications and the operating system using JavaScript language.

Table of Contents

• Foreword
  • Contributions Welcome
• Conventions Used in This Cookbook
  • AppleScript Equivalent
  • Code Examples
  • Coding Style
• Using JavaScript for Automation
  • The Easiest Way
  • Running the REPL (read-eval-print-loop)
  • Creating a Shebang Script
  • Creating a Mac OS X Service
  • Invoking JXA from Shell Scripts
• ES6 Features in JXA
  • splats
  • Array and Object Destructuring
• Important: Getting the Application Instance
  • Checking that an application is running before using Application()
• User Interactions
  • alert
  • prompt
  • confirm
  • Choose from list
  • Displaying Notifications
• User Interaction with Files and Folders
  • Path Objects
  • Open File Dialog
  • Save File Dialog
  • Choose Folder
• Using Objective C (ObjC) with JXA
  • ObjC bridge - The Fundamentals
• Shell and CLI Interactions
  • Running Shell Scripts
  • Arguments
  • Accessing the environment
  • Setting Exit Code
• Importing Scripts from Other Files
  • JXA Libraries
  • CommonJS + Browserify
  • Executing an Arbitrary JavaScript File
• Application-Specific Recipes
  • iTunes
    • Play, Pause and Stop
    • Getting the Player Position
    • Getting the Current Track: An Example of Specifier vs Property Access
    • Sync the plugged in device (iPhone/iPod/iPad)
  • Keynote
  • Messages
    • Sign in and out of accounts
  • System Events
    • Sending Keystrokes
    • Start the Screen Saver
    • Toggle Menu Bar Visibility
    • Network: Connecting to a VPN or Other Network Service
    • Menu items
    • Clicking menu items
  • Safari & Chrome
    • Running Arbitrary JavaScript
• Examples
  • Finder
  • iPhoto
  • Keynote
  • Miscellaneous
  • More Examples
• Related Resources

Related Resources

• Getting Started with JavaScript for Automation on Yosemite by Alex Guyot — basic guide to automating OS X in two ways: calling methods from AppleScript dictionary, UI automations.
• Building OS X Apps with JavaScript by Tyler Gaw — this tutorial guides you to create a Mac OS X application using the Objective-C bridge.
• JXA Resources by JMichaelTX — A fairly comprehensive list of JXA resources.

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