InformIT: Mac OS X Unleashed > Command-Line Tools

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Command-Line Tools

AppleScript compilation and execution has been extended to the BSD shell through the use of the osacompile and osa s cript commands.

The osacompile utility accepts a text file containing AppleScript as input, and outputs a compiled script file using the syntax:

osacompile -o <output file> 
   <script file>

Although this is likely the form you'll use most, there are several additional command-line options that can fine-tune the compile process. Table 21.1 documents the additional options.

Table 21.1. Compile Options for `os` `a` `compile`

Option	Purpose
`-o`	Name the output file. The default output name is `a.scpt`.
`-e`	Save the compiled file as execute-only.
`-d`	Save the script in the data fork of the output file.
`-r` `<type:id>`	Save the output script as the named resource type and ID.
`-c` `<cre` `a` `tor>`	Set a creator code for the output script.
`-t` `<file type>`	Set a file type code for the output script.

The osascript utility can be invoked to run as script by typing

osascript <script filename>

If a filename is not set specified on the command line, osascript will attempt to run AppleScript from standard input. This is a great way to test scripts, or run a quick AppleScript command without needing to start the Script Editor.

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Command-Line Tools

Table 21.1. Compile Options for os a compile

Table 21.1. Compile Options for `os` `a` `compile`