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25 Comments
- idesign562, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21ACTUALLY
that page belongs to a guy who works at Apple, he is one of the main kats there. He's been with the company for a while and i believe he helped make Automator.
so the site actually helps a lot becuase, well it does.
AND
it was on the MacBreak podcast that i watched a few hours ago. - chicken101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/automator/
Actually it isn't....just saying. - swein515, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Also check out http://www.automatorworld.com for Automator news, tips, and a library of workflows and actions submitted by users (yes, this is my site, shameless plug).
- JohnnySoftware, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Well,the lack of Automator tasks could just as easily be seen as a limitation of the applications themselves, not something wrong with Automator. It is not an intrinsic flaw of Automator. The thing is darned easy to use, practical, and even fun.
I created several useful scripts I use every now and then in just a few minutes each:
Send File As Attachment (Finder, Mail)
Set Desktop Picture to Image (Finder)
...and one to play an iTunes playlist of my favorite "morning" songs that I invoke via an iCalendar alarm
Automator makes it really simple to create new actions using AppleScript, and it only takes a few lines of code to do it - as this recent article shows:
http://www.macworld.com/2006/04/secrets/junegeekfactor/index.php
How hard can it be to code something in between:
on run { input, parameters }
and....
return output
end
?
Tons of applications on the Mac are scriptable with AppleScript. If AppleScript was difficult to use, then there might be some sort of a problem. However, its code is pretty easy to write, extremely easy to read, and can even be auto generated in applications that support "recording" of user actions as scripts.
As for the "lack of automator tasks for other apps", the Mac comes with over 200 actions for 20 applications. That includes the huge number that come with bundled user applications as well as the tools on the Developer DVD that ships with every Macintosh.
I do not buy the assertion that Automator is "limited" by a dearth of pre-written actions for it. - xboxing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@idesign562
I watched that episode too. Really great tips in there even if you've been using Automator for a while, you may learn something. And the site is a great resource. - danglerman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2God, why do people digg stuff right when it comes out on Macbreak. Why don't people submit it earlier if they're so smart.
- sych0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3can it really be a ripoff of an apple page if it was put up by the guy who helped write automator?
After watching the macbreak ep, i really want a mac :( (or at least a windows equivalent of automator) - stupidclese, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Using Automator is pretty self explanatory. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but all you have to do is mess with it for maybe 10 minutes and you'll have it figured out.
- idesign562, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4i'm with you buddy, i was like.... "oh snaps! you can do that?"
- TheRealStyro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hmm. I'll have to look further into Automator. If it can handle starting ffmpegx, run installation process, load a file from a partial name match, load the preset for that file, start the encoding process and finally repeat with another file as soon as current convert is complete then maybe it can help me imitate a 'batch' convert (something ffmpegx needs).
Somehow, though, I think I am asking far too much from Automator. - SoBayJake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ chicken101,
It is a copy of Apple's support site for Automator. Compare the main link & http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/automator/tutorial1.html
Look familiar? The "Tour Automator" on the linked page and "Talk to "Otto"" on the Apple page are all the same. - yearginsm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Somebody downloaded the latest MacBreak didn't you?
Aside from that, I really like the site. It is run by Sal Soghoian, and you should check out the video podcast for a more visual demonstration of Automator's basic features.
http://macbreak.com/ - Trjn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3That's not arrogant, that's pretty much what I found out when I first got it.
Of course, those ten minutes were about the only ten minutes I spent with it, I just don't have a need to use it. - Makyo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1(1) The site is sponsored by Apple. In fact, the feedback mechanism is on apple.com.
(2) Some people might not even realize what Automator is or does.
Some people might need help getting started with automator.
Some people might need ideas on what automator can do for them.
Some people might just like to confirm they know what they are doing and how the software is/should be behaving.
Doesn't mean that any of them are stupid or dense. Just means they need information, which is what the website is providing.
Besides Automator isn't highly used, so Apple probably thinks of the site as advertising. That's probably why Sal did MacBreak, too. - jtxx000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmm... haven't heard about automator before but I must say it looks like a brilliant idea. The power of the terminal for automating simple tasks in a simple drag and drop gui.
- KISSOLOGY, on 02/16/2009, -0/+1Did you say kats?
- wpholmes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Automator is really easy to use, but it is still very limited, not by fault of the application, but because of the lack of automator tasks for other apps.
- swein515, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Proxi is FANTASTIC, I love it--but it works very well in harmony with Automator, they are geared to different needs (Automator for file-processing, Proxi for "macro" type application interaction).
- TimmyGUNZ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The only time I ever used Automator was to create a script for Safari to download a ton of mp3 files on a web page at once. Basically, doing the same thing that FireFox's "Download Them All" extension does.
Other than that, I really have no use for Automator as there are no repetitive tasks I do on a frequent basis that makes using it practical. - boredzo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/
- wastern, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3that isn't the support page chicken101, thats the product description page
- forbin2k, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Or just check out Proxi
http://proxi.griffintechnology.com/
Easier to use and more powerful than automator b/c you can automate the triggers (conditions) for the task as well as the tasks themselves - Harlequn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I got more use out of Hypercard. I never use automator
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0If you need a tutorial to learn to use Automator, you're a retard.
- gblaz, on 10/12/2007, -29/+1This page is a blatant rip off from Apple's automator technical support pages.
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