[OS X TeX] Damn Applescript!

[Maarten Sneep]

On 30 Sep 2005, at 10:57, Jérôme Laurens wrote:

> This is not applescript, this is how applescript support is  
> implemented in texshop.
> Don't blame Applescript.

Well, I usually do, and I'm not alone. Apparently Apple has problems  
keeping things straight as well:
     http://daringfireball.net/2005/09/englishlikeness_monster

> A normal flow would be for end users to just suggest a "natural  
> syntax" to developpers, and then developpers would make the effort  
> to render this syntax available.

Agreed with that, at least in an ideal world.

> for example
>
> select the first word of the third paragraph
> delete the selection
>
> seems natural for a non english speaking person.

What seems natural to one doesn't seem natural to another. Call me a  
propellorhead if you want, but I have much more luck "guessing" the  
syntax for Python than for AppleScript, in part because it is much  
more consistent. Luckily there is AppScript, and from then on you can  
mostly replace AppleScript with Python.

AFAICS the main promise of AppleScript was the recordability  
functionality, but right now that only seems to work in BBEdit.

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