Applescript for the Internet (Visual QuickStart Guide) [Paperback]

Ethan Wilde (Author)

Book Description

Series: Visual QuickStart Guide | Publication Date: December 29, 1998

For any course in Digital Graphics, Web Design, Web Scripting and Development, Multimedia, Page Layout, Office Tools, and Operating Systems. These task-based, visual reference guides feature step-by-step instructions and plenty of screen shots to guide students and teachers through the most important tasks. Visual QuickStart Guides are the ideal way to get students up and running quickly, and are used for intermediate and advanced students as a quick reference.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

AppleScript is actually the second most used CGI scripting language for Internet application after Perl. The Macintosh has always been one of the most reliable and secure machines for web servers, and it has been making an amazing recovery as a popular computer for fast access to the Internet with its iMac series. AppleScript is much more useful on the Mac than Perl; it not only allows the user to manage the CGI but creates seamless access to all data and software on a Mac such as FileMaker Pro as a database server. There are not many books on the market about AppleScript. This book is well written and will circulate.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Mac power users have long turned to AppleScript to automate repetitive tasks in apps such as QuarkXPress and FileMaker. But in the past few years, AppleScript has evolved beyond its desktop origins into the second most popular language for CGI development (after Perl). This new focus on the Internet opens a world of possibilities--if you know how to make the most of the latest version of AppleScript. Whatever your prior scripting experience, AppleScript for the Internet: Visual QuickStart Guide will have you adding dynamic features to your Web site and other Internet apps in no time. The book's clear, step-by-step instructions are augmented with sample scripts that you can adapt to your own needs. Want to learn how to use AppleScript to create files and images for your Web site? To manage your mailing list for you? To build a simple custom Web browser? You'll find all this and more in AppleScript for the Internet: Visual QuickStart Guide.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1st edition (December 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201353598
• ISBN-13: 978-0201353594
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,948,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great new book covers basics, real-world use & OS 8.5!, January 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Applescript for the Internet (Visual QuickStart Guide) (Paperback)

This is the third AppleScript book I've bought but the first that told me what I needed to know (and made sense)!

The book contains a short overivew, starts you with basic basics, goes through most of the language with simple sentences and clear examples, and then ...

The fun part! You learn more of AppleScript by applying it to different programs to do useful things. Script Sherlock! Script your web browser, Eudora or Outlook, Fetch, FileMaker, Photoshop, write CGIs, make gif charts, and lots of other goodies.

This book should be read by anyone who wants to learn AppleScript and/or use it, as Cal Simone says in the preface, to empower your creative spirit!

(The other two books I liked less: AppleScript for Dummies--too many jokes and extraneous information make it hard to follow; AppleScript Applications--too oriented toward FaceSpan and away from general scripting.)

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something to displease anyone, but I liked it, July 6, 2000

By 

David Wintheiser - See all my reviews

This review is from: Applescript for the Internet (Visual QuickStart Guide) (Paperback)

Warning: Despite the title, this is not a book for an AppleScript beginner. In fact, there's something in the book that could turn off nearly any category of potential buyer.

-Non-programmers will be intimidated by the prominent placement of source code and might never pick up the book again.

-Novice scripters will be disappointed at the somewhat perfunctory introduction and won't get much of a sense of how tasks could be accomplished in different ways.

-Veteran programmers who've scripted in other languages will wonder why so much space is spent discussing the scripting of applications (some of which seem only peripherally associated with the Internet), with so little spent discussing the scripting of processes on Web servers.

-And veteran AppleScripters probably won't find much here they haven't though of already.

There is, however, one category of AppleScripter who will benefit tremendously from this book--the intermediate level scripter who has studied the Apple-provided tutorials and help documents, who has tinkered with some third-party scripting tools or even demos of development environments, who has probably even produced a simple script or two, and is asking the question, "Where do I go now?"

Perhaps the book would be better referred to as a 'kickstart' guide. There are dozens of scripts in this book, all very well notated. Some may be useful to you as written. Some may give you ideas for your first big AppleScript project. Some may simply introduce you to a third-party scripting addition that you hadn't known about before. And some you may find that months from now will suddenly inspire you in ways you couldn't have predicted.

As long as you're aware of the ways in which this book might not be useful to you, you're much more likely to appreciate the ways in which it can be useful.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great all around guide for beginners and experts!, January 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Applescript for the Internet (Visual QuickStart Guide) (Paperback)

AppleScript for the Internet is a great guide for both beginners and experts.

I have read several other books regarding AppleScript, and AppleScript for the Internet is by far the best AppleScript reference book I have read.

This book has over a hundred detailed examples and each line of code is fairly well detailed. Examples from moving a folder, creating mailing lists, all the way up to creating CGI's.

I only gave it four stars because I felt that the author could have spent some more time on the basics and commands of AppleScript.

But if you are looking for a book to jump start you AppleScript knowledge or just need some great AppleScript examples, then AppleScript for the Internet is a great book to start with.