applescript

node-applescript

A high-level way to execute AppleScript code through NodeJS, and retrieve the result as a native JavaScript object. Underneath the hood, this module is just a simple wrapper around the OS X osascript command.

Why?

AppleScripts are the only way to communicate and interact with certain external OS X processes, for example iTunes.

Easy Install

$ npm install applescript

Requirements

• Mac (or Hackintosh) running OS X (tested with Snow Leopard)
• NodeJS (v0.2.0 or newer)

Usage

The node-applescript module provides execString and execFile functions to easily execute AppleScript commands and buffer the output into a calback.

var applescript = require('applescript');
 
// Very basic AppleScript command. Returns the song name of each
// currently selected track in iTunes as an 'Array' of 'String's.
var script = 'tell application "iTunes" to get name of selection';
 
applescript.execString(script, function(err, rtn) {
  if (err) {
    // Something went wrong!
  }
  if (Array.isArray(rtn)) {
    rtn.forEach(function(songName) {
      console.log(songName);
    });
  }
});

execFile works the exact same way, except you pass the path of the AppleScript (*.applescript) file as the first argument instead of the command itself, and you may pass an optional Array of String arguments to send to the applescript file.

Licence

The node-applescript module is licensed under the MIT license, of course!