What are Automated Tasks?
Automated Tasks are AppleScript scripts that perform tasks in the Finder. To run a script (and perform its task), you can either choose the script from the Apple menu or activate the script in the Automated Tasks folder. The Automated Tasks folder is located in the AppleScript folder (inside the Apple Extras folder) on your hard disk.
How to Run the Scripts
The list below describes the task each script performs. It also tells you how to run the script from the Apple menu and from the Automated Tasks folder.
Add Alias to Apple Menu creates an alias for an item and puts the alias in the Apple Menu Items folder. (For more information on aliases, see the manual that came with your computer.)
* To use the script from the Apple menu: Select the item for which to
create an alias. Then open the Apple menu and choose Automated Tasks and
Add Alias to Apple Menu.
* To use the script from the Automated Tasks folder: Open the Automated
Tasks folder and drag the item's icon onto the script's icon.
Find Original from Alias shows the original items of one or more aliases selected in the Finder.
* To use the script from the Apple menu: Select the alias (or aliases).
Then open the Apple menu and choose Automated Tasks and Find Original
from Alias.
* To use the script from the Automated Tasks folder: Open the Automated
Tasks folder and drag the alias onto the script's icon.
Share a Folder checks to see if there is a folder named Drop Folder at the top level of the startup disk. If there is no Drop Folder, the script creates one. If File Sharing is off, it turns File Sharing on. It then sets full guest access privileges for the Drop Folder.
* To use the script from the Apple menu: Open the Apple menu and choose
Automated Tasks and Share a Folder.
* To use the script from the Automated Tasks folder: Open the Automated
Tasks folder and drag the folder you want to share onto the script's
icon.
Start File Sharing turns file sharing on.
* To use the script from the Apple menu: Open the Apple menu and choose
Automated Tasks and Start File Sharing.
* To use the script from the Automated Tasks folder: Open the Automated
Tasks folder and double-click the script's icon.
Stop File Sharing turns file sharing off.
* To use the script from the Apple menu: Open the Apple menu and choose
Automated Tasks and Stop File Sharing.
* To use the script from the Automated Tasks folder: Open the Automated
Tasks folder and double-click the script's icon.
Turn Sound On sets the volume in the Sound control panel to the level 5.
* To use the script from the Apple menu: Open the Apple menu and choose
Automated Tasks and Turn Sound On.
* To use the script from the Automated Tasks folder: Open the Automated
Tasks folder and double-click the script's icon.
Turn Sound Off sets the volume in the Sound control panel to off (the menu bar will blink instead).
* To use the script from the Apple menu: Open the Apple menu and choose
Automated Tasks and Turn Sound Off.
* To use the script from the Automated Tasks folder: Open the Automated
Tasks folder and double-click the script's icon.
Running Automated Tasks at Startup and Shutdown
If you want a script to run whenever you start up your computer, drag the script's icon into the Startup Items folder (inside the System Folder).
If you want a script to run when you shut down your computer, drag the script's icon into the Shutdown Items folder (inside the System Folder). To run the script at shutdown, make sure you choose Restart or Shut Down from the Special menu (not from the Apple menu).
More Automated Tasks
See the More Automated Tasks folder for other scripts that perform Finder tasks. The More Automated Tasks folder is located in the AppleScript folder (inside the Apple Extras folder) on your hard disk.
The list below describes the task each script performs. It also tells you how to run the script in the More Automated Tasks folder.
Alert When Folder Changes tells you when an item is added to a folder. This script is useful when you are sharing a folder on a network. To use the script, you must first specify a single folder that you wish to watch. To specify the folder, drag the folder on top of the script (or double-click the script and select a folder in the dialog box). The script runs in the background while you work on other tasks. If any new items are added to the folder, the script identifies the new items in the folder. You can also modify the script to perform some other action when the folder changes.
Change Monitor to 256 changes the setting in the Monitors control panel to 256 colors or grays (bit depth of 8). If the monitor does not support 256 colors or grays, you can set the monitor to the maximum supported depth. This change is temporary. The next time you start up your computer the Monitors control panel setting will revert to the earlier setting.
Change Monitor to B&W changes the setting in the Monitors control panel to black and white (2 colors or grays). This change is temporary. The next time you start up your computer the Monitors control panel setting will revert to the earlier setting.
Hide/Show Folder Sizes turns the Calculate folders sizes checkbox in the Views control panel on and off.
Synchronize Folders compares the contents of two folders and synchronizes the contents. For example, if there is a file called "Document 1" in folder A and a file called "Document 2" in folder B, the script copies "Document 1" to folder B and "Document 2" to folder A so that both folders contain both files. If the files in both folders have the same name, the file with the later modification date is copied to the other folder.
Running Automated Tasks at Startup and Shutdown
If you want a script to run whenever you start up your computer, drag the script's icon into the Startup Items folder (inside the System Folder).
If you want a script to run when you shut down your computer, drag the script's icon into the Shutdown Items folder (inside the System Folder). To run the script at shutdown, make sure you choose Restart or Shut Down from the Special menu (not from the Apple menu).
Article Change History:
14 Feb 1995 - Reviewed for technical accuracy.
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