Last updated: 99.05.24

Background

AppleWorks has a rich AppleScript dictionary. Unfortunately, much of that dictionary just doesn't work when accessed from a script. It seems to be that the AppleScript support in AppleWorks was started but not completed.

The syntax below is focussed around the AppleScript dictionary of AppleWorks, which you can see by dropping the AppleWorks application onto Script Editor. As we discover problems with each event, object or property, they are documented here. General holes in AppleWorks' AppleScript support appear on our holes page.

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Plural Form

The plural form of an object may always be referenced as "every <class>". But it may also be referred to by its plural form. This is usually just the singular form with an "s" added, but some words require special plural forms, such as axis -> axes, vertex -> vertices.

Elements

The elements of an object class are those other classes which can be contained by it. For example, a graphic object is an element of a drawing area

Containers

The containers of a object class are those other classes which can contain it. For example, a drawing area can contain a graphic object.

Properties

A property is an attribute of the class. AppleScript can get the value of a property and, unless that property is read only, set it to another value. The value of a particular property may be one of a variety of classes, such as integer, text, record, or a special data structure such as a bounding rectangle consisting of a list of four integers.

The properties of a class appear here in a table, showing property, class (of that property), OK, and description. The OK column shows whether that property actually works for that class. Ideally, all should work, but AppleWorks has a few bugs.

The following codes are used in OK column to indicate the type of error encountered when attempting use of that property.

Y - yes, this one works as expected.
R - read tested OK. Write not tested or not applicable.
RW - read and write (get and set) both specifically tested OK.
NAP - not a property of the specified class
CG - can't get
NE - no effect when property is set
WD - weird data structure returned when getting property.
WI - write (ie set value) allowed but ignored.
CS - can't set. Can get OK.

Events

The application has a suite of events, listed separately in the dictionary from the class list. However, each event only works with a subset of the classes. For instance, AppleScript can close a window, but not a word. So, each class listed here also lists the events which it supports. Some, which it should support but don't, are listed with the failure or the peculiar requirements.

Sub classes

Sub classes share the same support for properties and events as their parent class, while having more specific ones of their own. Sub classes exist in the same level as their parent in the hierarchy of elements and containers.

For example, an arc is a sub class of graphic object. So it supports the same properties of bounds and rotation and the same events of make and delete. But it also has its own additional properties such as start angle. A graphic object is contained by a drawing area, so is an arc.

Inheritance

A class inherits its support for properties and events from a single parent class.

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Plural Form

documents

Container

application

Elements

window by numeric index, by name, as a range of elements, satisfying a test
page by numeric index, as a range of elements, satisfying a test
header
footer
pattern by numeric index
texture by numeric index
gradient by numeric index

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
text body	text [r/o]	R	.
drawing area	drawing area [r/o]	R	.
painting	painting [r/o]	.	.
spreadsheet	spreadsheet [r/o]	R	.
database	database [r/o]	R	.
connection	connection	.	.
terminal	terminal	.	.
file transfer	file transfer	.	.
stylesheet	stylesheet [r/o]	.	.
preferences	document preferences	.	.
modified	boolean	RW	has the document been modified since the last save?
page setup	print record	RW	.
margins	rectangle	RW	.
name	international text [r/o]	R	.
index	integer [r/o]	R	.
document kind	DR/WP/SS/DB/PT/CM [r/o]	R	.
file	alias [r/o]	R	fails if document opened read only.
title	plain text	CG	.
author	plain text	CG	.
version	plain text	CG	.
keywords	plain text	CG	.
category	plain text	CG	.
description	plain text	CG	.

property	class	OK	description
selection	selection object	R	the current user selection or insertion point
merge file	alias	RW	the database file with which to merge
merge record	small integer	RW	the record index of the database record currently being merged
merge	boolean	RW	is merge field data currently being shown?
autohyphenate	boolean	RW	automatically hyphenate as you edit and type new text?
date format	numeric date/short abbreviated date/short date/long abbreviated date/long date	CG	format to use when displaying dates
fractional character widths	boolean	CG	use fractional character widths when drawing text?
smart quotes	boolean	CG	use smart quotes?
side handles	boolean	CG	use side handles (for a total of 8) when displaying object selection?
polygon autoclose	boolean	CG	automatically close polygons?
show invisibles	boolean	CG	show invisible characters in text?
color palette size	256 colors/ 81 colors	CG	type of palette to use to display color choices
autosmooth	boolean	CG	automatically smooth freehand?
gradient drawing	faster/better	CG	method to use for displaying gradients
shift constraint	integer	CG	the angle at which the shift key constrains the mouse
character delay	integer	CG	the number of 60ths of a second to delay per character when pasting text to a connection
line delay	integer	CG	the number of 60ths of a second to delay per line when pasting text to a connection
save screen	boolean	CG	save the screen to the scrollback before clearing?
capture type	port/screen	CG	location from which to capture text
scrollback limit	boolean	CG	limit the scrollback to a maximum size?
scrollback maximum	integer	CG	maximum size of the scrollback (units are specified by scrollback type)
scrollback type	lines/bytes/screens	CG	units for the maximum scrollback size
open option	open connection/wait for connection/do nothing	CG	action to perform when opening the communications document
transfer folder	alias	CG	the default folder for received files
name	international text [r/o]	R	the document’s name

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Plural Form

windows

Container

application, document

Elements

split by numeric index, as a range of elements, satisfying a test
pane by numeric index, as a range of elements, satisfying a test
'cBln' by numeric index

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
name	international text [r/o]	R	the window’s name
document	document [r/o]	R	the document associated with the window
bounds	bounding rectangle	RW	the boundary rectangle for the window
zoomed	boolean	RW	Is the window zoomed?
position	point	RW	upper left coordinates of the window
scale	real	RW	the viewing scale (zoom percentage)
ruler	ruler	NAP	the ruler for this window
tools	boolean	R	is the tool panel for this window visible? Error: write does opposite.
page view	boolean	CS	is the window in page view?
database view	browse view/find view/layout view/list view	RW	(for databases only) the view type for the database

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Elements

text as a range of elements
character by numeric index, as a range of elements
footnote by numeric index, as a range of elements
section by numeric index, as a range of elements
paragraph by numeric index, as a range of elements
word by numeric index, as a range of elements

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
font	text	Y	the name of the font of the first character
style	text style info	WI	the text style of the first character
user style	record	Y	the user style (and incremental attributes) defining the first character’s appearance
size	real	Y	the size in points of the first character
writing code	writing code [r/o]	NAP	the script system and language of the first character
uniform styles	text style info [r/o]	Y	the text styles which are uniform throughout the specified text
length	integer [r/o]	Y	length of the text
offset	integer [r/o]	Y	offset of the text from the beginning of the enclosing text object

Events

delete

freezes or crashes the computer often when a second delete is sent
if last test in document, text deletes but still shown in window.

Sub classes

character, footer, header, footnote, paragraph, section, word

Inheritance

item

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Plural Form

paragraphs

Container

text body

Elements

character by numeric index, as a range of elements
footnote by numeric index
tab stop by numeric index
text as a range of elements

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
index	integer [r/o]		the index of this paragraph in the text
level	integer	NAP	the outline level
left indent	ruler measurement info	NAP	the left indentation
right indent	ruler measurement info	NAP	the right indentation
first line indent	ruler measurement info	NAP	the initial indentation of the first line
line spacing	ruler measurement info	NAP	the space between the lines of a paragraph
space before	ruler measurement info	NAP	the space before a paragraph
space after	ruler measurement info	NAP	the space after a paragraph
label	none/ diamond label/ bullet label/ checkbox label/ Harvard label/ leader label/ legal label/ letter label/letter caps label/ numeric label/Roman label/ Roman caps label	NAP	the outlining label type associated with a paragraph
justification	left/ right/ center/ full	NAP	Justification of the text

Inheritance

text

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Plural Form

words

Container

paragraph
text body

Elements

character by numeric index, as a range of elements
text as a range of elements

Properties

.

property	class	OK	description
index	integer	NAP	the index of the word in the text

Inheritance

text

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Plural Form

characters

Elements

character by numeric index, as a range of elements
text as a range of elements

Properties

.

property	class	OK	description
color	RGB color	Y	the color
merge field	boolean [r/o]	Y	is this characters a merge field placeholder?
merge field name	string		the name of the database field to be merged at this point in the text
merge field data	string [r/o]		the contents of the database field to be merged at this point in the text for the current record; undefined if not merging
drawing area	drawing area [r/o]	NAP	the character’s drawing area (only for embedded graphics)

Note: font, size, writing code, style, uniform styles, user style are also in the dictionary, but not listed here since they are also properties of the parent class "text".

Inheritance

text

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Plural Form

headers

Container

document

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
orientation	left pages/ right pages/ all pages

Accessing text properties of a header will crash the computer.

Inheritance

text

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Plural Form

user styles

Elements

style attribute by numeric index

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
name	string	Y	the name of the user style
style type	basic style/ paragraph style/ outline style/ table style [r/o]	Y	the style type
base style	user style	Y	the user style this one is based on
incremental styles	list of style attribute	Y	attributes applied to an object in addition to the user style

name is incorrectly "Untitled xx" rather than the actual name of the style.

This fails:

<property> of user style of...

This works:

set myStyle to user style of...
<property> of myStyle

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Plural Form

databases

Elements

layout by name, by numeric index
field by name, by numeric index
record by numeric index, as a range of elements, satisfying a test
report by name, by numeric index
db search by name, by numeric index
db sort by name, by numeric index
request by numeric index, as a range of elements

Sub classes

style attribute

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
current record	integer	CS	is the record visible?

Inheritance

item

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Reference

record <index>

Plural Form

records

Elements

field by name, by numeric index

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
visible	boolean [r/o]	NAP	is the record visible?
index	integer [r/o]	NAP	the record number
id	small integer [r/o]	Y	the record id
creation date	date [r/o]	Y	the date/time the record was created
modification date	date [r/o]	Y	the date/time the record was last modified

This fails:

<property> of record 1

This works:

set myRecord to record 1
<property> of myRecord

Inheritance

item

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Reference

|<field name>| of myRecord

This fails:

field <fieldname> of myRecord

This works:

|<fieldname>| of myRecord

Can read but not write.

Plural Form

fields

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
name	string [r/o]		the name of the field
index	integer [r/o]		the index of the field

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Plural Form

graphic objects

Sub classes

rectangle, oval, arc, line, polygon, rounded rectangle, group, picture, spreadsheet frame, text frame, paint frame, chart legend, movie.

Containers

drawing area

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
bounds	bounding rectangle	Y	the smallest rectangle that contains the entire graphic object
fill color	RGB color	CG	the fill color
fill pattern	integer	CG	the fill pattern
fill gradient	integer	CG	the fill gradient
fill texture	integer	CG	the fill texture
pen color	RGB color	Y	the pen color
pen pattern	integer	CG	the pen pattern
pen width	real	Y	the pen width
rotation	integer	Y	the rotation of this object in degrees from horizontal
definition rectangle	bounding rectangle	CG	the rectangle used to define the object; this is usually the same as the bounds except when the object is rotated
text wrap	no wrap/ regular wrap/ irregular wrap	NE WD	the way in which text should wrap around an object
wrap gutter	ruler measurement info	WD	the amount of space to allow between an object and the text wrapping around it
lock	read only/read write	CG	indicates whether or not the object may be moved, deleted, or modified
user style	record	NAP	the user style (and incremental attributes) defining the object’s appearance

Events

count: fails
delete
duplicate: fails
exists: returns true if exists but returns error if doesn't exist
make

at front with properties{bounds:{x1,y1,x2,y2}}
defaults to rectangle unless sub class (eg oval, line etc) used instead of "graphic object".
works for new line, oval.
Fails for new spreadsheet frame, text frame. Makes a rectangle
Must specify properties with at least one label and value, but only bounds will actually work.
Accepts at front, at end or at back, but still makes at front.

move

fails

select

Inheritance

item

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Plural Form

lines

Container

drawing area

Properties

.

property	class	OK	description
end point	point	RW	the ending point of the line
arrow style	no arrow/ arrow at start/ arrow at end/ arrow at both ends	Y	the arrow style
start point	point	RW	the starting point of the line

Inheritance

graphic object

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Plural Form

arcs

Container

drawing area

Properties

.

property	class	OK	description
arc angle	small integer	Y	Angle of the arc in degrees
start angle	small integer	Y	the angle that defines the start of the arc, in degrees

Inheritance

graphic object

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Plural Form

polygons

Container

drawing area

Elements

vertex - by numeric index. References to any property of a vertex fail.

Inheritance

graphic object

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Plural Form

text frames

Container

drawing area

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
text body	text [r/o]	Y	the object’s text

Inheritance

graphic object

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Plural Form

movies

Container

drawing area

Properties

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property	class	OK	description
original bounds	bounding rectangle	CG	the rectangle that bounds the object at normal size
loop	none/ forward/ back and forth	CG	how the movie should loop while playing
playing	boolean [r/o]	CG	is the movie currently playing?
rate	real	CG	the rate at which the movie plays
direction	forward/ backward	CG	the direction the movie plays
duration	real [r/o]	CG	the duration of the movie (at a rate of 1.0)
current time	real	CG	the current time position within the movie
volume	real	CG	the sound volume of the movie when playing
modified	boolean	CG	has the movie been modified since the document was last saved?

Events

Inheritance

graphic object

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There appears to be a bug when using "cell". When asked for cell 1, there is no problem. But a request for cell 2 will return cells 2 and 3. A request for cell 3 will return cells 3, 4 and 5. To work around this bug, just prefix these references with "cell 1 in", such as "cell 1 in cell 3 in...". Or reference cells by alpha numeric grid, eg cell "A1".

Cannot set the formula of a cell, but can set the cell itself to be the formula (ie set cell "A3" to "=A1+A2"). If the formula contains a reference to a cell past the Z column, AppleWorks will crash. eg "=SUM(AA45..AA55)"

Plural Form

cells

Container

spreadsheet

Elements

cell by numeric index, as a range of elements
row by numeric index, as a range of elements
column by numeric index, as a range of elements

Properties

.

property	class	OK	description
formula	text	CS	the formula of the cell
format	general/ currency/ percent/ scientific notation/ fixed/ numeric date/ short abbreviated date/ short date/ long abbreviated date/ long date/ short time/ long time/ short military time/ long military time	Y	the cell format
lock	read only/ read write	Y	Indicates whether value or formula in the cell can be changed
name	plain text	Y	the name of the cell (e.g., "A1")
color	RGB color	Y	the cell’s text color
font	text	Y	the name of the font of the cell
size	real	Y	the size in points of the cell text
writing code	writing code [r/o]	Y	the script system and language of the cell text
style	text style info	Y	the text style of the cell
fill color	RGB color	Y	the fill color
fill pattern	integer	Y	the fill pattern
alignment	general/ left/ right/ center	Y	justification of the text
decimal places	integer	Y	digits of precision
commas	boolean	Y	display numbers with thousands separators?
parentheses	boolean	Y	display negative numbers in parentheses?
wrap	boolean	Y	wrap text within a cell?
left border	boolean	Y	draw a border on the left side of the cell?
top border	boolean	Y	draw a border on the top of the cell?
right border	boolean	Y	draw a border on the right side of the cell?
bottom border	boolean	Y	draw a border on the bottom of the cell?
outline border	boolean	NAP	draw a border framing the range of cells?
user style	record	NAP	the user style (and incremental attributes) defining the cell’s appearance

Events

Inheritance

item

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