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How to get started with Automator.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T h e   R o a d   L e s s   T r a v e l e d
Apple's 'Tiger' version of OS X can automate nearly any task, large or small


Nov. 30, 2005


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard

   Apple jumped far ahead of Microsoft with the introduction of OS X 10.4, called "Tiger." In two features alone, Automator and Spotlight, OS X 10.4 ranks as the most powerful operating system for any personal computer.
   Automator is just what the name implies. It's a scripting system that gives you an easy way to automate hundreds of program tasks. They can be simple things such as automatically launching Mail and creating a new message, or complex ones such as gathering new photos from your digital camera, converting them into TIFF files and importing them into iPhoto.
   Spotlight is Tiger's amazing search function. Unlike the dreadful indexing system built into current versions of Windows, Spotlight takes no discernible toll on your computer's normal operations and can locate items (whether files, e-mail, pictures or music) so quickly they're often located before you have finished typing your search term.
   This week I'll show you how to get started with Automator, and next week I'll cover more advanced features and tell you how to augment Apple's program in a powerful way. In coming weeks I'll offer similar advice for Spotlight.
   Tiger-equipped OS X Macs come many "actions" for Automator already installed. You might have others, too, if you've installed any applications recently; some of them add their own Automator actions to your Mac's collection. They can be strung together into "workflows," which can interact with multiple applications.
   If the robot-themed icon for Automator isn't already in your dock, find it in your Applications folder and double click it. Then click the Automator icon in the dock and, while holding the button down, slide your mouse up to the "Keep in Dock" option and let go. (I'm describing it that way because I've seen quite a few Mac OS X users who are unsure of how to deal with dock icons.) That anchors the icon in the dock so you can run it again without going into the Applications folder.
   In the far left pane of the Automator window you'll see many programs listed. Actions for each selected program appear in the next pane. You can create your own actions, but my advice is to hold off until you've gotten used to the way the pre-programmed actions work. You'll also learn a lot simply by fine-tuning any of the canned actions.
   Click the Mail entry at the left and then double click "New Mail message" in the next pane. An Automator action form for Apple Mail will open, ready for you to make any changes. All fields, by default, are blank, but you can enter any changes you want, such as an address in the "To:" field, if you want to automate a message to someone you write to often, or you can even fill out the message itself if you want to automate a message you have to send out often from a business.
   When you're done, test your action by clicking the "Run" button at the top. To save your changes, click "Save" in the File menu. To create a stand-alone mini-program that will create a new Mail message when you run it, choose "Save As" and give your action a name and location.
   Experiment with other built-in actions and you'll probably find a half-dozen useful ones for the way you work and play with your Mac. There's a lot more in Automator, and we'll take a look at some of the other features next week.