When I shared an AppleScript last week which created randomized signatures using TextExpander, I promised to revisit it when the iheartquotes.com API started working again. It's working right now, but it seems to go up and down; check this link before you try the script and make sure you get a quote, not an error message.

As before, when used with a TextExpander snippet set to the AppleScript type, this script will provide a random quote, this time pulling it from the Internet rather than our own list. The script is essentially the same, so I'm only going to explain the part which changed; visit the previous article for a rundown on the rest:

set _date to do shell script ¬
 "date +'Sent on %A, %b %d at %l:%M %p'|tr -s ' '"

 set _quote to ""

 try

 set _quote to do shell script "curl -s \\
 'http://www.iheartquotes.com/api/v1/random?source=macintosh&max_lines=4'"

 set {astid, AppleScript's text item delimiters} ¬
 to {AppleScript's text item delimiters, return}
 set _quote to paragraphs 1 through -3 of _quote as string
 set AppleScript's text item delimiters to astid

 end try

 set _out to "
 -Brett

 " & _date & "
 ________________________________
 Brett Terpstra | myemailaddress@mywebsite.com
 The Unofficial Apple Weblog | http://www.tuaw.com

 " & _quote

 return _out

The curl call

Here's the part which makes this more interesting than it was before:

set _quote to do shell script "curl -s \\
 'http://www.iheartquotes.com/api/v1/random?source=macintosh&max_lines=4'"

First off, that really should be all one line, but is split here for formatting purposes. You can remove the double backslash (\\) and merge the lines together if you like. What this does is use AppleScript's ability to run shell scripts (Unix commands) to make a curl call to retrieve a response from the iheartquotes API. Note the "try" statement surrounding that section; it will just return our regular signature without the quote if anything goes wrong. If it gets a response, it stores it in a variable (_quote) and then trims off the last line, like this:

set {astid, AppleScript's text item delimiters} ¬
 to {AppleScript's text item delimiters, return}
 set _quote to paragraphs 1 through -3 of _quote as string
 set AppleScript's text item delimiters to astid

The first two lines (actually one line) are shorthand for setting "AppleScript's text item delimiters" -- the character that AppleScript uses to separate text items in a block of text -- to the return character and store the current text item delimiter in a variable so we can restore it with the last line. Using the paragraphs command, which automatically uses the return key to separate paragraphs, we turn the quote into a list of paragraphs, starting with the first and ending with the third from last. This is because the last two "paragraphs" are always an empty line and a permalink (even if you use the API's parameters to turn off the permalink). The last part of that line, "as string", is where the text item delimiters come into play, putting the list items back together with a return after each one, reconstructing the original formatting.

Note: You could do the same thing by adding |sed -n '$!p' to the end of the do shell script line, right before the last double quote. I suppose you might as well, as long as you're dipping out to the shell anyway ...

From there it's the same as before, just building a final output string from the pieces we've created. This method provides a much wider variety of randomized signatures than constructing your own list by making use of a small section of the wide array of data on the interwebs. The use of curl in an AppleScript can open a lot of possibilities, such as posting to Twitter in various ways. or shortening urls on the fly. Have fun.

TextExpander, a $29.95US utility which inserts snippets of text or images when you type a preset string of characters, has long been a TUAW favorite. I only recently learned that it can run AppleScripts within a snippet, which opened up a world of fun for me. Here's a quick script demonstrating how AppleScript can be used to randomize quotes within your email signature.

Create a new TextExpander snippet and set the content type to "AppleScript." Copy and paste the code that follows into the snippet content box. I'll run through what it does in at the end.

Read on for the script!

Continue reading to learn how to integrate shell scripts into AppleScripts.

MacResearch has posted a nice two part tutorial on using Platypus, a neat utility that allows you to "create native, flawlessly integrated Mac OS X applications from interpreted scripts." This include shell scripts, Perl, Ruby, Python, etc. With Platypus you can turn command-line only tools into full fledged, free-standing Mac applications that support drag and drop and even basic graphical feedback. Obviously this isn't going to make for a full GUI application, but it will allow you easily to create self-contained OS X applications that you can double-click to run. Especially for those in the science fields, and even for beginning (Ruby) script programmers like myself, Platypus makes it possible to get basic (and even not so basic) Mac app up and running very quickly.

Platypus is a free download from Sveinbjorn Thordarson, and donations are requested.

[Via MacResearch]

Update: fixed headline

Today is apparently iPhoto export plugin day as in addition to the Facebook iPhoto plugin and updated FlickrExport plugin mentioned earlier, John Gruber at Daring Fireball brings our attention to ScriptExport from Nathaniel Gray. ScriptExport "allows you to 'export' your iPhoto pictures and movies by processing them with shell script." A script can can be done either at the start of the export, on a per item basis, or at the end of the process. He has some example scripts in the documentation. This is probably only for the command line ninjas among us (i.e. not me), but it looks like it could be very useful if you're the type that would rather type mkdir than hit Cmd + Shift + N.

ScriptExport is a free download.

[Via Daring Fireball]