I was wondering if anyone knew how AppleScript will look like in Office
2007. It was recordable in Office X, and then they changed it to be
more Visual Basic-like in Office 2004. How will it look in Office
2007?
1. Office 2007 is a version for Windows, so there won't be any AppleScript
at all.
2. Although Excel AppleScript pre-2004 was reasonably OK, Word's AppleScript
was mostly non-functional and crashed Word, and PPT AppleScript did not
exist. AppleScript for all 3 apps was completely rewritten in 2004 to fully
automate the entire object model. As a bonus, even Excel became much more
scriptable (about double the amount can be done now) and the other apps
transformed. It was NOT done in order to "make it more Visual Basic like".
It just so happens that all the features were already automated in a deep
layer called "OLE Automation" (that VBA already accessed). Providing the
same hooks to AppleScript is what enabled AppleScript to work much better,
more completely, less buggy, and faster than trying to force those
structures into more usual AppleScript language. The downside is that the
syntax is more verbose and somewhat contorted - not as English-like as we'd
like. But it's true AppleScript, and you can learn it.
3. It's here to stay. It's not going to change again. New commands and
classes will be added if new features are added in Excel and the other apps.
Get the Excel AppleScript Reference to help you (some 500 pages), available
free at the MacTopia website
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/ (follow links to
Resources/Developer/AppleScript).
--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <
http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <
http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>
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PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
