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30 Most Recent RSS FeedTrackSift is a Mac Gem
I think I'll take the day off! Macworld reviews TrackSift as a Mac Gem and awards it four mice. Thanks!
AppleScript Save Changes in Mountain Lion
I've been meaning to post this for the record. Shane Stanley has written up How Mountain Lion Changes the Rules for AppleScript at TidBITS. He explains how scripts and AppleScript applications can be saved in an uncompiled state. If you distribute or system manage AppleScripts and develop on Mountain Lion you really should be aware of these changes.
Dupin 2.5.1 Posted
The latest version of Dupin, the iTunes duplicates manager, fixes a couple of bugs that cropped up in v2.5 as a result of some minor inconsistencies between Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion operating systems. New in version 2.5.1:
- Improves compatibility with OS X 10.8
- Fixes UI glitch in Re-Playlist window
- Fixes errant track analysis in Re-Playlist under Snow Leopard
- Fixes issue which could cause crash during Consolidate History under 10.8
- Fixes issue whereby ratings may not be displayed correctly after Consolidate History
This version of Dupin is a free update if your current Dupin registration was purchased after June 2011. If your registration was purchased before July 2011 then you can upgrade your registration for $7.
More information is available on the Dupin product page.
Gatekeeper Settings, Redux
As I mentioned previously, some scripts from this site when downloaded to OS X 10.8 may not pass Gatekeeper Security when set to the "Mac App Store or Developer ID" setting (the default Gatekeeper setting). To over-ride Gatekeeper settings, Control-click/Right-click the script in the Finder and choose Open from the contextual menu, then allow the script to be opened.
However, for a small number of scripts, even this may not work. You may see an OSStatus error message and the script will still be unable to run.
It appears to occur with a few .app scripts, but not all.
I'll try to catch these scripts (and if you run into one, let me know) and update them. In the meantime, the fix is to temporarily lower your Gatekeeper Security settings to allow apps from anywhere to launch. Once the script is launched, you can restore your Gatekeeper settings.
PITA, I know.
Web Sharing and Mountain Lion
I hadn't gotten around to noticing myself so I just learned from this hint at Mac OS X Hints that Web Sharing is no longer available in Mountain Lion. Web Sharing enables the use of the Apache web server built in to the OS. If you need to get Web Sharing back on Mountain Lion the above mentioned hint contains some links on how to do so.
Unfortunately, the script Re-Add Selected Tracks as Podcast requires Web Sharing be activated, since it uses the local server to re-import files as faux RSS enclosures. So if you want to continue using it on 10.8 you'll have to restore Web Sharing.
Update: Topher Kessler has a very good Web Sharing restoration tutorial at CNET.
Downloading Doug's AppleScripts In the Era of Gatekeeper
As you may know, OS X 10.8 introduces a new security feature called Gatekeeper which can conditionally disallow software downloaded from the internet from being launched on your machine. You can access the Gatekeeper settings in the Security pane of System Preferences.
Gatekeeper offers three "trusted source" security settings for launching downloaded apps:
- Only launch apps from the Mac App Store
- Only launch apps from the Mac App Store or digitally signed with an authorized Apple Developer ID
- Launch anything downloaded from anywhere
The default Gatekeeper setting is Number 2. My guess is that the sort of people who visit this site will have lowered that to Number 3, "Allow from Anywhere".
[UPDATE: As of macOS 10.12, the third option is no longer available.]
Gatekeeper doesn't take notice of many of the types of AppleScripts available from this site so downloading and launching those scripts from here won't trigger Gatekeeper no matter what the security setting. AppleSctipt applications, which constitute the majority of recent applets and droplets, have been/will be codesigned with an Apple Developer ID.
However, it is still remotely possible that a handful of older scripts from this site may be quarantined by Gatekeeper and won't be permitted to launch after you download them. (This does not affect scripts that you have already downloaded and have launched at least once.)
What to do: Control-Click/Right-Click on the script in the Finder and choose "Open" which will present an option to override any Gatekeeper settings. Alternatively, you could lower your Gatekeeper security setting temporarily while you launch the script and then restore the setting afterwards.
Once you've successfully launched the script the first time, by whatever means, it will be ignored by Gatekeeper thereafter.
Update: additional new information posted here.
Mountain Lion
It feels like I just got everything running OK under Lion and Apple updates the OS again.
Luckily, I've had several months of preparation and testing with the 10.8 Developer Previews. For the most part, there haven't been that many significant changes that affect how the AppleScripts for iTunes from this site operate on Mountain Lion. Of course, I haven't been able to test every script. But I've done enough testing to know where some minor problems may crop up and this seems limited to a few Cocoa-AppleScript applets and droplets—mostly due to the way I originally coded them and not necessarily because OS X 10.8 is that much different from 10.7. All Cocoa-AppleScripts will be updated for Mountain Lion and signed with a Developer ID (more on Gatekeeper security in a later post). Unfortunately, today of all days, my production Mac's hard drive failed—just when I got everything running OK under Lion. So there will be a day or so delay before I can post all updated scripts.
In any case: if you encounter a problem with a script that worked well before but doesn't work well now in Mountain Lion then 1) check to see if it's been recently updated or 2) let me know about it.
Daypart v2.2 Now Available
On the day it gets written up as a Macworld Mac Gem, Daypart gets an update.
Daypart is a simple, full-featured Mac application that allows you to schedule iTunes playlists when to play, giving you an easy way to program varied musical content throughout the week in your home or workplace.
New in v2.2:
- Compatible with OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion)
- Fixes serious issue whereby saving a schedule would hang
- Minor stability fixes and improvements
Daypart v2.2 is a free update for registered users.
Dupin v2.5 Released
Dupin v2.5 is now available. You can download it from the Dupin page or, if you have an earlier version, click “Check for Update…” in your Dupin’s Application menu.
Dupin is your iTunes duplicates manager.
New in version 2.5:
- Compatible with OS X 10.8, Mountain Lion (previous versions will not run on 10.8)
- Adds Purge Dry Run feature
- Adds ability to move files to user-chosen location instead of Trash
- Improves Library Profile feature
- Consolidates file Purge options
- Fixes waiting-for-update issue
- Other minor fixes and enhancements
Dupin is $15. This version of Dupin is a free update if your current Dupin registration was purchased after June 2011. If your registration was purchased before July 2011 then you can upgrade your registration for $7.
NEW: Convert and Replace
It hadn't ever occurred to me that the term "convert", as it applies to converting an audio file from one type to another and which is the AppleScript command for doing so, could be construed to mean "replace". Though that's probably why Apple has unambiguously named the menu item in the iTunes Advanced menu used to "convert" a track selection as "Create MP3 Version" (or whatever the current import setting is). It's pretty obvious you get an additional new track and not a transformed replacement.
"Convert" in its "replace" sense, however, is what a number of Correspondents have wanted to do: downsize some ALAC tracks to AAC or MP3, for example, and have the converted versions replace the occurrences of the originals in any playlists.
Convert and Replace will convert a batch of selected tracks—or the tracks in a selected playlist—using an encoder chosen on-the-fly (the encoder's current Preferences-set options will be applied) and replace the originals throughout your entire library with the converted versions. Additionally, you can opt to Trash/delete or keep the original files and tracks. (If the tracks are kept they remain in the "Music" library but will have been replaced in all other playlists.)
Possible deal-breaker: newly converted tracks will have a Date Added of "now". There is no getting around this since Date Added is a read-only property assigned by iTunes when a new track is added to its library.
For OS X 10.6 or better.
