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It's great that PyXA is able to load and run external AppleScript files, but it seems that one assumption for those scripts is that they do not accept parameters of their own.

So, are there any plans to support loading and running AppleScript files that do take their own parameters in on run argv handlers?

A few times in the past week, my code that invokes Shortcuts starts failing. Unclear what is triggering the issue, but once it occurs, the only way to resolve (that I've uncovered so far) is to reboot.

Example code

shortcuts_app = PyXA.Application("Shortcuts")
add_url = shortcuts_app.shortcuts().by_name("Add iTunes Store URL to Playlist")

results in

Exception has occurred: AttributeError
'SBApplication' object has no attribute 'shortcuts'

PyXA relies on many frameworks, but requiring all of PyObjC is overkill.

Hi there,
it sounds like a very specific problem and I also can't tell if it's not even due to the Keynote app itself.

When I run the sample code below, the keynote app dies about 20 seconds after I set properties of a new document.
With pure AppleScript I could not observe this problem.

Could this have something to do with PyXA or the PyObjC framework used in relation to the garbage collection algorhythm?

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

import PyXA
import time

keynote = PyXA.Application('Keynote')
keynote.activate()

newDocumentName = 'Untitled'
wrongDocument = keynote.new_document(newDocumentName)
# If a document was already open, not the newly created document is returned 
# here, but the previously existing document. Keynote seems to re-sort the 
# list with the creation of documents.

newDocument = keynote.documents()[0]
# setting the properties of the newly created document crashes keynote in 
# about 20 seconds...
newDocument.width = 2224
newDocument.height = 1668

time.sleep(20)

# by now, the keynote app should have crashed / died by accident.
# so the next statement should fail...
currentDocument = keynote.documents()[0]

pass

If I initialize a PyXA.AppleScript class with an AppleScript code string containing a list, the code is read in correctly as expected:

>>> import PyXA
>>> script = PyXA.AppleScript('set theList to {"foo", "bar"}')
>>> script.script
['set theList to {"foo", "bar"}']

However, if I have an AppleScript file with the same code, and read it in with PyXA.AppleScript.load, the curly braces get unexpectedly removed, causing the script to error out:

test.applescript

on run
  set theList to {"foo", "bar"}
end run

(Following on from the previous command prompts...)

>>> file_script = PyXA.AppleScript.load("test.scpt")
>>> file_script.script
['on run', '\tset theList to "foo", "bar"', 'end run', '']

Currently, PyXA uses particular type hints, match statements, and other features only available in Python 3.11. This simplifies the code in some areas, but it reduces the ability for people to use PyXA in general projects.

• Is this is worthwhile change?
• Can multiple versions be supported at a time?
• How far back should we support (As far back as PyObjC supports?)

Is there a reason pyobjc is pinned to 8.5.1? The current version is 9.0.1 which adds support for macOS 13 specific frameworks. I'm happy to test & submit a PR but wanted to first check to see if there's a reason for the specific version pin.

When following the example:
PyXA.Application("Notes").new_note("PyXA Notes", "Example text of new note.")

An exception is raised: AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'text'

Seems to be related to 03d9d2c#diff-19878d8e9796a90d6a6ceb11f8fa1c85383268842ea68ff71fc2ce5cc2be4779, which tries to reference a text attribute that does not exist in a string.

As I am learning to use PyXA, I am playing with the Music App to further my knowledge.

One of the things I am struggling with is identifying how to access certain data elements...for example, I would like to get a list of all Apple Music playlists that I have subscribed to.

I see this is provided by the subscription_playlists() method in XAMusicSource

What I can't seem to derive from the documentation is how to obtain a XAMusicSource object. It's mentioned under "See also" in the XAMusicApplication. What does "See also" mean? How do I get from app -> source -> playlist?

On a whim I tried this: PyXA.Music().subscription_playlists() which apparently diverted me into appscript (I had to install the package to continue). It did give me a list, but the objects looked like app('/System/Applications/Music.app').sources.ID(64).subscription_playlists.ID(182724) - they were not PyXA objects (I expected XAMusicSubscriptionPlaylist). I seem to have stepped out of the realm of PyXA, which I'm guessing is not correct.

My IDE is VSCode, and I'm trying to use both IntelliSense and the debugger to navigate the API and make sense of things. But those tools are definitely not uncovering everything I need to solve this puzzle. I feel like I'm missing some sort of programming pattern.

Is there any guidance you can provide for solving this particular use case, and/or just navigating the API in general? Thank you for any help or examples you can provide.

Under the contributing section of the README.md, the "Contributing Guidelines" link is broken and points to a 404: https://github.com/SKaplanOfficial/PyXA/blob/main/docs/about/contributing_guidelines.html

I'd submit a PR to fix it but not sure what the intended target is.

PyXA has been great...but how do I set text for let's say for text_fields? Please guide with few examples that would do tasks like enter text, clear text in a text field, pick a date from a calendar popup when clicked in calendar text field, and right-click on a field or menu

Similar to what was addressed in #8 , I am seeing more instances of XAMedia base objects being returned in the Music app, rather than their specialized XAMusic variants.

See example below. If I try to filter a XAMusicUserPlaylistList, the resulting objects are of the XAMediaUserPlaylist base class.

Example:

PyXA.Music().user_playlists()
<<class 'PyXA.apps.Music.XAMusicUserPlaylistList'>length: 1171>

PyXA.Music().user_playlists().first
<PyXA.apps.Music.XAMusicUserPlaylist object at 0x106c9e260>

PyXA.Music().user_playlists().by_name("MY PLAYLIST")
<PyXA.apps.MediaApplicationBase.XAMediaUserPlaylist object at 0x106c2ff70>

PyXA.Music().user_playlists().by_property("name", "MY PLAYLIST")
<PyXA.apps.MediaApplicationBase.XAMediaUserPlaylist object at 0x106c9fca0>

Hello,
Followed the installation guide in a fresh virtual env, but after

python -m pip install mac-pyxa

I receive that

AttributeError: module 'PyXA' has no attribute 'Application'

Hi @SKaplanOfficial

Thanks for sharing this code.

I have been using the jxa script and running it from Python and it was working fine.

I have tested PyXA code and I found some issues/challenges. When executing directly from VS Code, it is working fine, But when I create a Mac App using Pyinstaller and executing throws an error. The same thing is happening with jxa script as well. I am new to MacOS development and don't have much idea about what is missing.

Codesign:

dist/MyApp.app: valid on disk
dist/MyApp.app: satisfies its Designated Requirement

Error Message:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "myapp/app_observer.py", line 31, in get_window_title
  File "PyXA/XABase.py", line 1071, in __init__
  File "PyXA/XABase.py", line 1122, in __get_application
  File "importlib/__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1204, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1140, in _find_and_load_unlocked
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PyXA.apps.Chromium'

...

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PyXA.apps.Console'

...

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PyXA.apps.SystemEvents'
...

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PyXA.apps.Finder'

I have used the below code to get front_window and storing the result in a log file.

import PyXA
import re

def get_window_title(active_app):
    app = PyXA.Application(active_app)
    window_title_str = str(app.front_window)

    # Use regular expression to extract the window title
    pattern = r">(.+?)>\s*$"
    match = re.search(pattern, window_title_str)
    window_title = match.group(1).strip()
    return window_title

As the code is working fine while running from vscode, I guess it is something to do with Mac OS permission. Please help.

as it says on the tin; pyobjc, bs4 seem
pip install pyobjc + pip install bs4 fixed things.
Somewhat surprisingly, since by the looks of it, the pyobjc related deps are listed in requirements.txt, but bs4 isn't

Super cool lib!

1. Scripting Bridge is straight garbage. Defective by design: crippled, weak, incompetent, unsupported, dead. Should have opened Mac Automation to millions of enthusiastic new Python, Ruby, and ObjC coders; was first nail in its coffin instead. Worst. Foundation. Ever.

2. Appscript already exists, and has done so for the last 18 years. The Python3 version still works too. Just use that.

Python appscript and its descendents speak Apple events right. Furthermore, appscript’s the only AE bridge in the last 30 years that gets Apple events right. Every other AE bridge: gensuitemodule, Mac::Glue, JavaScriptOSA, aeve, appscript (pre-0.6.0), RubyOSA, Scriptarian, JXA, ScriptingBridge, and now, by extension, PyXA has done it fatally wrong. Apple event IPC is not Object-Oriented Programming, it is RPC plus simple, first-class relational queries. You can’t force that into an OO mold, it doesn’t fit. And when users try to use those broken bridges with real-world “AppleScriptable” apps, some trivial things work alright but everything beyond that just breaks. Which is why all of these bridges are long-since defunct: they were all even worse than using AppleScript. Except for appscript, which eventually got better after a total rethink+redesign+rewrite, plus another 3 years of shaking out a myriad compatibility bugs with the aforementioned real-world apps until it was the world’s best Apple event bridge bar none and was poised for inclusion in 10.5… until my own laziness and naivety about how the world works saw it clobbered by Apple’s in-house nonsense instead. But that’s a separate story.

Do a little due diligence, studying all the prior art before you jump in yourself and figuring out why they all failed, and you’ll save hours of your life from reinventing the same broken useless wheel that a dozen others already made and abandoned before you.

…

If you want to automate macOS apps using Python: pip3 install appscript. Read the documentation (which is crusty and not great, though still leagues above all of Apple’s), download the ASDictionary and ASTranslate support apps which can answer 99% of “How do I…?” questions for you (then curse me if you’re on an ARM Mac as I’ve still not bothered to codesign them), and you’re golden [1]. I no longer offer (free) support—I don’t even build its new .whl wheels now (another user has taken on that)—although it is possible to get on my good side if there is anything you really want to know (i.e. just punt a tenner to charity).

Else, Python3 appscript is quite straightforward, incredibly competent (99.9% compatibility with real-world apps), and easily the best Mac Automation technology that Apple’s Mac Automation team ever tossed down the toilet cos they couldn’t give a crap. BTW, there isn’t even a Mac Automation team at Apple any more: they got themselves disbanded in 2016 at the end of a series of failures. The entire AE/OSA/AppleScript stack has been shoved into legacy maintenance ever since, left quietly to die out by itself. Apple has now begun discarding AS features, starting with dropping the AppleScript-ObjC project template in Xcode 14. I think it fair to expect more to go over the coming years as Apple moves from Mac-only AppleScript to cross-platform Shortcuts. To paraphrase Sancho Panza: there’s not much point still tilting at windmills when the windmill itself awaits demolition.

HTH

--

[1] Or, just use py-applescript which is a capable wrapper around AppleScript itself which allows you to call AppleScript handlers directly and takes care of converting standard Python types to AS types and back.

Hi,

I'm trying out PyXA to extract calendar events, but it does not seem to work. I've tested print(PyXA.Application("Safari").front_window.current_tab.url) which works fine, so my PyXA install should be working.

app = PyXA.Application("Calendar") print(app.calendars())

leads to an empty list

<<class 'PyXA.apps.Calendar.XACalendarCalendarList'>[]>

despite me having a ton of calendars visible in the Calendar app. All my calendars are tied to categorties or accounts like iCloud and Google and "other".

I have tried to look in the docs, but can't find a reference to finding calendars in any other way.

Tried creating a new calendar, but that also does not work:

`Traceback (most recent call last):
File "(My project path)/test.py", line 9, in
new_calendar = app.new_calendar("PyXA Development")
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "(My project path)/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/PyXA/apps/Calendar.py", line 244, in new_calendar
self.calendars().push(new_calendar)
File "(My project path)/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/PyXA/XABase.py", line 884, in push
self.xa_elem.get().addObject_(element.xa_elem)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'addObject_'

Process finished with exit code 1`

In AppleScript, there is an exists method to check if an attribute is defined on an object. A common use case for this is determining if a parent object exists in an object hierarchy (i.e. "if parent exists"), and it is usually more performant because the full object reference does not need to be resolved to evaluate it.

Would it be possible to add "exists" support to filters?

My particular use case is to get all "top-level" Music folder playlists, filtering out any folders that are sub-folders. I can retrieve this in AppScript as follows, but would prefer to do this natively in PyXA if possible.
[f for f in appscript.app('/System/Applications/Music.app').folder_playlists() if not f.parent.exists()]

I am following the instructions at https://skaplanofficial.github.io/PyXA/tutorial/index.html in a fresh virtual environment.

When I get to the first run of basics.py, I get the error:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'macimg'

If I pip install macimg and re-run basics.py, then I get:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'ApplicationServices'

If I then pip install pyobjc-framework-ApplicationServices and re-run basics.py, I get:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'CoreText'

If I then pip install pyobjc-framework-CoreText and re-run basics.py, it seems to satisfy the dependencies. However, I then get a different error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/me/temp/PyXA Examples/basics.py", line 3, in <module>
    print(PyXA.application("Safari").front_window.current_tab.url)
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not callable

At this point, I don't know how to proceed - is this a code issue, or a documentation issue? Any guidance is very much appreciated.