mike solin's blog

Tag: AppleScript

Setting the Software Update Server

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On January 26, 2014

In Scripting and Packaging

Several years ago, I submitted a post to Mac OS X Hints. At the time, I worked for an Apple authorized service provider, and wanted an easy way to switch a customer’s computer to our Software Update Server temporarily, then switch back afterwards. Two users in the Mac OS X Hints forums helped me build an AppleScript application for this purpose.

I have since made significant improvements to the script, and still use it today. The code can be found in my GitHub repository.

Tested with: 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9

Testing the built-in iSight camera

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On March 22, 2013

In Diagnostic OS

Sometimes, when building a diagnostic OS, you need to optimize for space – you might be trying to fit the OS onto a small USB flash drive, or you want to decrease NetBoot times.

Once you’ve thrown away the obvious culprits – thanks to something like GrandPerspective – you might decide to trash the contents of /System/Library/Compositions/. I did. Unfortunately, this will break Photo Booth.

We relied on Photo Booth to test the iSight camera, so I came up with an alternative. Save this script as an application and put it in the Dock. Heck, I gave it the Photo Booth icon. It opens a new “movie recording” window in QuickTime Player, but it’s not actually recording. Good for a quick test, and faster than Photo Booth.

Tested with: 10.7, 10.8, 10.9, 10.10

Scrolling switcher

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On July 29, 2012

In Scripting and Packaging

Starting with 10.7 Lion, Apple switched the scrolling direction. This can cause some confusion with people used to older Mac OS versions, or those coming from a Windows background.

I wanted to see if it were possible to allow people to toggle this without needing to visit System Preferences, so I did some digging. I found a script for trackpads on Super User, but it used GUI scripting. I modified it for both the mouse and trackpad panes, and posted it to GitHub. Although there are two separate scripts, changing the scrolling direction seems to apply to both the mouse and trackpad.

That said, Charles Edge has posted the best way to do this at Krypted: Disable Natural Scrolling With a Script.

Tested with: 10.7, 10.8

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