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Subtitle, editor (Tim Holmes), Cliff Stoll foreword and 2nd printing from the scan; contents with page numbers; text runs to p. 295 (scan is 311 PDF pages); remove false 'cites' entry (Real World Apple Guide does not link here); cite
 
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'''''The Tao of AppleScript''''' by '''Derrick Schneider for BMUG''', Hayden Books, Indianapolis, 1993, ISBN 1-56830-075-1, Library of Congress 93-79095. The scan is '''311 pages'''.
'''''The Tao of AppleScript: BMUG's Guide to Macintosh Scripting''''' is a 1993 book by Derrick Schneider, edited by Tim Holmes, with a foreword by Cliff Stoll. It was published by Hayden Books, Indianapolis, for BMUG, the Berkeley Macintosh Users Group, which holds the copyright. ISBN 1-56830-075-1, Library of Congress Catalog No. 93-79095; the printing code shows the second printing, 1993.<ref name="tp">Derrick Schneider, ''The Tao of AppleScript'' (Hayden Books / BMUG, 1993), title page, copyright page and credits (PDF pp. 4-7).</ref> The numbered text and index run to p. 295.<ref name="idx">Schneider, ''The Tao of AppleScript'', Index, pp. 279-295 (PDF pp. 293-309).</ref>


'''This is not an Apple publication.''' It is a third-party book, and it is a '''secondary source''': where it disagrees with Apple's own service documentation, the Apple document wins.
It is an introduction to AppleScript, which BMUG tested as a seed site with help from Apple's AppleScript evangelists.<ref name="ack">Schneider, ''The Tao of AppleScript'', Acknowledgments (PDF p. 8).</ref> The chapters build a series of example scripts, several of them for Apple's Scriptable Text Editor, and end with a reference to the AppleScript language and a chapter on application dictionaries. The book's "Tao Disk" carried the AppleScript software and the example scripts; it is not part of the scan.<ref name="toc">Schneider, ''The Tao of AppleScript'', Table of Contents at a Glance and Table of Contents (PDF pp. 11-17).</ref><ref name="disk">Schneider, ''The Tao of AppleScript'', "Included on the Tao Disk" (PDF p. 310).</ref> BMUG describes itself in the book as a membership-based non-profit that sells no advertising in its newsletters.<ref name="bmug">Schneider, ''The Tao of AppleScript'', About BMUG (PDF p. 9).</ref>


== What it covers ==
== Contents ==
An introduction to AppleScript published by '''BMUG''', the Berkeley Macintosh
Page numbers are from the book's contents list.<ref name="toc" />
Users Group, a membership-based non-profit which the book notes is "neither affiliated with, nor
* Foreword (Cliff Stoll), p. ix; Introduction, p. xix
receives monetary support from Apple Computer or any other for-profit entity". It works through
* Chapter 1: Getting Started, p. 1
scripting and then through scripting specific applications of the period.
* Chapter 2: Scripting Basics, p. 9
* Chapter 3: Building Scripts: Finding Your Way, p. 45
* Chapter 4: Building Scripts: Living off the Land, p. 57
* Chapter 5: Building Scripts: Collecting Tools, p. 77
* Chapter 6: Complex Scripts: Building a Boat, p. 89
* Chapter 7: Complex Scripts: Going Downstream, p. 107
* Chapter 8: Complex Scripts: Climbing the Mountain, p. 117
* Chapter 9: Advanced Scripting, p. 163
* Chapter 10: The Dictionary, p. 183
* Chapter 11: Where to Go, p. 191
* Appendix A: The Technology, p. 203
* Appendix B: The AppleScript Language, p. 209
* Glossary, p. 259; About BMUG, p. 271; Index, p. 279; Disk Summary, p. 298


== What it does not contain ==
== What this book does not contain ==
* '''Nothing about hardware.''' No specifications, no procedures, no part numbers, no diagrams.
It is about scripting software. It has no hardware information or service procedures. The hosted scan is 311 PDF pages, covers included.
* Every application version it scripts is obsolete.
 
== Pages that cite this document ==
* [[Real World Apple Guide 1995]] &mdash; the other Apple-technology user book of the same period


<pdf> File:The_Tao_of_AppleScript_1993.pdf </pdf>
<pdf> File:The_Tao_of_AppleScript_1993.pdf </pdf>


Download: [[:File:The_Tao_of_AppleScript_1993.pdf|The_Tao_of_AppleScript_1993.pdf]] (20.4 MB)
Download: [[:File:The_Tao_of_AppleScript_1993.pdf|The_Tao_of_AppleScript_1993.pdf]] (20.4 MB)
== References ==
<references />


[[Category:Apple Documentation]]
[[Category:Apple Documentation]]

Latest revision as of 18:45, 30 September 2026

The Tao of AppleScript: BMUG's Guide to Macintosh Scripting is a 1993 book by Derrick Schneider, edited by Tim Holmes, with a foreword by Cliff Stoll. It was published by Hayden Books, Indianapolis, for BMUG, the Berkeley Macintosh Users Group, which holds the copyright. ISBN 1-56830-075-1, Library of Congress Catalog No. 93-79095; the printing code shows the second printing, 1993.[1] The numbered text and index run to p. 295.[2]

It is an introduction to AppleScript, which BMUG tested as a seed site with help from Apple's AppleScript evangelists.[3] The chapters build a series of example scripts, several of them for Apple's Scriptable Text Editor, and end with a reference to the AppleScript language and a chapter on application dictionaries. The book's "Tao Disk" carried the AppleScript software and the example scripts; it is not part of the scan.[4][5] BMUG describes itself in the book as a membership-based non-profit that sells no advertising in its newsletters.[6]

Contents

[edit | edit source]

Page numbers are from the book's contents list.[4]

  • Foreword (Cliff Stoll), p. ix; Introduction, p. xix
  • Chapter 1: Getting Started, p. 1
  • Chapter 2: Scripting Basics, p. 9
  • Chapter 3: Building Scripts: Finding Your Way, p. 45
  • Chapter 4: Building Scripts: Living off the Land, p. 57
  • Chapter 5: Building Scripts: Collecting Tools, p. 77
  • Chapter 6: Complex Scripts: Building a Boat, p. 89
  • Chapter 7: Complex Scripts: Going Downstream, p. 107
  • Chapter 8: Complex Scripts: Climbing the Mountain, p. 117
  • Chapter 9: Advanced Scripting, p. 163
  • Chapter 10: The Dictionary, p. 183
  • Chapter 11: Where to Go, p. 191
  • Appendix A: The Technology, p. 203
  • Appendix B: The AppleScript Language, p. 209
  • Glossary, p. 259; About BMUG, p. 271; Index, p. 279; Disk Summary, p. 298

What this book does not contain

[edit | edit source]

It is about scripting software. It has no hardware information or service procedures. The hosted scan is 311 PDF pages, covers included.

Download: The_Tao_of_AppleScript_1993.pdf (20.4 MB)

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ↑ Derrick Schneider, The Tao of AppleScript (Hayden Books / BMUG, 1993), title page, copyright page and credits (PDF pp. 4-7).
  2. ↑ Schneider, The Tao of AppleScript, Index, pp. 279-295 (PDF pp. 293-309).
  3. ↑ Schneider, The Tao of AppleScript, Acknowledgments (PDF p. 8).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Schneider, The Tao of AppleScript, Table of Contents at a Glance and Table of Contents (PDF pp. 11-17).
  5. ↑ Schneider, The Tao of AppleScript, "Included on the Tao Disk" (PDF p. 310).
  6. ↑ Schneider, The Tao of AppleScript, About BMUG (PDF p. 9).
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