“Open As” Pseudo-Stationery Finder AppleScript
Update: Now located at https://github.com/anoved/Finder-Scripts/tree/master/Open%20As
Use this AppleScript to create and open an explicitly named copy of the selected file or folder. You will be prompted to specify the name and location of the new copy. Clicking “Save” will duplicate the item and open the new duplicate.
This script is the result of dissatisfaction with some applications’ lack of support for Stationery Pad files. Specifically, the default behavior appears to be for the Finder to create and open a generic duplicate with “copy [#]” appended to the original base filename. I find it more convenient to name the new instance directly, so that is the functionality this script provides. Stationery pads are not required as it works with regular files.
Rigorous testing has not been performed. Be advised that duplication is performed with cp, which ignored the resource fork in early versions of Mac OS X. Therefore, Mac OS X 10.4 is strongly recommended for compatibility with all files.
Download FinderOpenAs.scpt.zip 3.4K
I suggest saving the script in ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Finder and assigning it the keyboard shortcut Shift-Command-O via FastScripts.
Posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007.
Brickshelver Development Release
Brickshelver is a small utility I have written to simplify the process of uploading files to Brickshelf, a popular site for LEGO hobbyists.
When you start Brickshelver, you log in using your Brickshelf account. Brickshelver maintains a list of your Brickshelf folders, but it takes a few moments to conduct this inventory. You can skip this step after the first run for faster logins, but in this case Brickshelver will not be aware of any new folders created via the regular web interface.
You can add files to the list of files to upload by clicking the “+” button or by dragging them to Brickshelver’s Dock icon. The files will all be uploaded to the indicated folder, which can be an existing folder or a new folder created with Brickshelver.
Clicking “Upload” will automatically zip the files and upload them to Brickshelf, creating a new folder if necessary. Upload status is reported in the space to the left of the “Upload” button.
Important Notes
This release consists of a stand-alone application for Mac OS X. This application exhibits many inconsistent or unconventional behaviors, as Brickshelver is actually a Tcl/Tk script bundled in a generic application wrapper. There are a large number of issues that need to be addressed and features that need to be improved, including but not limited to:
- Quit via File→Close or by closing the window, but not via Brickshelver→Quit
- Can’t drag files into the actual window
- Localization
- Layout and appearance quirks
- File type validation
- Cross platform support (specifically, zip and preferences mechanisms)
- Full paths look dopey in file list
I am content with Brickshelver in its current state, but I caution others that it is alpha quality software. Further development depends on the reaction to this release; how to proceed is clear, but I am eager to work on other projects instead.
Download Brickshelver Development Release 2.6MB .tar.gz
Your folder inventory and account information (including unencrypted Brickshelf password) are stored on your computer in ~/Library/Preferences/net.anoved.brickshelver.plist. The format of this file may change in any future releases.
Posted on Monday, August 6th, 2007.
Archive Yojimbo Bookmarks
Yojimbo can catalog bookmarks as well as web archives, which are basically local copies of web sites. This script creates web archives from existing bookmarks you select.
tell application "Yojimbo"
-- get the selected items, if any
set _items to selection
if _items is missing value then return
-- archive all the selected bookmark items
repeat with _item in _items
if class of _item is bookmark item then
-- bookmark properties the archive should inherit
set _name to name of _item
set _url to location of _item
set _tags to tags of _item
-- archive the bookmarked page
try
set _archive to make new web archive item with contents _url with properties {name:_name}
add tags _tags to _archive
end try
end if
end repeat
end tell
Download ArchiveYojimboBookmarks.scpt.zip 1.1 3k
Install the script in ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Yojimbo. The script does not check whether there is already a web archive for the bookmarked location, but it could be done.
Posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2007.
LDLink
Note: LDLink has been superseded by LDMerge.
LDLink is a utility that can reversibly combine separate LDraw part libraries by creating symbolic links to the contents of one directory structure in another. Alternate libraries can be used to manage unofficial LDraw parts; support for this concept is present to varying degrees in some LDraw programs. This utility is intended to facilitate other tools, such as L3P, which do not readily support parallel part libraries.
Download ldlink 1.0 (5k Tcl script)
Install the script as ldlink and make it executable with chmod +x ldlink.
Usage: ldlink merge|unmerge [-src LDRAWDIR] [-dst LDRAWDIR]
On merge, links to src files are created in dst.
On unmerge, links named after src files are removed from dst.
Conflicts with normal files in dst are skipped and reported.
Default dst is LDRAWDIR environment variable.
Default src is dst/Unofficial.
To merge unofficial parts downloaded by LDView with the rest of your part library, the following command may be sufficient:
ldlink merge
If the environment variable LDRAWDIR is not defined — or if you would like to override its value — use the dst option to specify the destination where the merge should occur. Likewise, the src option may be used to merge parts from a source other than the destination’s Unofficial subdirectory:
ldlink merge -src /Custom/LDraw -dst /Standard/LDraw
To reverse a merge, reissue the command using unmerge instead of merge:
ldlink unmerge ldlink unmerge -src /Custom/LDraw -dst /Standard/LDraw
LDLink reports how many links it created or removed.
Posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2007.
Vector Image Stylization
I’ve stylized a few drawings with a vectorization program called autotrace. Here is a brief summary of the process:
The vectorization command looks like this:
autotrace -corner-threshold 20 -filter-iterations 15 threshold.pbm > vectorized.eps
Posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007.
Scaled LCD Resolution
My laptop’s display has a native resolution of 1280 × 800 pixels.
When I select a different display resolution, it is stretched to fit the screen. This may distort the aspect ratio. It also looks like crap.
Scaled modes are available. These preserve proportion, but they still look like crap.
Why not use an exact subsection of the screen? I don’t think my display can do this, but it seems like the most logical solution. Who wants the crappy scaling?
Are there any LCD monitors that work like this?
Posted on Wednesday, July 4th, 2007.
PSA: Mac OS X Keyboard Navigation
Open the Keyboard & Mouse pane of System Preferences and click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. Select the “All controls” keyboard access option.
Now you can use the tab key to select every last popup menu, button, and checkbox. The selected interface element is indicated by a halo, like the one surrounding the “Where” menu in the following screenshot.
Invoke the active element by pressing the space bar or, in some cases, the arrows. (In this case, pressing space will display the menu. As with all menus, you can use the arrow keys to select items – or just begin typing to select matching item names.) The return and escape keys retain their usual function.
Posted on Wednesday, July 4th, 2007.
The body is off the frame!
Today I successfully separated the body from the frame of my hot rod. This grants easy access to the undercarriage, which can now be reinforced and fiddled with at will. This is going to be fun. A bare frame is like a blank sheet of paper: behold the potential!
Check out the rest of the gallery for more photos and details on the barnyard engineering that made this possible.
Posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2007.
Hot Rod Taillights
These nifty tinted taillights were among the many odds and ends that came with my car. I think they look pretty mean:
The body is slated to come off the frame sometime in the next couple days. Once that’s done, things will start happening. Stay tuned for more updates.
Posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007.
Miscellaneous Mac LDraw Machinations
Macintosh universal binary versions of Philo’s Isecalc and Linetrim utilities for LDraw part authors are now readily available, courtesy of yours truly.
Posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007.