Title: Desktop Alias with Applescript
I had an Applescript that created a desktop alias on OSX (from within Metacard), and it was working okey dokey.

At some point when I wasn't looking, it broke.  I have no idea when or why.  I have not changed my computer system and did not notice the exact time of the break.  Only that I'm in the last phases of internal beta testing and noticed that hey, it's not making the alias anymore on first launch.

The only thing I did do is recently cleared some old Applescript things from my other computer partition, and move them to this partition.  I don't think I changed out my actual Applescript program, as the old one was for Mac Classic and of course now it's all OSX.  I may have dragged the old one to the new partition inadvertently.  I dunno.  That's my only guess.

I spent over 12 hours scouring the 'net to find a snippet of Applescript to make an alias that would actually work.  I'd find snippets, try them, nada.  I finally found one.

But my question is this:  How compatible is Applescript to itself?  Is code written for one version likely to work with another version?  Are the newer versions still recognizing scripts written in older versions?  I have no idea if the snippet I found that worked is brand new or 10 years old.  Only that this should have been indecently simple and suddenly I've put hours into it unexpectedly.  That it was working at one time and for some unknown reason, stopped working.  I have not changed my Metacard.  The newly found script that worked on OSX 10.2.4 is:

tell application "Finder"
    make new alias file to "pathToFile starting with disk name" at folder "path to desktop folder starting with disk name" with properties {name:"Name the Alias"}
end tell

The script that was working and "broke" (and that made me seriously question what happened to my marbles as I was chasing them all over creation...):

tell application "Finder"
    make alias file to pathToFile at pathToAndNameOfAlias
end tell

I tried everything to fix it, changing the file paths to include and not include the disk and so forth.  I tried every possible pathToFile etc. imaginable, as I could not remember whether Applescript needed the path to start with the disk, or "Volumes", or whether it knew the disk and started from there.  I diddled with it for many hours unsuccessfully.  The only other thing I'd changed was to move the actual program to a different disk.  I don't know if there were permission issues involved, but the newly found working script seemed to have no problem.  Both scripts do set the folder permissions for the destination folder before running the Applescript.

  put the effective filename of stack theStack into theFile
  set the itemDel to "/"
  # set user permissions
  put theFile into theDirectory
  if the platform is "MacOS" then # only runs on OSX and Windows
    repeat 4
      delete the last item of theDirectory
    end repeat
  else delete the last item of theDirectory
  get shell("chmod 777 " & quote & theDirectory & quote)

This code preceded both snippets of Applescript.

I'm wondering if people will have issues with any Applescript working if they don't have "the right one installed" but "some other one".  Does anybody know?

And will it all break again under Intel????   Aaaarrrggghhhh!  Apple needs to QUIT making changes that break everything.  I'm getting tired of having to replace everything on my computer because it does not work with their shiny new system....  I've always thought of Apple as being thoughtful of us.  And that compatibility was important to them.  Silly thinking I guess....

PPC broke 68K, programs not compatible
OSX broke PPC, programs not compatible
Intel ???  Bet I can guess...

Shari




-- 
Mac and Windows shareware games
http://www.gypsyware.com

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