Scripting the Mac with Ruby

Given at the June 2017 meeting of the Indy.rb user group, this talk covers core Mac automation technologies and how Ruby fits into the equation.

Transcript

1. Scripting the Mac with Ruby Indy.rb - June 2017 Chris Vannoy (@dummied), Senior Engineer @ Sigtsr
2. An Introduction to Mac Automation
3. AppleScript (or JavaScript)
4. using terms from application "Messages" on message received this_message from this_buddy for this_chat if the name of this_buddy is in {"My Former Student"} then set canned_responses to {"Can't talk.", "BRB", "You're not my supervisor"} set this_response to some item of the canned_responses send this_response to this_chat end if end message received end using terms from
5. » Drive Mac applications » Work with the Finder » Get user input » Dialog boxes
6. launchd » Think cron, but with more XML <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>Label</key> <string>com.spotify.webhelper</string> <key>KeepAlive</key> <dict> <key>NetworkState</key> <true/> </dict> <key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/> <key>Program</key> <string>/Users/chrisvannoy/Library/Application Support/Spotify/SpotifyWebHelper</string> <key>SpotifyPath</key> <string>/Applications/Spotify.app</string></dict> </plist>
7. » ~/Library/LaunchAgents » /Library/LaunchAgents » Can run at load and/or at intervals » man launchctl » load <plist> » unload <plist> » Highly recommended: LaunchControl
8. Automator
9. » GUI » Can package a script in an app, workflow or service » Can even code sign if you want to distribute
10. Where Ruby fits in » Installed on every Mac » 2.0.0 since Mavericks (2013) » Support baked into Automator
11. Wait. System Ruby? » We're not "developing" here, we're scripting » Dependencies are the devil (especially if distributing)
12. Some examples
13. PinboardDigest » Pulls your last 10 links with a certain tag(s) from Pinboard. » Takes user input » Passes said input into Ruby » Script calls the Pinboard API, processes results » Copies markdown to clipboard » AppleScript pastes it into the open document
14. #!/usr/bin/ruby require 'net/https' require 'cgi' require 'json' AUTH_TOKEN = "YOUR_AUTH_CODE_GOES_HERE" NUMBER_OF_RESULTS = 10 input = STDIN.read starter = "https://api.pinboard.in/v1/posts/all?auth_token=#{AUTH_TOKEN}&results=#{NUMBER_OF_RESULTS}&format=json" url = URI.parse(input != "" ? starter + "&tag=#{CGI.escape(input)}" : starter) http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port) http.use_ssl = true http.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE # ¯\_(ϑ)_/¯ request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url.request_uri) res = http.request(request) result = JSON.parse(res.body) text = "#{input}" text << "# Links for #{Time.now.strftime("%B %e ")}\n\n" result.each do |link| text << "* **[#{link["description"]}](#{link["href"]}):** #{link["extended"]}\n\n" end print text
15. SearchLink » Brett Terpstra » Replace placeholder markdown with search results in selected text » ~2000 lines of Ruby.
16. Helpful tidbits » sqlite3 on every Mac. » oascript » curl on every Mac. » Ruby's system can be your bestest friend.
17. Some ideas
18. » Text processing » Backup » File processing » Whatever. Let your imagination run wild.
19. THANKS