If someone could give me a hand, I'm trying to automatize the creation of keyboards shortcuts for some Services.
What I got so far is
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane id "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
delay 1
tell application "System Events"
click radio button "Shortcuts" of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard" of application process "System Preferences"
delay 1
select row 6 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of splitter group 1 of tab group 1 of window 1 of application process "System Preferences"
set value of text field 1 of UI element "My Service Name" of row 59 of outline 1 of scroll area 2 of splitter group of tab group 1 of window 1 of application process "System Preferences" to "⌥⌘1"
end tell
end tell
But now I'm stuck, what I'm not being able to do is:
...of row 59... is not good, I would like to use the name of shortcut instead this index. I know the name of shortcut is in UI element "My Service Name" but I don't know how to do a nested selection, for example instead ...of row 59... do something like of row (where UI element "My Service Name")Does someone have a hint how can I solve this?
Thank you all in advance.
I've restructured your script a bit, because I prefer the hierarchical 'tell block' structure (which I find it easier to read and follow), and I've put it all into a handler to generalize it. But that aside, the trick is to use where searches to look down the UI structure and find identifiable features (N.B, where is a synonym for the more conventional whose). See the comments in-script. Note that I am changing the "Show Finder search window" row in the "Spotlight" section of the keyboard shortcuts preferences, but by changing the values of the handler call you can change any preference.
To make this work, you need to know which section your service falls under, and the name of the service as it appears in the list. If you put in a text string for new_val it will treat it as though you had typed the first letter; if you put in an integer it will treat it as a key code, allowing you to use non-printing characters and function keys for shortcuts. See: list of key codes.
This script has been corrected to fix a couple of errors, and to accommodate both the hierarchical structure of the 'Services' section and and the ability to add a new shortcut by clicking the 'Add Shortcut' button. Note that if you're adding short-cut for the first time, the UI will still show the 'Add Shortcut' button until you select a different row. This is true even when adding shortcuts manually, so it's a limitation of the GUI, not the script.
-- sets the 'Send Message' shortcut to cmd-opt-A
my change_shortcut("Services", "Text", "Send Message", "a", {"command", "option"})
-- sets the 'Call' service shortcut to cmd-F6
my change_shortcut("Services", "Text", "Call", 97, {"command"})
on change_shortcut(shortcut_region, section_name, shortcut_title, new_val, special_key_list)
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane id "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
delay 1
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"'s window "Keyboard"'s first tab group
click radio button "Shortcuts"
tell first splitter group
set sidebar_obj to first table of first scroll area
tell sidebar_obj
(*
this looks to find the first row in the sidebar that contains a static text
element with the value of `shortcut_region`
*)
set sidebar_entry to first row where (its first static text's value is shortcut_region)
select sidebar_entry
end tell
set outline_obj to first outline of second scroll area
tell outline_obj
(*
if the shortcut outline view is arranged in groups, this section
finds the correct group and make sure its disclosure triangle is
opened, exposing the settings within
*)
if section_name is not "" and section_name is not missing value then
set wanted_section_row to first row where (its last UI element's name is section_name)
tell wanted_section_row's second UI element
set disclosure_tri to first UI element whose role description is "disclosure triangle"
if disclosure_tri's value is 0 then click disclosure_tri
end tell
delay 0.5
end if
(*
this looks to find the first row in the outline that contains two
UI elements (the row's cells) the second of which contains a static text
element with the value of shortcut_title
*)
set wanted_entry to first row where (its last UI element's name is shortcut_title)
tell wanted_entry
select
set new_shortcut_flag to false
tell second UI element
if exists button "Add Shortcut" then
click button "Add Shortcut"
set new_shortcut_flag to true
end if
UI elements
-- set up a list of special keys
set special_keys to {}
if special_key_list contains "command" then set end of special_keys to command down
if special_key_list contains "control" then set end of special_keys to control down
if special_key_list contains "option" then set end of special_keys to option down
if special_key_list contains "shift" then set end of special_keys to shift down
-- opens the text field for editing, then write or keycode in the text
tell first text field
if not new_shortcut_flag then perform action "AXConfirm"
if class of new_val is text then
keystroke new_val using special_keys
else
key code new_val using special_keys
end if
end tell
-- select the cell to submit the result
select
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end change_shortcut