[Pythonmac-SIG] Python+Automator?

[Bob Ippolito]

On Jan 23, 2005, at 17:28, Jack Jansen wrote:

> On 23-jan-05, at 15:55, Bob Ippolito wrote:
>
>>
>> On Jan 23, 2005, at 9:29, has wrote:
>>
>>> Just reading up on Automator development 
>>> <http://developer.apple.com/macosx/tiger/automator.html> and 
>>> wondering if the MacPython community (or anyone in it) has any plans 
>>> to 0wnz0r it yet? Like providing a 'Python Automator Action' 
>>> template for Xcode, flogging a nice introductory 'Developing 
>>> Automator Actions with Python' article to online tech sites like 
>>> O'Reilly, making themselves a presence on Automator mailing lists 
>>> and forums when they arrive, etc.
>>>
>>> With Tiger arriving soon, seems like a grand opportunity for someone 
>>> with a pre-release build and a hankering for MacPython evangelism to 
>>> get in at the head of the rush and mop the floor with the 
>>> competition. :)
>>
>> Given the description, it would be trivial to write an Automator 
>> Action in PyObjC 1.2+ using the py2app plug-in bundle support.  I 
>> doubt I'll be using Automator often enough to become a PyObjC 
>> Automator evangelist though.
>
> What's the advantage of PyObjC here? Just because it makes it easier 
> to write the plugin, or does it help with writing the Python code too?
>
> Because I wouldn't mind having automator support in a future 
> "MacPython for Tiger additions"...

The advantage of PyObjC here is that there are two interfaces for 
creating plugins: Objective-C plugins that implement a certain method, 
and applescripts that implement a certain handler.  Since the latter 
isn't really possible to do with Python, that leaves PyObjC as the ONLY 
option, and it happens to be trivial to do.

-bob