Extending WWW Browsers with AppleEvents and AppleScript

This chapter outlines how you extend your WWW browser Applications through AppleEvents and AppleScripts.

A few Macintosh-based WWW browsers support the ability to send and receive AppleEvents. AppleEvents are a relatively new feature of the Macintosh operating system allowing applications to be given commands by other programs.

One of the most universal and useful commands available is the GetURL command. Using this command you and tell a WWW browser to open a URL and then display the results in a window or even save the results to a file. For more information about the GetURL AppleEvent and other commands, read "Macintosh Remote Control Documentation" and "Software Development Interface".

The applications and demonstration program below show you how you can begin extending your WWW browser in these areas and begin to incorporate their use even greater into your work environment.

1. Flypaper
2. Scripting WWW Browsers
3. WebRunner

See Also

1. Dave Winer, "Aretha Website" - "Frontier is a scripting system for the Macintosh. Lots of features, lots of verbs. It used to be a commercial product, but now it's free. Why? Because I want Frontier to have a shot at becoming a standard. I think it'll be fun!" <URL:http://www.hotwired.com/staff/userland/aretha/>

2. Martin Fenner, Fred Terry, and PreFab Software, Inc., "ScriptWeb" - "This virtual site is a collaborative effort to provide a single source of information for Macintosh scripting, primarily for AppleScript and Frontier." <URL:http://www.gz.com/scriptweb/>

3. Netscape Communications, Inc., "Netscape API for the Macintosh" - "Netscape uses AppleEvents to interact with other Macintosh applications. It is scriptable, and partially recordable. Most of the events (and all Netscape-specific ones) are documented in the Netscape's AppleEvent dictionary. You see the dictionary with the Script Editor, a scripting utility available from Apple." <URL:http://home.netscape.com/newsref/std/mac-remote-control.html>

4. Spyglass, Inc. , "Software Development Interface" - "This document describes a cross-platform API which can be used to extend the capabilities of Web browsers by integrating them with other applications. The API is specified as a set of platform-independent generic verbs which can be issued either to or from Web browsers. Platform-specific implementations of this spec are given for the AppleEvents and DDE transports. Future transports to be provided include OLE2 and TCP/IP (for UNIX)." <URL:http://www.spyglass.com:4040/newtechnology/integration/iapi.htm>

Eric last edited this page on September 26, 1995. Please feel free to send comments.