Automator (macOS)
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| Developer(s) | Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | April 29, 2005 |
| Stable release | 2.2.2 (330)
/ February 1, 2012 |
| Operating system | OS X |
| Type | Automation |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | Apple: Automator |
Automator is an application developed by Apple for OS X that implements point-and-click (or drag-and-drop) creation of workflows for automating repetitive tasks into batches for quicker alteration, thus saving time and effort over human intervention to manually change each file separately. Automator enables the repetition of tasks across a wide variety of programs, including the Finder, the Safari web browser, iCal, Address Book and others. It can also work with third-party applications such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator. Automator was first released with Mac OS X Tiger (10.4).
Interface
Automator provides a graphical user interface for automating tasks without knowledge of programming or scripting languages. Tasks can be recorded as they are performed by the user or can be selected from a list. The output of the last action can become the input to the next.
Features
Automator comes with a library of Actions (file renaming, finding linked images, creating a new mail message, etc.) that act as individual steps in a Workflow document. A Workflow document is used to carry out repetitive tasks. Workflows can be saved and reused. Unix command line scripts and AppleScripts can also be invoked as Actions. The actions are linked together in a Workflow. The Workflow can be saved as an application, Workflow file or a contextual menu item. Options can be set when the Workflow is created or when the Workflow is run. A workflow file created in Automator is saved in /Users/{User Name}/Library/Services.
See also
External links
- Apple's Official Automator Page
- Apple's Automator Programming Guide
- http://www.automator.us/, a site with examples and tools, by Sal Soghoian (AppleScript Product Manager at Apple) and others
