Jump to content

Automator (macOS)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by DFlhb (talk | contribs) at 11:17, 23 January 2023 (→Features: more citations). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Automator
Developer(s)Apple Inc.
Initial releaseApril 29, 2005 (2005-4-29)
Stable release
2.10 / December 2, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-12-02)
Operating systemmacOS
TypeAutomation
LicenseProprietary
Websitesupport.apple.com/guide/automator/welcome/mac

Automator is an application developed by Apple Inc. for macOS used to create workflows for automating repetitive tasks into batches for quicker alteration via point-and-click (or drag and drop). This saves 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 Finder, Safari, Calendar, Contacts and others. It can also work with third-party applications such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator. The icon features a robot holding a pipe, a reference to pipelines, a computer science term for connected data workflows. Automator was first released with Mac OS X Tiger (10.4).[1]

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 previous action can become the input to the next action.[2]

The icon for Automator features a robot, known as Otto the Automator.[3]

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.[2] 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.[1][4][5][6]

History

Starting in macOS Monterey, Automator exists alongside Shortcuts.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Waldie, Ben (December 27, 2007). Automator for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-13-271234-7.
  2. ^ a b Siracusa, John (April 28, 2005). "Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger". Ars Technica. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  3. ^ Pogue, David (July 12, 2005). Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition: The Missing Manual. "O'Reilly Media, Inc.". p. 231. ISBN 978-1-4493-7907-0.
  4. ^ Waldie, Ben (December 9, 2009). Automator for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-321-70299-9.
  5. ^ Waldie, Ben (May 2005). Mac OS X Technology Guide to Automator. Spiderworks. ISBN 978-0-9744344-6-9.
  6. ^ Myer, Thomas (October 29, 2009). Apple Automator with AppleScript Bible. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-60431-1.
  7. ^ Cunningham, Andrew (October 25, 2021). "macOS 12 Monterey: The Ars Technica review". Ars Technica. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Automator_(macOS)&oldid=1135224018"