AppleScript or Automator to click on menus in an application?
Indeed, UI scripting is fragile and finicky, but you might take a look at Apple's AppleScript GUI Scripting page
I frequently need to create a GUI script to access a menu item in applications whose AppleScript library doesn't provide direct access to the objects or functions the menu item represents. To make it easy to re-use the code, I use variables for the app, menu, & menu item names. Then I just need to change the variables at the top rather than pick out the names from the code body.
set targetApp to "app_name"
set theMenu to "menu_name"
set theItem to "menu_item_name"
tell application targetApp
activate
tell application "System Events"
tell application process targetApp
tell menu bar 1
tell menu bar item theMenu
tell menu theMenu
click menu item theItem
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
SUB-MENUS
It gets a little more involved when there are sub- & sub-sub-menus involved, as a menu item with a sub-menu is both a menu item of its parent menu AND a menu parent of its sub-menus. Note that the text variable "theItem" is used to specify both a menu item AND a menu; the "targetApp" string variable is used to reference both an app & a process, so it saves having to edit 2 names in 2 places each when reusing the code. I use this script to run on voice commands for accessing menu items quickly rather than having to say, e.g., "click Edit Menu"... "click Transformations"... "click Make Upper Case"... I add another variable for the sub-menu item:
set targetApp to "app_name"
set theMenu to "menu_name"
set theItem to "menu_item_name"
set theSubItem to "sub_item_name"
tell application targetApp
activate
tell application "System Events"
tell application process targetApp
tell menu bar 1
tell menu bar item theMenu
tell menu theMenu
tell menu item theItem
tell menu theItem
click menu item theSubItem
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
For example:
set targetApp to "TextEdit"
set theMenu to "Edit"
set theItem to "Transformations"
set theSubItem to "Make Upper Case"
tell application targetApp
activate
tell application "System Events"
tell application process targetApp
tell menu bar 1
tell menu bar item theMenu
tell menu theMenu
tell menu item theItem
tell menu theItem
click menu item theSubItem
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
If there's another level of sub-menus, an additional variable (e.g., "theSubSubItem") would be required, & the line in the System Events process tell block would have another layer
...
tell menu item theItem
tell menu theSubItem
click menu item theSubSubItem
end tell
end tell
...
As noted elsewhere in this thread it's recommended to address an application's objects & functions directly whenever they're included in the API, but addressing the GUI is useful as a last resort when the API doesn't provide direct access. The downside is a GUI script can get more cumbersome & may have to be revised with each application update.
tell application "###"
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "###"
click menu item "^^^" of menu "$$$" of menu bar 1
end tell
end tell
Put your application in for the ### and put your menu item in for the ^^^ and put your menu (file, edit, view, etc.) in for $$$. Capitalization matters.
Put it in applescript btw
EXAMPLE:
tell application "iTunes"
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "iTunes"
click menu item "as list" of menu "view" of menu bar 1
end tell
end tell
delete the double spaces EXCEPT BETWEEN END TELL AND TELL APPLICATION "SYSTEM EVENTS"
UI scripting is a fickle beast. It's brittle and often sensitive to many things beyond your control such as unexpected dialogs (from other applications), changes in system font or language, user activity. Not to mention changes in an application's UI across versions.
It's much more robust to use talk directly to the application via its AppleScript API. This is exactly the purpose of AppleScript. You can always see the actions and data an application can provide via AppleScript via the "Open Dictionary..." menu item in AppleScript Editor.app's (select the application you want to script in the file dialog). Instead of simulating a mouse click on a menu, you call the action that menu item triggers directly via AppleScript.
Of course not all applications have a complete (or even any) AppleScript API. Excel, however, has excellent AppleScript support, if that's your target.
If you're really trying to do UI testing, I recommend you start with other options:
- Test the model (analogous to scripting the app's model via AppleScript). In fact, if you include an AppleScript API in your app, you can automated testing of that API as well.
- Use Google Toolbox for Mac's unit testing additions (or roll your own) to programatically send mouse or keyboard events to your app.
- Use Instruments.app to record a UI sequence. The Instruments recording is solid (I haven't used Automator's Record feature), and you get all the other goodies of Instruments too.