Setting Up A Custom Dialog Box. Setting up a custom dialogue box in Google Apps Script is really simple. First, you need to decide what type of dialogue you need. There are two types of custom dialogues: showModalDialog(HTML, title) – This prevents the user from interacting with the Sheet or Document when the dialogue is up.
- MacOS Sierra Dialogue Box and Network Drives. MacOS Sierra prompts for a password for network drives with initial startup. In Sierra, an attempt to mount a network drive results in the authentication dialogue, this was not true in Mac OSX (El Capitan, Yosemite, etc.).
- Let the user know if they’ve entered an invalid value. If the only legitimate value for a field is a string of digits, for example, your app should alert the user if they’ve entered characters other than digits. In most cases, the best time to check the data is when the user clicks outside the field or presses the Return, Enter, or Tab key.
Text Fields
A text field is a rectangular area in which the user enters or edits one or more lines of text. A text field can contain plain or styled text.
There are several types of text field.
- A label is a text field that displays static text
- A search field is a text field that facilitates searching
- A token field is a text field that displays tokenized text
For developer guidance, see NSTextField.
Data Entry
Use an introductory label or placeholder text to help communicate purpose. A label helps the user understand what type of information they should enter. A text field can also contain placeholder text—such as Email or Password—when there’s no other text in the field. A label is often unnecessary when placeholder text is present. Generally, labels should use title-style capitalization and end with a colon, while placeholder text should use sentence-style capitalization and no punctuation. For related guidance, see Labels.
Placeholder text
Perform field validation. Let the user know if they’ve entered an invalid value. If the only legitimate value for a field is a string of digits, for example, your app should alert the user if they’ve entered characters other than digits. In most cases, the best time to check the data is when the user clicks outside the field or presses the Return, Enter, or Tab key.
Use a number formatter to aid with numeric data entry. A number formatter automatically configures the text field to accept only numeric values. It can also be set to display the value in a specific way, such as with a certain number of decimal places, as a percentage, or as currency. Don't assume the actual presentation of data, however, as formatting can vary significantly based on the user's locale.
Adjust line breaks accordingly. By default, any text extending beyond the bounds of a text field is clipped. A text field, however, can be set to wrap text to a new line at the character or word level, or to be truncated (indicated by an ellipsis) at the beginning, middle, or end.
Wrapped text
Use secure text fields when asking for sensitive data, like a password. A secure text field obscures the entered text by replacing it with bullets.
Let the user adjust text attributes if it makes sense. If your text field contains styled text, it may add value if the user can adjust the font, size, and color of the text.
Styled text
Consider using an expansion tooltip to show the full version of clipped or truncated text. An expansion tooltip behaves like a help tag and appears when the user places the pointer over the field.
For related guidance, see Data Entry.
Wifi driver for mac os catalina. Realtek Wireless Card drivers for MAC OS 10.15 Catalina. Below are the driver packages to install various wireless devices including Realtek chips on Real Macintosh & Hackintosh machines on Mac OS 10.9 t o10.15 Caralina. Please visit the git hub for these devices here (real mac) and here (Hackintosh) for more information and support. The machine needs to be rebooted after the drivers are installed. Oct 04, 2019 Drivers that worked for users in macOS 10.14 and earlier will no longer function after updating to macOS 10.15 Catalina until updated, compatible drivers are installed Attempting to reinstall an older driver version will trigger a message stating: “The installation failed. The installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail. Apr 29, 2020 From TP-Link: Hello, I know some of you updated to Catalina 10.15 of your Mac, and need the driver for it. Generally speaking, the TP-Link official driver for Mac 10.15 will be released in a month after the official 10.15 OS version came out. That is to say, the driver of TP-Link.
Layout Considerations
To the extent possible, match the size of a text field to the quantity of anticipated text. The size of a text field helps people gauge the amount of information to provide.
Evenly space multiple text fields. If your layout includes multiple text fields, leave enough space between them so users can easily see which input field belongs with each introductory label.
Generally, stack multiple text fields vertically. If you must position multiple labeled text fields horizontally, leave plenty of space between the end of one text field and the label of the next.
Use consistent text field widths to create a more organized layout. Using the same widths for multiple fields helps improve readability and provides a way to group related fields. For instance, the first and last name fields on an address form might be one width, while the address and city fields might be a different width.
Ensure that tabbing between multiple fields flows as expected. When tabbing between fields, focus should move in a logical sequence. The system attempts to achieve this result automatically, so customization is needed only in rare instances.
Use a combo box to pair text input with a list of choices. Don’t try to achieve the same effect by pairing a text field and a popup button. See Combo Boxes.
You can optionally add a key-click sound each time you press a key. Sticky Keys can be toggled on and off from the keyboard by pressing the Shift key five times. To turn keyboard repeat off entirely, click the Set Key Repeat button, which opens the Keyboard preference settings.Mouse & Trackpad: With Mouse Keys active, you can use the numeric keypad to move the pointer across your screen.
(You can optionally specify that Mac OS X sound a beep tone when a modifier key is pressed and whether the modifier keys are displayed onscreen.)Turn Slow Keys on to add a pause (of the length that you specify) between when a key is pressed and when it’s actually acted upon within Mac OS X.
![How to use assistive devices How to use assistive devices](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126583633/585212191.png)
by Stephen Swift
Displaying Dialog Boxes
September 17th, 2001
September 17th, 2001
[Author's Note:If you find any of this tutorial not making sense, check out the some of the earlier installments.]
You run into dialog boxes everywhere when working on your Macintosh. You can create them in AppleScript as well. They may not be the neatest things you can do with AppleScript's functionality, but the end user likes them. Dialog boxes are important because they inform the user of things that happened and they can send input to the script. It also lets us practice using 'if' handlers.
![User User](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126583633/728725525.jpg)
Review
The basic if handler has three parts - comparison, action, and secondary action.Syntax:
ifsomeVariable istruethen
--do something
else
--do something if it is false
endif
ifsomeVariable istruethen
--do something
else
--do something if it is false
endif
The if handler is used to process actions that the user has taken, such as pressing a certain button.
Basic Dialog Box
The basic dialog box is made up of four things: text, icon, buttons, and text input field (See figure 1).
Syntax:
display dialog 'the text' (*See #1*)¬
with icon note | stop | caution(*See #2*) ¬
default answer'type something' (*See #3*)¬
buttons['One', 'Two', 'Three'] (*See #4*)¬
default button1 (*See #5*)
display dialog 'the text' (*See #1*)¬
with icon note | stop | caution(*See #2*) ¬
default answer'type something' (*See #3*)¬
buttons['One', 'Two', 'Three'] (*See #4*)¬
default button1 (*See #5*)
Note: I've separated this command with ¬ characters to make it easier to see the different parts of the script. Normally, this would be on one line. Here's how each of the 5 lines above breaks down:
- This is the only required line. Display dialog is an AppleScript command to display the text (called a string) following it in a dialog box. The command is found in the scripting addition, Display Dialog. It is found in the Scripting Additions folder of the System folder. I'll get into scripting additions later on. Think of them as extensions for AppleScript. If you drag one of them onto the script editor, you will get the dictionary for that command.
- If you include this line in your script, an icon will be displayed with the text. As before, I've split your three options with the | character. You can also include custom icons in your dialog boxes. See ÎCustom Icons' later on in this article.
- The third line adds a text field to your dialog box. The user can type something to give the script information. The string following default answer is the text displayed in the text field when the dialog is displayed. If you don't put anything in the quotation marks, the field is blank.
- You can have up to three custom buttons. A list always follows this object. The items (normally strings) in the list are the buttons. If you don't specify your buttons, OK and Cancel are used. It is recommended to replace the Cancel button with something else so you can control its actions. If Cancel is pressed, the script stops. If you want the user to be able to stop your script, this is good. If you don't, you should create a different button instead.
- The last command controls what button is selected when you hit return. You can refer buttons by their placement in the button list. Item 1 is button One, so the default button is One.
Custom Icons
You can add your own icons to your dialog boxes using ResEdit. Find an icon you want to use. Select it, choose Get Info, and copy the icon. After you save your script as an application or compiled script, drag it onto ResEdit. Press cmnd-K to create a new resource. Type 'cicn' to create a color icon resource, and hit OK. Paste the icon in the drawing box. Close the drawing box. Press cmnd-I to edit its info, type 129 (or an easy to remember number above 128), and quit out of ResEdit. What you have done is given the script an icon to use, and assigned an ID to it so you can include it in the script. When you use an ID for an icon in your script, AppleScript looks in the script file, the current application, and the System file in that order.Feedback
AppleScript records the users response so you can use it in your script. To see an example of this open Script Editor, open the result window by pressing cmnd-L, paste the following code in the main window, and hit the run button.display dialog 'Hit the OK button then look at the result.' buttons['OK', 'No']
You should see {button returned:'OK'} appear in the window. This is called a record. It is similar to a list, but each item is labeled with an object. AppleScript calls this the button returnedofresult. Using an if handler, we can determine what button was pressed, and what the scripts response should be. If the user hit the OK button, I want AppleScript to display a dialog box with 'Thank you for hitting the OK button.' If the user hit the No button, I want AppleScript to display a dialog box with 'I asked you to hit the OK button. You hit the No button.' This is how we would set it up: display dialog 'Hit the OK button then look at the result.' buttons['OK', 'No'] (*Our original dialog box.*)
ifbutton returnedofresultis'OK' then(*This will return either true or false.*)
display dialog 'Thank you for hitting the OK button.' (*Action completed if the statement is true.*)
else
display dialog 'I asked you to hit the OK button. You hit the No button.' (*Action completed if the statement is false.*)
endif(*Closes the if statement.*)
ifbutton returnedofresultis'OK' then(*This will return either true or false.*)
display dialog 'Thank you for hitting the OK button.' (*Action completed if the statement is true.*)
else
display dialog 'I asked you to hit the OK button. You hit the No button.' (*Action completed if the statement is false.*)
endif(*Closes the if statement.*)
What if there were three buttons? If handlers can only handle true or false questions. Since there would be more than two choices, we'll have to use process of elimination to narrow it down to only two choices. This is how it would be done:
ifsomeVariable istruethen
--do something
elseifanotherVariable istruethen
--do a second task
else
--do another task
endif
--do something
elseifanotherVariable istruethen
--do a second task
else
--do another task
endif
We have three options to test. We can only test two at a time. The first if statement tests option one and two. If option one is true, the if statement completes the first action and ends. Unlike before, we can't assume option two is true. We have to test option two. The second if statement does this. If option two is true, the if statement completes the second action and ends. Now that option three is the only one left, we can assume it is true. However, if there were four options we would have to test option three like we tested option two.
Example:
display dialog 'What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?' buttons['Chocolate', 'Vanilla', 'Neither']
ifbutton returnedofresultis'Chocolate' then
display dialog 'I prefer Vanilla.'
elseifbutton returnedofresultis'Vanilla' then
display dialog 'Same here.'
else
display dialog 'This script is too simple to find out what your preference is.'
endif
ifbutton returnedofresultis'Chocolate' then
display dialog 'I prefer Vanilla.'
elseifbutton returnedofresultis'Vanilla' then
display dialog 'Same here.'
else
display dialog 'This script is too simple to find out what your preference is.'
endif
When the user types text, it is recorded as the text returnedofresult. We can ask it if it is something, but that is unpractical. If the user was to type in their name, and AppleScript was to look for the word 'Bob' the script might never work. What if Bob typed in Îbob' or ÎBob.'? However, this can be used to see if it is not something with the use of the ¬ si sign (option-=). If I asked for your name, and you didn't type anything, AppleScript could recognize the error. We could then use the text returned in another dialog box.
Example Script:
display dialog 'What is your name?' default answer' buttons['OK'] default button'OK' (*Notice that I chose not to put anything in the text field.*)
iftext returnedofresult–' then(*This makes sure the user didn't just hit OK. You could use 'is not' instead of –*)
display dialog 'Hello ' & text returnedofresult(*See the detailed explanation about this dialog box.*)
else
display dialog 'You didn't enter a name.' (*The dialog box displayed if nothing was entered in the first dialog box.*)
endif
iftext returnedofresult–' then(*This makes sure the user didn't just hit OK. You could use 'is not' instead of –*)
display dialog 'Hello ' & text returnedofresult(*See the detailed explanation about this dialog box.*)
else
display dialog 'You didn't enter a name.' (*The dialog box displayed if nothing was entered in the first dialog box.*)
endif
Note: When you type out a dialog message you can include anything in it that can be converted to a string (plain text). In this case, I used the name the user entered. AppleScript takes Îtext returned of result' and converts it to the name I entered in the text field, 'Stephen'. You can combine different types of data with the & sign. It then converts 'Hello ' & 'Stephen' to 'Hello Stephen'. I had to make sure there was a space after Hello or the dialog box would have said 'HelloStephen'.
Make Your Own
Now that I've covered the basic dialog box, we'll use it to make an application. Let's create an application that will ask us for a URL to go to, and it will connect us to that web page with our default browser. See Figure 2 to get an idea on what I want to create.
Fg. 2 - My application design.
We will need to make a dialog box displaying the string 'Type in a URL.' This can be done with display dialog 'Type in a URL.'. We will need to add a custom icon. I've found an icon, followed the instructions on making a custom icon, and my code uses icon129. We will also have to include a text field with 'http://www.macobserver.com' as the default URL. The code default answer makes the text field, and 'http://www.macobserver.com' makes The Mac Observer the default URL. To create the two buttons we will type buttons['Cancel', 'Connect']. To make ÎConnect' the default button we'll add default button2 to the script.
Now we need to process the information given to us. First, we'll make sure that the user typed something by using an if statement. We need to make sure that the text returned of the result is not ' so we will type iftext returnedofresult&'then. Now we want to open the URL given to us. The command 'open url' does just this. If you want more information about this command, open the scripting addition 'Internet Scripting' in Script Editor. The URL is the text returned from the result. So by typing open url(text returnedofresult) we can have AppleScript open the URL in our default browser. We've completed the first action. Type else and then we'll work on the second action. We'll inform the user that he or she didn't type in a URL. A standard dialog box such as display dialog 'You didn't enter a URL.' will work. We'll limit the only button to OK and make it the default button by typing buttons['OK'] default button1. Close up the if handler with end if, save it as an application (selecting never show startup screen), and you're done.
The finished script should look like this:
display dialog 'Type in a URL.'with icon129default answer 'http://www.macobserver.com'buttons['Cancel', 'Connect']default button2
iftext returnedofresult–'then
open URL(text returnedofresult)
else
display dialog 'You didn't enter a URL.'buttons['OK'] default button1
endif
iftext returnedofresult–'then
open URL(text returnedofresult)
else
display dialog 'You didn't enter a URL.'buttons['OK'] default button1
endif
Bonus Points..
If you thought this did the same as the 'Connect To..' application, you're right! The Connect To application is just an AppleScript similar to what we have created. Doesn't that make you feel good to know that you have created an application worthy of being on every Macintosh?![Macos app development and dialogue box for user input pdf Macos app development and dialogue box for user input pdf](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126583633/470144314.png)
Explore
Feeling a little adventurous? There is a scripting addition called Dialog Director that allows you to create different types of dialog boxes. To use it, drop it onto your closed System folder to use it. The problem with Dialog Director is it can be difficult to use. Some genius decided to make a graphic interface for it. It makes it much easier to create cool dialogs now. It's called Dialog Studio.Macos App Development And Dialogue Box For User Input In Windows 10
What We Covered:
- Reviewed the if handler.
- Different Types Of Dialog Boxes.
- Using Data from the Result.
Next Time:
I'll take a break from the tutorials to write up a review of AppleScript on Mac OS X for everyone. I've played with it and so far, I see that it's going to be different, but it is going to rock!
I'll take a break from the tutorials to write up a review of AppleScript on Mac OS X for everyone. I've played with it and so far, I see that it's going to be different, but it is going to rock!
Comments or Questions? Is this column going to slow or fast for you? Do you want to script something, but don't know how? Do you need something explained or have a question about a script? My E-mail address, [email protected], is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Most Recent AppleScript Columns
Break Your Script Into Pieces with Subroutines
June 26th
June 26th
Repeat Yourself With AppleScript
June 12th
June 12th
AppleScript Lists
June 5th
June 5th
AppleScriptArchives
Back to The Mac Observer For More Mac News!