PreFab UI Actions - PR - April 29, 2005

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PreFab UI Actions 1.1

PreFab Software updates UI Actions, bringing "universal attachability" to AppleScript, for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger

North Andover, MA -- April 29, 2005 -- PreFab Software, Inc. and Bill Cheeseman today announced the release of version 1.1 of PreFab UI Actions. UI Actions has many new features and an enhanced user interface, and it now supports all of the new GUI Scripting and accessibility enhancements introduced by Apple in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

UI Actions implements "universal attachability" for AppleScript. With UI Actions, you attach an AppleScript script to a native Mac OS X application. From then on, the script will be triggered automatically every time the user performs the actions you specify in the target application. A UI Action script can respond to all manner of user actions, such as opening or closing a window, selecting a menu item, editing a text field and many others.

PreFab UI Actions is universal. While Apple's Folder Actions and Digital Hub Actions are specialized tools that let your scripts respond when the user performs narrowly defined tasks, UI Actions goes much further. It allows any accessible user interface element in any application to trigger a script in response to any supported user action. UI Actions opens up whole new worlds of possibilities.

UI Actions 1.1 requires Mac OS X 10.3 Panther or newer, but it works best with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. It is a recommended upgrade for all customers.

Download a free, full-featured 30-day trial version of UI Actions 1.1 now at prefabsoftware.com/uiactions/. This trial version will work even if you tried an older version of UI Actions more than 30 days ago.

UI Actions 1.1 is a free upgrade for licensed users. The price for new users is $35, with quantity discounts available.

What's New in UI Actions 1.1:

UI Actions 1.1 has undergone a major makeover both for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

1. When running under Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, UI Actions 1.1 recognizes all of Apple's enhancements to GUI Scripting and accessibility in Tiger, including many new notifications to trigger your UI Action scripts, such as Title Changed, Selected Text Changed and Selected Children Changed. Read the UI Actions Version History, in the UI Actions Setup Help menu, for full details.

2. When running under Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, the UI Actions 1.1 AppleScript terminology dictionary takes full advantage of the new Tiger ability to display complete instructions about how to script it, including example scripts.

3. Whether running under Tiger or Panther, new UI Actions 1.1 AppleScript commands are now available, including commands to export and import sets of UI actions to make it easy for you to change sets for different projects. Read the UI Actions 1.1 dictionary for more information about these and other AppleScript improvements.

4. The companion UI Actions Setup application has a revamped user interface, making it much easier to attach and detach scripts and to use the new features to export, import and edit existing UI actions. YES, by popular demand, you can now edit existing UI actions! You can also now undo and redo changes to UI actions. Read the UI Actions Version History, in the UI Actions Setup Help menu, for full details about the new pop-up menus, drop targets and other features that now make it much easier to set up, review and manage your UI actions.

UI Actions 1.1 also includes several minor bug fixes.

PreFab Software, Inc. has unmatched experience controlling the GUI via scripts, releasing PreFab Player in 1994 with continued sales and support today for Mac OS 9 and earlier. In 2003, PreFab entered the world of Mac OS X with PreFab UI Browser, a popular utility to support Apple's new GUI Scripting technology. PreFab UI Actions, implementing "universal attachability" for AppleScript, followed in 2004. Download fully-functional 30-day trial versions at prefabsoftware.com/. UI Browser and UI Actions are based on Bill Cheeseman's Cocoa framework for working with Apple's accessibility API.

Updated on April 29, 2005. Send questions or comments to support@prefabsoftware.com.