If it takes more than a second or two to gather necessary information, your action should show a progress indicator so the user knows that data is loading. For example, the Get New Mail action gets a list of email accounts and displays them in a pop-up button. Sometimes, an action must gather data to populate its interface. If your actions do this, you can provide a conversion action that doesn’t appear in a workflow, but runs behind the scenes whenever necessary to ensure compatibility between actions.Ĭommunicate progress when it takes time to populate an action’s interface. Some actions, however, produce more specialized content that Automator doesn’t understand, such as app-specific documents or objects. For example, when one action outputs files and the next inputs text, Automator automatically converts the files to text-based file paths so the workflow can proceed without fail. Automator tries to ensure compatibility between actions by performing automatic data conversions whenever possible. Most actions accept and produce common types of information, such as files, images, PDFs, and text. Provide a conversion action when one of your actions produces nonstandard output. Instead, the workflow skips over your action and proceeds on to the next. For example, the workflow shouldn't fail if your action can't locate a document to receive for input.
When an action is set to ignore its input, the workflow should continue to operate. As such, create configurable actions that can accept or ignore any input they receive. Passing information between actions in a workflow isn't always possible or desirable. To provide versatility, many actions can be configured to appear onscreen at runtime to allow on-the-fly adjustments.Īllow an action to ignore its input whenever possible. For example, a user might not want a workflow that resizes images to use the same output folder every time the workflow runs. Even well-defined workflows often require flexibility. By letting people configure actions to meet their specific needs, you magnify the usefulness of your actions.Ĭonsider letting people configure settings at runtime. You can’t always predict how people want to use your app.
Keeping actions simple ensures they can be combined in a variety of useful ways. By providing actions, you enable users to streamline their processes and integrate your app with the system and other apps in unique ways.Ĭreate narrowly-defined actions. Each additional action extends the power of Automator by letting people build a wider range of useful workflows. Your app can extend the capabilities of Automator by providing actions of its own.Ĭonsider offering at least a basic set of automator actions. The system includes actions for performing tasks in most Apple apps, including Mail, iTunes, Photos, and Safari. Actions also often include settings, which the user can adjust to refine the action’s behavior. Most actions accept information as input, and then pass information as output ( result) to the next action in the workflow. Within a workflow, information can flow from one action to the next like an assembly line.
For example, a workflow might include several actions that work together to download images from a webpage, resize them, and import them into Photos. When a workflow runs, its actions execute sequentially, working together toward a common goal.
A workflow consists of one or more actions, each of which performs a single, specialized task in the system or an app-such as opening a file, resizing an image, or opening a webpage. Automator lets people automate time consuming and repetitive tasks by constructing workflows.