Click menu item on Mac OSX Lion using AppleScript

Question

I have a problem using a simple AppleScript on Mac OSX 10.7.3. With the following simple AppleScript which I find everywhere OSX raises an error 'The action "Run AppleScript" encountered an error'

I open up the Automator, create a Service, drop in a "Run AppleScript" node and enter the following code which I assume is correct because as I said it is the way a lot of people are doing it without any complaints.

AppleScript:

tell application "Terminal" to activate
    tell application "System Events"
        tell process "Terminal"
            click menu item "New Window" of menu "Shell" of menu bar 1
            tell application "Terminal" to close the front window
        end tell
end tell

EDIT: When running in Automator I also get an error description:

Run AppleScript failes -1 error
Access for assistive devices is disabled"

This doesn't seem like a programming question but instead a "how to use" or "power user" question best asked on [su]. — Michael Dautermann, Mar 27 '12 at 13:14

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 27 '12 at 13:31

4

Is Enable access for assistive devices enabled? If so, have you tried to reenable it?

answered Mar 27 '12 at 13:31

calimarkus

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Alright. Seems to be a bug in the Mac OSX system. In `System Preferences > Universal Access` the selection box `Enable access for assistive devices` was active what is right for my intention. Now I deactivated it, ran the script again - error. Correct. Then I reactivated, ran the script again - worked! Correct! – Martin Stolz Mar 27 '12 at 13:32

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 27 '12 at 13:31

Well, I guess I'll answer the question anyways (and thanks for editing your question to give a bit more useful detail).

Go to the "Universal Access" pane in System Preferences and at the bottom of the "Seeing" tab, you'll see a "Enable access for assistive devices" checkbox.

Enable Assistive Devices Turn that on and I suspect Automator will work.

Click menu item on Mac OSX Lion using AppleScript

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