Media and Productivity Solutions for OS X
An overview of Accelerando
If you would like all the details and all the explanations, you can download Accelerando’s User Guide from the Downloads page.
Accelerando is a sizable collection of utilities which have been designed to allow you to accomplish more in less time by condensing your commands and actions.
Accelerando accomplishes this primarily in two ways:
1) By integrating with other scripting utilities and OS X and allowing you to access and invoke your workflows and scripts very quickly - in a way that suits your workflow. This is presented primarily through Accelerando the application.
2) By providing several tools which expand the capabilities of what you can accomplish. This is presented through Automator Actions and Accelerando, the application.
By enabling you to perform multiple user-defined commands and actions within a single invocation, redundant tasks which would normally be too tedious or time consuming to do by hand can now be performed very quickly. Accelerando allows you to work faster and smarter.
Accelerando offers two primary interfaces - although each interface has unique merits and capabilities.
1) Accelerando - the application
Accelerando provides fast access to your Script Library. It is designed to invoke, open, run, or communicate and control other applications. Accelerando includes several means to accomplish these tasks. First, it provides a overview of your script library. Using this overview, you can easily find and run any of several supported formats of scripts or workflows. Links are available for when you know you want to keep a script nearby. Links allow you to put thousands of scripts or workflows just keystrokes away. If Links still aren't convenient enough for you, you can assign Key Commands to perform many of Accelerando's invocation tasks. Using Accelerando, you can assign a Key Command to Accelerando or Globally (System-Wide). This assignment can then be easily configured to perform an action such as run an Object from your Script Library, Perform a Link, Launch Applications, Files, Reveal Finder Locations, Run a Shell Command, Run Workflows which are open in Automator... you get the idea. Furthermore, many of these actions can be assigned several arguments - If you would like to assign a Global Key Command that Performs 5 Links at once, you can!
If you already have exposure to a scripting language or environment, you can use Accelerando to accomplish even more. Accelerando is designed to integrate well with other scripting environments and it provides the tools to access them more quickly. Accelerando's interface allows you to access what you need, what you use and are familiar with. For example, if you know how to write a shell script, you can utilize multiple capabilities Accelerando offers in this regard. If you do not write shell scripts, it will not limit Accelerando's overall feature set and these capabilities will stay largely out of sight. You will still be able to utilize Accelerando's potential to run Automator workflows, Applescripts or whatever else may exist in your Script Library.
2) Automator Actions
Accelerando 0.9.6 includes 60 Automator Actions. These actions provide several tools to consolidate what you do every day. When used with Accelerando, you can easily create an impressive library of macros for everything you do several times a day and access them instantly. These Automator Actions may be used as building blocks for scripting and automation - for people with no scripting experience and advanced users alike.
Much power lies in Accelerando's Automator Actions. They offer a modular, streamlined way to create scripts so you can accomplish more in less time - and with less effort. Thanks to Accelerando's intuitive interfaces, prior scripting or programming experience is not necessary. The benefits of using Accelerando in conjunction with an application will increase naturally as you learn more about that application's features and capabilities. Once you are familiar with the Actions you will use, workflows can be developed very quickly. Creating a workflow is simple: arrange actions in a sequence, configure a few parameters, test your workflow, then save it for reuse - and immediate anytime access from Accelerando (the application).
Most of Accelerando's actions with multiple parameters now include a Preset Manage
r. The Preset Manager is designed to offer the most efficient way to Load and Save parameters for Accelerando's actions - this is possible because the Preset Manager maintains perspective of the Automator Action's environment. Usually, all you will need to do to Load or Save a Preset is type the first few letters, confirm from a list of matches and press a button to Load, or Save, or Overwrite.
Accelerando includes many Automator Actions which can be used with any application. Additionally, Accelerando includes Automator Actions which are application specific. These application specific actions fall into three primary categories: General Use, Multimedia and Audio Production, and Programmers and Developers in general. Application specific actions are a great way to reduce even more steps when you create workflows. While these actions may seem redundant at first glance, they obscure several details regarding configuration, setup, or debugging while providing tight integration with the Preset Manager - thereby allowing you to focus on your work.
Even if there is not an application specific action for the application you with to control, Accelerando does offer similar Actions for use with any application. Although you will lose some integration and a few seconds configuring a workflow, you can use Accelerando to control virtually any application in these regards.
Accelerando FAQ
How much does Accelerando cost?
Accelerando early registration licenses are available for $19.95 (US). These licenses will be upgraded to full 1.0 licenses at no charge when 1.0 is available. Please contact sales for Educational or Volume Licenses.
How can I purchase Accelerando?
Accelerando is available for purchase via an integrated seller from within the Accelerando application. When you launch Accelerando, you will be given an opportunity to register.
I am new to scripting and automation - What is Automator?
Automator is an application which is included with every license of Mac OS X - 10.4 and 10.5, a.k.a Tiger and Leopard. Automator offers an easy way for users of any scripting level to create workflows for their routine tasks.
How does Automator work?
Automator Actions are plugins, or extensions for Automator. Automator is able to load Actions from any developer, so the possibilities of what can be automated are practically limitless - provided somebody develops a corresponding Automator Action for the task.
A set of Actions designed to perform a specific task is a workflow. To create a workflow, simply drag actions in the order they should be performed and configure the actions to do what you would like. Run your workflow, then save your workflow for reuse.
Why does Accelerando use Automator?
Integration. By building on Automator's foundation, you can incorporate Actions from other developers easily. Automating applications and working with the file system is very easy, and you can incorporate anyone's Actions into your workflows.
In Leopard (10.5), third party developers have the ability to load, edit and run Automator workflows from within their application - this can be described as the Automator application residing directly within an application. Now there is a new standard plugin format for scripting and Automation available to every developer. This is very exciting - it means you can load any Automator Action, including Accelerando’s Actions directly within any application that adopts this new technology, and run workflows from within them.
I have heard my application does not support scripting, or it does not allow scripting of what I would like to control - How will these actions work?
Much of Accelerando's scripting is not actually scripting from Applescript’s perspective (for example). Many of Accelerando’s Actions provide a portal to accomplish what you need to by simulating User Input - though Accelerando does not strive for simply User Input simulation. As a result, nearly any OS X application is available for you to control in ways you may have only imagined.
Accelerando is a System
Accelerando can be described as a network of Applications, utilities and tools which communicate with each other and integrate and communicate with many applications throughout OS X. Accelerando provides clean, intuitive, and easily configured interfaces for each element you interact with. It is ultimately a collection of Productivity Tools - you can customize much, you can quickly and easily create and access powerful workflows and scripts using it which help you accomplish more. It has the potential to provide new and experienced users much of this power quickly and easily. It is also highly configurable and easily portable - You do not need to do much to setup, build, configure, migrate, or synchronize your Script Library, when you are ready. The interfaces are clean and several of the tools do a specific task that requires minimal setup or configuration. This makes it flexible enough for you to script what you’d like - easily. Here’s what Accelerando includes:
Applications
Accelerando
Synapse -- but you probably wouldn’t know if I hadn’t told you since Synapse runs in the background
External Editor Utility
External Editor Utility is presently available as a separate download, and will only useful for registered Accelerando users.
Automator Actions
Actions which can be used with or in conjunction with nearly any application
Click at Position
Comment Automator Action
Copy Text to Pasteboard
Fast Iterate 3
Fast Iterate 9
Key Command
Perform Link
Position Cursor
Position Window
Postflight Error Handler
Reveal Finder Location
Scroll Wheel
Select Menu Item
Set External Editor Utility Reference
Actions which are designed to work with particular applications
Accelerando
A-Activate Accelerando
A-Fast Iterate 3
A-Fast Iterate 9
A-Key Command
Apple Loops Utility
ALU-Activate Apple Loops Utility
ALU-Fast Iterate 3
ALU-Fast Iterate 9
ALU-Key Command
Finder
FDR-Activate Finder
FDR-Fast Iterate 3
FDR-Fast Iterate 9
FDR-Key Command
Interface Builder
IB-Activate Interface Builder
IB-Fast Iterate 3
IB-Fast Iterate 9
IB-Key Command
Logic Pro
LP-Activate Logic Pro
LP-Fast Iterate 3
LP-Fast Iterate 9
LP-Key Command
LP-Recall Screenset
LP-Set External Sample Editor
Peak Pro 5.2
Peak-Activate Peak
Peak-Fast Iterate 3
Peak-Fast Iterate 9
Peak-Key Command
Sample Manager
SM-Activate Sample Manager
SM-Fast Iterate 3
SM-Fast Iterate 9
SM-Key Command
Soundtrack Pro
SP-Activate Soundtrack Pro
SP-Fast Iterate 3
SP-Fast Iterate 9
SP-Key Command
TextMate
TM-Activate TextMate
TM-Fast Iterate 3
TM-Fast Iterate 9
TM-Key Command
WaveBurner
WB-Activate WaveBurner
WB-Fast Iterate 3
WB-Fast Iterate 9
WB-Key Command
Xcode
XC-Activate Xcode
XC-Fast Iterate 3
XC-Fast Iterate 9
XC-Key Command
Links
For a more thorough introduction to Automator, visit: Apple's Automator pages
Apple, OS X, Automator, Apple Loops Utility, Finder, iTunes, Logic Pro, Interface Builder, Soundtrack Pro, QuickTime, WaveBurner, and Xcode are trademarks and/or software of Apple Computer, Inc. http://www.apple.com/
Sample Manager is a trademark and/or software of Audiofile Engineering, LLC http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/
Copyright © 2006-2007 Eigentone Research, LLC