One thing RapidWeaver does poorly — at this current moment — is help the end user determine the product version they are using on any given 3rd party add-on. Knowing your add-ons (theme or plugin) version number is critical when asking for support and is often one of the first things the developer will ask you for.

If you know where the add-ons are kept (~/Library/Application Support/RapidWeaver/) then you might be able to determine a plugin or themes version number with the Finder, or if you have RapidWeaver open you can find out a plugin’s version by opening the plugin browser, or if you show a themes package contents and…

Well, I like to have these sorts of things at my fingertips and do as little thinking as possible, so I wrote an AppleScript to gather this information for me no matter where I am or what I am doing*:

-- file types to choose from
set rwTypeArray to {"Theme", "Plugin"}

-- choose from those file types
set rwTypeLong to {choose from list rwTypeArray ¬
    with prompt "Which RapidWeaver product type ¬
        you like to find the version of?" ¬
    with title "Theme or Plugin"} as string

-- logic from result
if rwTypeLong is "Theme" then
    set rwType to "rwtheme"
else
    set rwType to "rwplugin"
end if

-- get name of hard drive
tell application "System Events"
    set diskName to (get name of startup disk) as string
end tell

-- get name of user
set userName to (do shell script "whoami") as string

-- select file from RW directory
tell application "Finder"
    set rwFile to (choose file with prompt ¬
        "Please select your RapidWeaver " & rwTypeLong & ":" ¬
        default location (diskName & ":Users:" & userName & ¬
            ":Library:Application Support:RapidWeaver" as alias) ¬
        of type rwType without invisibles)

    -- read version number
    tell application "System Events"
        set rwInfo to (get version of the file (rwFile as string))
    end tell

    -- and display it
    if rwInfo = "" then
        display dialog ¬
            "It seems that your " & rwTypeLong & ¬
                " doesn't have a version number that I can read. ¬
                Sorry.\n\n¬
                Would you like me to reveal it's ¬
                package contents for you?" ¬
            buttons {"Cancel", "Yes"} default button (2)
        set rwPath to rwFile & "Contents" as text
        open rwPath
    else
        display dialog "The version information:\n\n" & rwInfo & ¬
            "\n\n ...has been copied to your clipboard." ¬
        buttons {"OK"} default button (1)
        -- copy to clipboard
        set the clipboard to rwInfo

    end if
end tell

Notes

* If a theme is to have it’s version number read, it must have an Info.plist in it’s package contents. Some theme developers do not include this file. For those that don’t, the script will reveal the theme’s package contents so that you can inspect the version number at the bottom of the Theme.plist file

Download

Get your fresh copy of RapidWeaver_Addons_version.scpt from CodeCollector.net

Tags: app, apple, applescript, browser, code, copy, develop, developer, finder, hard drive, path, plist, plugin, rapidweaver, rw, script, seydoggy, shell, theme, tips

Late last week RapidWeaver by Realmac Software took top honors in a group review found in the June issue MacFormat. This well deserved bestowing of kudos comes at a time when RapidWeaver’s development seems to be kicking into high gear with the release of version 4.2.3;

We’re absolutely thrilled to see RapidWeaver take the honours in a large group test, and to keep people weaving even more rapidly, we’re also releasing RapidWeaver 4.2.3 today – an update that we strongly encourage all RapidWeaver 4.2.2 users to download. This update fixes a number of issues, including linking to blog posts and assets, as well as significant improvements in memory usage when saving files.

This is the exact sort of thing that allows us to be full time RapidWeaver theme developers. It’s the care and attention that Realmac Software puts into it’s products, not only making them look good but addressing the needs of their users and continually pushing to make the product better all the time.

Tags: developer, mac, rapidweaver, Realmac Software, seydoggy, theme

There are so many cases when a developer can feel proud; new product launches, mention in the media, collaboration with other developers and so on… but nothing can quite compare to seeing your work and efforts brilliantly used in a manner that really make you look good. That’s the case for me today when I saw the relaunch of the popular site and RapidWeaver resource, RapidWeaver Classroom.

Ryan and I have worked closely together in the past. He’s created some tutorial movies for us and we have both been active in cross promoting each others services. Ryan is an absolute wizard when it comes to RapidWeaver usage and his students say his approach is kind, patient and always measured. So when Ryan asked if I could create a custom theme for his new site, I jumped at the opportunity.

Ryan knew exactly what he wanted and being the expert in RapidWeaver that he is, I knew he would have no trouble expressing his needs. We had a working draft in about a days time and we were able to nail down the final version in very little time.

Now that I have seen the final result, I can see why Ryan’s students sing his praises. He is truly a consummate professional in RapidWeaver circles.

Tags: app, Classroom, create, custom, develop, developer, media, rapidweaver, seydoggy, son, theme