A while back, [John Gruber][df] posted a [FastScripts][fast] [script][ntp] to
fix a loathsome Apple Mail behavior, which was shortly followed by
[signature-enabled][ntps] improvements. Fourteen short weeks later, here’s
my own version:
tell application “Mail” to activate
tell application “System Events”
tell process “Mail”
– Run the regular “Reply” command
tell menu bar 1
click menu bar item “Message”‘s menu “Message”‘s menu item “Reply”
end tell
delay 1.0 — Give it a chance to finish
– Remember what signature was selected and switch to “None”
set blib to value of (pop up button 1 of window 1)
if blib is not “None” then
click pop up button 1 of window 1 — The Signature popup
click menu item “None” of menu 1 of pop up button 1 of window 1
delay 0.2
end if
– Delete the return Mail inserted; recreate it at the bottom where it belongs
key code 117 — Forward delete
key code 125 using command down — Command-down (skip to the end)
key code 36 — Return
– Restore the previously selected Signature
if blib is not “None” then
click pop up button 1 of window 1 — Still the Signature popup
click menu item blib of menu 1 of pop up button 1 of window 1
delay 0.2
key code 117 — Mail inserts a bonus line here too
end if
end tell
end tell
{: lang=applescript }
One drawback that I maintain from John’s original is the use of a time delay —
I have other scripts that use them, and for each of them I occasionally have
the script fail because my machine is a little busier that day.[^pbook] That
being said, this script usually runs correctly.
My improvement is how I deal with arbitrary signatures. If you pick a
different signature (or no signature) from the popup menu in the compose
window, Mail updates the message correctly — so I just use that behavior
to do the messy bits.
[df]: http://daringfireball.net/
[fast]: http://www.red-sweater.com/fastscripts/
[ntp]: http://daringfireball.net/2007/07/non_top_posting_scripts (Non-Top-Posting Reply Scripts for Apple Mail)
[ntps]: http://makkintosshu.dyndns.org/journal/non-top-posting-reply-scripts-for-apple-mail-with-signature-support
[^pbook]: Yes I’m still using a PowerBook — what’s that got to do with anything?
