Just follow how Dave Taylor processes both syntax and logic and the information gleaned will 

help in cross platform situations. He points out the issues between Shells and Unices in each 

platform environment. The formula is; list the code, than explain how it works, run the script and 

see the expected results. As with most  Code  books, there are inevitable printing issues and 

since the book was released in January 2005, there have been a few verified gotchas, so go to the 

Oopsies link early on, so you don't get frustrated. Also check out the follow up,  Hacking the 

Script  pieces to learn how to possibly tweak the code even further. 

Heck, even Kirk McElhearn recommends this book in his "The Mac OS X Command Line: Unix 

Under the Hood" and that recommendation is good enough for me. 

There are 12 chapters and an afterward. 

Now, with Automator and AppleScripting improvements, maybe you will find a thing or two 

here that you can use too, if you use Mac OS X Tiger, so others can be wowed by your 

supergeekiness! 

  MPN, LLC 2005 macCompanion 

Page 58 

August 2005, Volume 3 Issue 8