How do I automate a key press in AppleScript?

Question

Is it possible to automate the key press of a key (such as "a" or "<") in Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Safari (in this order)? I'd like to automate the key press of "a" for example in Mozilla Firefox for 100 times every x seconds. With x being a value between 1 second and 10 seconds chosen randomly at every key press. What Applescript could make the trick?

Also, where can I find a list of all codes for each key of the keyboard?

Answer 1

Here's the script you wanted:

tell application "Mozilla Firefox"
    repeat 100 times
        tell application "System Events" to keystroke "1" using command down
        delay random number from 1 to 10
    end repeat
end tell

That should work to do exactly what you asked.
For key codes:

tell application "Finder"
    activate
    tell application "System Events" to key code 18 using command down
end tell

This block will automate Cmd + 1.

That will also do the same thing:

tell application "Finder"
    activate
    tell application "System Events" to keystroke "1" using command down
end tell

Here's a key code list:


Sources:

• System Events, Key Code and Keystroke
• AppleScript key codes reference