Questions tagged [services]

OS X Services allow sharing data and capabilities across applications. They are invoked by the user either through the active application menu's "Services" submenu or via keyboard shortcuts, typically to act on the data selected in the currently active application.

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What is the best way to update the name of a Service?

I changed the name of a Service by navigating to /Users/Me/Library/Services/ and renaming the .workflow file in Finder. I tried restarting the computer, but the previous Service name still exists in ...
rubik's sphere's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
198 views

Services bug that prematurely activates an application

I have discovered a very strange bug with Services. To witness this behavior, please do the following: Make sure that Safari is in your Dock. Open Automator. Create a new Service. Set the service to ...
rubik's sphere's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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Is it possible to display all of the Service titles in the context menu?

When one has more than three Services in a context menu, what occurs is that they are automatically kept within a "Services" sub-menu. The user then must hover over this sub-menu before they may click ...
rubik's sphere's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
70 views

How can I restrict a Service context menu item to appear only when certain text is selected?

I am trying to figure out a way to have a Service show up in a context menu when text is selected, but if and only if that selected text is a URL. The Automator Service in question will take the ...
rubik's sphere's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Automator Service: Parent of input from files or folders

I cannot find any information on this, so I hope somebody with experience can fill in the gap. I am writing a simple Automator Service, and I can’t get past the first step. The script is a Service ...
Manngo's user avatar
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4 votes
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Wireless Networking in Single-User Mode

How to enable AirPort network (and other) services; in single-user mode? Input: (including prompt string) bash-3.2# networksetup -setairportnetwork en0 <network> [password] Output: Error ...
voices's user avatar
  • 2,199
2 votes
1 answer
654 views

Recreate an alias with the same name and timestamp programmatically

Let us develop a utility to batch process legacy alias files. Implemented as: Finder File Service, Automator Workflow, Applescript, Shellscript, or whatever else that those the job. Per each file ...
porg's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Firefox/Services menu void

The items in Firefox/Services menu disappeared after I restart my iMac, but not in every browser tab. For example, they are there and working correctly if the browser display the Help/Troubleshooting ...
Marcello's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
100 views

How to get a service working upon launch

A while ago, I wrote a few services and assigned them to key combinations. The problem is, even though services are under application's File menu item, I have to invoke it manually the first time, ...
Tolga Ozses's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
129 views

What services on macOS might leak identifiable information?

I'm looking to make a set of firewall rules in macOS for use on untrusted networks, such that no identifiable information, such as account or device identifiers, might be inadvertently leaked. macOS/...
Benjamin George Roberts's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
794 views

What com.apple.diskspaced service does?

What is the purpose of com.apple.diskspaced? What this service does exactly? $ launchctl list com.apple.diskspaced { "EnableTransactions" = true; "LimitLoadToSessionType" = "Aqua"; "...
kenorb's user avatar
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Text Services Keep Losing Their Keyboard Shortcuts in Mac OS Sierra

I keep having the repeated problem of the Mac text services losing the keyboard shortcuts that I assign to them (in System Preferences > Keyboard Pane > Shortcuts > Services), ever since upgrading to ...
Ash90's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
310 views

System Data Usage - iOS v10.0.2 AT&T

iTunes Accounts in System Services is draining over 3.5 GB of data per cycle (Settings-->Cellular-->System Services-->iTunes Accounts). I monitored it closely during this data cycle. I have disabled ...
Justin's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
2k views

Get a list of ALL services running and not and whether or not they should be running

The basic problem I am trying to solve is that a Norton Anti-Virus process got stuck soaking up one full processor, and I had to kill it. (there was also a message on the norton app that said ...
Gus's user avatar
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25 votes
3 answers
12k views

Keyboard shortcut for service only works after I manually run the service

After I assign a keyboard shortcut to initiate a service in System Preferences, I press the keyboard shortcut and nothing happens. I have to first click on the service title under the services menu (...
rubik's sphere's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
948 views

Create Service to search websites (with query)?

I would like to create a Mac Service where I could search on some websites, from applications like Scrivener. For example (with "{query}" for where the word should be): https://www.google.ca/search?q=...
samseva's user avatar
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3 answers
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macOS Sierra Preview Extra Services

When I highlight text and right click, I usually get this menu: Notice at the bottom where I have custom services such as "Custom Text To Speech" and "Add to iTunes as a Spoken Track&...
Harrison Tran's user avatar
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1 answer
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Is there a way to add Services to the Trash Can's context menu?

I am wondering if there is a way to add custom Services to the Trash Can's context menu (specifically the context menu that appears when right clicking the Trash Can from the dock rather than in a ...
Alison E.E.'s user avatar
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41 votes
10 answers
37k views

What is CalNCService and why does it run hot in macOS Sierra?

Since the upgrade to macOS Sierra I occasionally see a service CalNCService running hot (i.e. on 100% CPU). So going from the name, this seems to be some Calendar Service. I tried disabling Calendars ...
Thomas's user avatar
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OSX service with custom user does not write Java Preferences

This is the setup: OSX Yosemite Java based service that is being started using a LaunchDaemon The service is started with a custom user that is being created during installation The user has a custom ...
gamma's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
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How can I set up DNS for Bonjour and AirPrint to advertise printers across subnets

Several printers do not stay connected to clients--even though everything has static ip addresses--and they are not searchable across networks i.e. they do not appear with Bonjour. Ideally I would ...
forgotstackxpassword's user avatar
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1 answer
83 views

iTunes keyboard shortcut service only works when in focus

I have created an Applescript that will favorite the current track. I saved it as a service, and gave it a shortcut. on run {input, parameters} tell application "iTunes" set loved of ...
stands2reason's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
7k views

Finder - No Services Apply

I have services set up, particularly the one for opening Terminal from a folder. However, it doesn't appear in the context menu and in Finder > Services, there is nothing except "No services apply" ...
Kevmon's user avatar
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1 answer
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Malware caused "Search With Google" service to be named "Search With Trovi"

I'm dealing with a Mac that has been affected by some kind of Trovi malware - I've managed to undo most of the changes but there is still one I can't figure out. The malware renamed the "Search With ...
Ross's user avatar
  • 103
4 votes
0 answers
604 views

Executing "Copy Dropbox Link" with a script

I want to create a script that executes the command from the contextual (control-click) menu, "Copy Dropbox Link". How can I access this command with Applescript (or any other Mac scripting service)? ...
Crowder's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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AppleScript input text from user

tell application "Reminders" set newReminder to make new reminder set name of newReminder to "Text" set due date of newReminder to current date end tell How can I set the name of ...
user5154841's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
330 views

Can one install Automator .workflow services via Terminal without user consent?

I know I can just use open command on these files to run them and the user will be prompted with an option to install them. Can I install such services silently though?
Arthmost's user avatar
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1 answer
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Packaging a self-made service with dependancies — possible?

So I wrote a small service (a couple of services, really) which basically lets a user capture its screen (full screen or an area) and then make edits if necessary and then it uploads it directly to ...
Arthmost's user avatar
  • 363
1 vote
1 answer
169 views

Is it possible to have a variable in the title of an Automator Service file?

When one right-clicks selected text on a Mac, one is presented with various contextual menu items. You may notice that some of the item titles contain the selected text. For example, the Dictionary....
rubik's sphere's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Suppressing an error completely in AppleScript?

So I wrote a small service that, when hotkey is pressed, captures a screenshot, uploads it to imgur and copies the link to the buffer. Thing is, if for some reason I decide NOT to capture anything and ...
Arthmost's user avatar
  • 363
1 vote
1 answer
44 views

Different Computer Modes for MBP

Is there a way to set different modes on my Macbook Pro. For example, I use my MBP for work, school and home. When I am at school I do not have my macbook plugged in to a charger and have to choosy as ...
Joshua Wieczorek's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
43 views

Configuring application servers to run as service daemons?

Mac 10.9.5 here. I am trying to figure out how to configured my machine to run an executable (Java) app as a service/daemon, so that it is always running so long as the machine is on. Hence, this app ...
smeeb's user avatar
  • 375
2 votes
0 answers
446 views

'Add notes' to a Calendar event using Automator

I would like to build a 'Service' for selected text which: Get the currently selected text Creates an Calendar event adds the selected text as a 'note' for that Calendar event I prefer Automator for ...
CousinCocaine's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
779 views

Run nrpe on boot w/o a logged in user

Running a Mac mini with server app. (El Capitan 10.11.4 & Server.app 5.1) Installed Xcode, brew, and nrpe via brew. Works fine as such. It's not sensible to have to remote desktop to it and log ...
tink's user avatar
  • 236
11 votes
4 answers
10k views

Automator service not showing in services menu

I know next to nothing about the OS X, but I've been asked to make a few different scripts for actions in Apple Mail. One is to bind a hotkey that will create a reminder with a followup time of two ...
dragoncmd's user avatar
  • 241
7 votes
1 answer
15k views

How to create a service (shown in the context menu on the URL) in Safari?

I want to create a service which will be shown in the context menu when I right-click on any link in the Safari (need get the URL into the service). This is my current contextual services menu on the ...
clt60's user avatar
  • 8,439
0 votes
1 answer
94 views

Reset "New Terminal at Folder" placement in context menu

Before when I enabled the option to open a new Terminal window from a certain folder, my context menu looked like this: Now it looks like this: How can I go back to having just the one option in the ...
intcreator's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

How to create a service that puts selected text into quotation marks?

I'd like to create a service that puts any text I select in TextEdit or web page text editors into quotation marks. I understand Automator is the tool to use, but how do I create this action using ...
Dictionarics Anonymous's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Automator Service to insert text only available when text is selected

I'm trying to make an Automator Service to insert the current date. I have one that works but it is only available in the Services menu when text is selected. I need it to be available when there is ...
owler's user avatar
  • 149
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

How can I use the automator to create text-to-speech service that talks faster than the current service?

The text-to-speech service has a speaking rate option that goes from slow to fast. But the fast option is not fast enough (its 300 words per minute). I just tried to create a service. I simply ...
relidon's user avatar
  • 231
2 votes
1 answer
629 views

Refreshing the category of an Automator service

I'm trying to use Automator to create a simple service (open selected file in MacVim). Originally I (incorrectly) specified that the service accepts selected text as input. I have changed it later to ...
Sergej Koščejev's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

Remove items from conextual menu?

I used this thread to make my own "Search with Chrome" Service. But when i right click some highlighted text in Preview.app it lists both "Search with Google" and "Search with Chrome." "Search with ...
Aaron Silman's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
76 views

OSX Services - character substitution + for _

I've created a service to use primarily in a browser for searching IMDB, so instead of copying and pasting the film's name I just select the text and run the service I created which will automatically ...
Frasier013's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
333 views

Automator PDF contact sheet not using all images

I've used Automator to create a service that creates all selected images into a contact sheet. For some reason, the service doesn't want to use all the images; I have a selection of 42 images but only ...
R21's user avatar
  • 141
1 vote
1 answer
59 views

Strange behaviour of services menu in some apps

For my own purposes, I created service named "Launch Terminal" which, naturally, launches terminal. I've edited it few times, then renamed, moved to iCloud, then again edited and finally copied to a ...
assp1r1n3's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
493 views

Automator service script ALWAYS launches application, disregarding conditional

I wrote a little service script to open an iTerm terminal window on an arbitrary folder on Finder. I want it to check if iTerm is running, and if it is to open the terminal session in a new tab ...
yivi's user avatar
  • 131
2 votes
2 answers
175 views

Using `say` to create my own audiobooks

I like the idea of being able to select a bunch of text and have it saved as an audio file and/or simply read back to me using OS X's default say functionality. It's almost like I can create my own ...
voices's user avatar
  • 2,199
1 vote
0 answers
1k views

running python script of global keyboard shortcut in OSx

Hi I wrote a python script to get the size of the file of which I have URL I copied from browser or anywhere; I wanted to create a global keyboard shortcut so I tried to create using Automator > ...
Ciasto piekarz's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
7k views

launchctl doesn't start cntlm daemon

I've installed cntlm on osx using the homebrew formula. Then I've copied the .plist file and started the daemon: sudo cp -fv /usr/local/opt/cntlm/*.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons sudo chown root /...
lifeisfoo's user avatar
  • 133
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

OS X: How to lock down these frivolous protocols!

I ran a port scan on my Mac (OS X 10.9.4 if its relevant) and i realised all these random protocols with next to no explanation on the internet. 2 of the most unusual protocols include ndl-aas and ...
user4493605's user avatar