Here’s how to open a file with Script Debugger. The result of opening a script file is either a script window or a tab within a script window.

New Script Window

To make a new script window, choose File > New Script or, if you’d like to summon the template chooser, choose File > New Script From Template.

What happens when you choose File > New Script depends on your settings in Script Debugger’s General preferences, under “For New Documents”:

• If you’ve selected “Show Template Chooser”, the template chooser appears. From here, you can select the kind of script you want to create. In most cases this will be AppleScript > AppleScript (for a normal compiled script file) or Applications > Applet (for an applet).

• If you’ve selected “Use template”, the kind of script you’ve specified as the default is created, without displaying the template chooser. To specify a kind of script as the default, click the Choose Template button in the General preferences pane and use the template chooser to specify a template. In most cases this will be AppleScript > AppleScript.

  (Even if you’ve selected “Use template”, you can still summon the template chooser at any time by choosing File > New Script From Template.)

(Also, there are various ways that you can make a new script targeting a particular application.)

Here’s how to set the size and view configuration that a new script window will adopt.

New Script Tab

To make a new script tab within the frontmost script window, choose File > New Script Tab or, if you’d like to summon the template chooser, choose File > New Script Tab From Template.

Alternatively, if the window already has a tab, press the “plus” button to the right of the last tab.

What happens when you choose File > New Script Tab (or press the “plus” button) depends on your settings in Script Debugger’s General preferences, under “For New Documents”, in exactly the same way as for File > New Script. See the discussion earlier on this page.

Click here to learn all about tabs in a Script Debugger script window.

Open Existing Script

To open an existing script, do any of the following:

• Choose File > Open.
• If you’ve recently had this script open, choose it from File > Recent Scripts.
• Drag and drop the script file onto Script Debugger’s icon in the Finder or the Dock.
• If Script Debugger is the owner of script file types, double-click the script file in the Finder. (But that doesn’t work for an applet, since by default when an applet is opened from the Finder, it runs.)

Whether an existing script opens as a separate window or as a tab within the frontmost window depends on a General preference; under Opening Documents, check or uncheck “Open in Tabs”. To reverse your setting on a particular occasion, hold the Shift key as you open a script.

A General preference lets you tell Script Debugger to warn you if opening an existing script might cause an application to launch.

Learn what files Script Debugger can open.

Learn how Script Debugger can help when there’s trouble opening a file.