OS X 10.3(.2?) Breaks GURLGURL - SOLUTION

[Ken Ray]

> > Just quick comment that was posted on the SUperCard list that I 
> > verified for myself: OS 10.3 (I'm not sure it it was 10.3, 
> 10.3.1 or 
> > 10.3.2) has broken the basic method of opening a web page using 
> > "send".
> > 
> > Under 10.2.8, the following works:
> > 
> > send "http://www.apple.com/" to program "Finder" with "GURLGURL"
> > 
> > However in 10.3.2, it does not. It returns:
> > 
> > Got error -1703 when sending Apple event
> > 
> > This is not a Rev error, but an OS error, as SuperCarders are also 
> > experiencing the same behavior. This is just a "heads up" 
> in case you 
> > use this call...
> 
> Is there a workaround?

It turns out that the Finder is broken in 10.3.2 in relation to these
kinds of AppleEvents. In fact, if you try to do this:

  tell app "Finder"
    open location "http://www.runrev.com/"
  end tell

you get an error:

  "Finder got an error: Some data was the wrong type."

However, the "open location" command is part of the Standard Additions
scripting addition and *should* work with all programs (just like
"display dialog" would). In fact, any of these work fine:

  tell app "Safari"
    open location "http://www.runrev.com/"
  end tell

  tell app "System Events"
    open location "http://www.runrev.com/"
  end tell

  tell app "TextEdit"
    open location "http://www.runrev.com/"
  end tell

So... somehow 10.3.2 screwed up the Finder in regard to AppleEvents. I'd
be curious to know how far this extended - we've already identified that
it can't accept 'GURLGURL' AppleEvents, and can't respond to "open
location" AppleScript - please post any other oddities with the 10.3.2
Finder that you all encounter. I'll compile a list and post it my site.

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Email: kray at sonsothunder.com
Web Site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/