Display and update applescript output in background - dialog

Question

I have a short and sweet program that outputs my internal and external ip in applescript.
Here it is the Applescript code:
set inIP to IPv4 address of (get system info)
set exIP to (do shell script "curl ipecho.net/plain")
display dialog "Internal: " & inIP & "
External: " & exIP
I would like it to constantly update in the background and preferably not in a display dialog function as it does at the moment.
I do not want a display dialog constantly popping up so I am looking for example, displaying the IPs in the menu bar.
I do not know if this is possible to do with Applescript

Answer 1

As from 10.10 (i Think) you can create real application using ApplescriptOBJC directly in Script Editor.
I have not really tried it before but once you get going it is easier than I expected.
Paste this code in a new Script Editor Applescript document.
Save it as a Stay open Application using the Save as… menu option.
Then run the app as a normal application.
Using the OP's original applescript code
use AppleScript version "2.4"
use scripting additions
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
property StatusItem : missing value
-- check we are running in foreground - YOU MUST RUN AS APPLICATION. to be thread safe and not crash
if not (current application's NSThread's isMainThread()) as boolean then
display alert "This script must be run from the main thread." buttons {"Cancel"} as critical
error number -128
end if
-- create an NSStatusBar
on makeStatusBar()
set bar to current application's NSStatusBar's systemStatusBar
set StatusItem to bar's statusItemWithLength:-1.0
-- set up the initial NSStatusBars title
StatusItem's setTitle:"IP"
end makeStatusBar
-- update statusBar
on displayIP(theDisplay)
StatusItem's setTitle:theDisplay
end displayIP
--repeat run update code
on idle
--get the IPs
set inIP to IPv4 address of (get system info)
set exIP to (do shell script "curl ipecho.net/plain")
set theDisplay to "Internal: " & inIP & " External: " & exIP
my displayIP(theDisplay)
return 30 -- run every 30 seconds
end idle
-- call to create initial NSStatusBar
my makeStatusBar()
The app is set to run every 30 seconds.
It will update a status bar menu in the menu bar with your ips.
I have not put any error checking in and leave that to you.
Also remember if you want to run the code while in Script Editor then make sure you use "Run Application".
Update:1
I have changed the internal IP address code to use NShost which is quicker and probably more reliable than the "get system info"
Update:2
Update the external code to use a NSURL request rather than the Original Curl do shell script command.
This allows for easier error checks if the is a failure in obtaining the external ip address due to no network connection...etc.
Curl will return a whole log of info as to why it failed and be IMHO a pain.
Updated applescript code
use AppleScript version "2.4"
use scripting additions
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
property StatusItem : missing value
-- check we are running in foreground - YOU MUST RUN AS APPLICATION. to be thread safe and not crash
if not (current application's NSThread's isMainThread()) as boolean then
display alert "This script must be run from the main thread." buttons {"Cancel"} as critical
error number -128
end if
-- create an NSStatusBar
on makeStatusBar()
set bar to current application's NSStatusBar's systemStatusBar
set StatusItem to bar's statusItemWithLength:-1.0
-- set up the initial NSStatusBars title
StatusItem's setTitle:"IP"
end makeStatusBar
-- update statusBar
on displayIP(theDisplay)
StatusItem's setTitle:theDisplay
end displayIP
--repeat run update code
on idle
--get the IPs
set stringAddress to ""
--use NSHost to get the Internal IP address
set inIPAddresses to current application's NSHost's currentHost's addresses
--work through each item to find the IP
repeat with i from 1 to number of items in inIPAddresses
set anAddress to (current application's NSString's stringWithString:(item i of inIPAddresses))
set ipCheck to (anAddress's componentsSeparatedByString:".")
set the Counter to (count of ipCheck)
if (anAddress as string) does not start with "127" then
if Counter is equal to 4 then
set stringAddress to anAddress
-- found a match lets exit the repeat
exit repeat
end if
else
set stringAddress to "Not available"
end if
end repeat
-- Get extenal IP
set anError to missing value
set iPURL to (current application's NSURL's URLWithString:"http://ipecho.net/plain")
set NSUTF8StringEncoding to 4
set exIP to (current application's NSString's stringWithContentsOfURL:iPURL encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding |error|:anError) as string
if exIP contains missing value then
set exIP to "Not available"
end if
set theDisplay to "Intl: " & stringAddress & " Extnl: " & exIP
--call to update statusBar
my displayIP(theDisplay)
return 30 -- run every 30 seconds
end idle
-- call to create initial NSStatusBar
my makeStatusBar()
UPDATE 3
This one will do as the OP asked in the comments.
It now has a drop down menu with two options External or Internal.
Select one or the other menu item will change the status bar to show the chosen IP.
This last one was thrown together quickly so it is not pretty. :-)
( UPDATE 4 It also persists the selection on quitting the app and relaunching. )
New code:
use AppleScript version "2.4"
use scripting additions
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
property StatusItem : missing value
property selectedMenu : "" -- each menu action will set this to a number, this will determin which IP is shown
property theDisplay : ""
property defaults : class "NSUserDefaults"
-- check we are running in foreground - YOU MUST RUN AS APPLICATION. to be thread safe and not crash
if not (current application's NSThread's isMainThread()) as boolean then
display alert "This script must be run from the main thread." buttons {"Cancel"} as critical
error number -128
end if
-- create an NSStatusBar
on makeStatusBar()
set bar to current application's NSStatusBar's systemStatusBar
set StatusItem to bar's statusItemWithLength:-1.0
-- set up the initial NSStatusBars title
StatusItem's setTitle:"IP"
set newMenu to current application's NSMenu's alloc()'s initWithTitle:"Custom"
set internalMenuItem to current application's NSMenuItem's alloc()'s initWithTitle:"Internal" action:"showInternal:" keyEquivalent:""
set externalMenuItem to current application's NSMenuItem's alloc()'s initWithTitle:"External" action:"showIExternal:" keyEquivalent:""
StatusItem's setMenu:newMenu
newMenu's addItem:internalMenuItem
newMenu's addItem:externalMenuItem
internalMenuItem's setTarget:me
externalMenuItem's setTarget:me
end makeStatusBar
--Show Internal ip Action
on showInternal:sender
defaults's setObject:"1" forKey:"selectedMenu"
my runTheCode()
end showInternal:
--Show External ip Action
on showIExternal:sender
defaults's setObject:"2" forKey:"selectedMenu"
my runTheCode()
end showIExternal:
-- update statusBar
on displayIP(theDisplay)
StatusItem's setTitle:theDisplay
end displayIP
on runTheCode()
set stringAddress to ""
--use NSHost to get the Internal IP address
set inIPAddresses to current application's NSHost's currentHost's addresses
--work through each item to find the IP
repeat with i from 1 to number of items in inIPAddresses
set anAddress to (current application's NSString's stringWithString:(item i of inIPAddresses))
set ipCheck to (anAddress's componentsSeparatedByString:".")
set the Counter to (count of ipCheck)
if (anAddress as string) does not start with "127" then
if Counter is equal to 4 then
set stringAddress to anAddress
-- found a match lets exit the repeat
exit repeat
end if
else
set stringAddress to "Not available"
end if
end repeat
-- Get extenal IP
set anError to missing value
set iPURL to (current application's NSURL's URLWithString:"http://ipecho.net/plain")
set NSUTF8StringEncoding to 4
set exIP to (current application's NSString's stringWithContentsOfURL:iPURL encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding |error|:anError) as string
if exIP contains missing value then
set exIP to "Not available"
end if
set selectedMenu to (defaults's stringForKey:"selectedMenu") as string
if selectedMenu is "" or selectedMenu contains missing value then
set selectedMenu to "1"
end if
if selectedMenu is "1" then
set theDisplay to "Intl: " & stringAddress
else if selectedMenu is "2" then
set theDisplay to " Extnl: " & exIP
end if
--call to update statusBar
my displayIP(theDisplay)
end runTheCode
--repeat run update code
on idle
my runTheCode()
--my displayIP(theDisplay)
return 30 -- run every 30 seconds
end idle
-- call to create initial NSStatusBar
set defaults to current application's NSUserDefaults's standardUserDefaults
my makeStatusBar()