Running Mac OS X Tiger

Chapter 13. Automating Tasks

Mac OS X Tiger has an unprecedented number of tools for automating tasks on your machine. From the ease of Automator to the intricacies of shell scripting, this chapter discusses using Tiger’s tools to take the tedium out of using your Mac. It also covers using iCal and cron to schedule tasks to be executed automatically, never to be accidentally forgotten again.

The Importance of Time

Without having the time accurately set on your machine, it’s pretty hard to schedule tasks. Using the Date & Time preference panel (System Preferences → Date & Time), you can set the time and date on your computer, as shown in Figure 13-1. However, if you’re using a broadband connection or otherwise spend any amount of time connected to the Internet, you can have your computer set the date and time using a network time server.

A network time server is nothing more than a machine that has an accurate clock and that understands the Network Time Protocol (NTP). NTP is designed to keep large numbers of machines synchronized with an accurate clock. Apple ships Mac OS X with the addresses of their own NTP servers. Apple has servers for the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

In some network environments, you might find an NTP server locally. If you’re using Mac OS X Server on your network, it includes an NTP server. Also, many Unix administrators have set up NTP servers for their local network. Finally, there are many publicly accessible NTP servers on the Internet; you can find a list ...